Backstage Pass
Welcome to Fishman’s “Backstage Pass” blog. We’re proud of our extensive artist roster, particularly because every player who chooses Fishman does so without incentives other than a desire for the best possible sound.
Here’s the inside scoop on what these discerning musicians are up to, and the Fishman products that they love and depend upon. Be sure to check out our new microsite "True Life. True Live." (www.truelifetruelive.com) and the Fishman MySpace page for some great photos of these shows! And to all the artists, a heartfelt thanks!
Spring 2008
Sheryl Crow enlisted Fishman once again to outfit her guitars for her tour in support of her new CD "DETOURS." Joe B and I went to her very first gig to fine tune all of her unique installs of a Rare Earth Humbucker and the new Matrix Infinity. Joe checked all of her string balances and we tweaked the new Loudbox Performer Amps. Sheryl, her guitars and the band sounded fantastic.
Sheryl Crow decided she needed a J-200 for her current tour. When it arrived it was a nice instrument but when plugged in it was not up to snuff. She sent the guitar to the factory for a new Infinity system to equal all the other acoustic guitars on the tour. Sheryl, Rare Earth pick ups and amps have been seen on all the TV shows including "The Today Show," "The Late Show with David Letterman," MSN's "Control Room," "The Ellen Degeneres Show," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "Last Call with Carson Daly."
Barry Bales, longtime Fishman guy and bass player with Allison Krauss & Union Station, called to get two more Full Circle Bass Pickups for his new set up in time to tour with his new band Dan Tyminski and Friends. The band includes mandolin great Adam Steffey as well as Justin Moses and Ron Stewart on banjo The Dan and Barry who have some time on their hands this year because Allison Krauss has committed her year to touring with Robert Plant supporting their hit CD "Raising Sand" (more on her later).
Keith Urban, who has been touring non stop, has been using more and more guitars, so we had to rush more Matrix pickups to outfit his touring guitars, back ups and some new guitars.
Brad Paisley sent us a couple of Gibson guitars, some of his favorite Mics and Mic pre- amps to image his guitar for an Ellipse Aura system. Story has it that he was performing an acoustic show and the sound man asked where the mic was. Of course, it was the great sound of the Ellipse Aura system. Keith's utility band member Kendal has been waiting to try our new V-300 violin pick up and our new mandolin set-up on the tour.
We are working on updating the Indigo Girls with the new Matrix Infinity. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have been checking out the Aura and DI's for their upcoming summer tour.
Avril Lavigne recently received a new pink sparkle Daisy Rock guitar for her current tour, equipped with a new Matrix Infinity pickup. We have also supplied Fishman ADT-100 drum triggers for all the Avril drums (she a very good drummer).
Porter Howell from the band Little Texas is having a custom guitar built by First Act. Porter has requested a Fishman Tune-O-Matic Powerbridge be installed.
After catching up with longtime Fishman artist John Mayer at this winter's NAMM show John asked if we could upgrade his main Martin guitars to the new Matrix Infinity. He was also very inquisitive about our of our new AFX and Aura pedals. John and his tech Rene Martinez asked if they could try some out.
Country superstar Carrie Underwood's band members Chad Jeffers and Jimmy Herman were in town recently and were very curious about some of our new products, especially the new AFX reverb and V-300 violin pickup and the new Flat Iron mandolin pickup.
Winter 2007-2008
Fishman was thrilled to contribute to the most anticipated show of 2007, the Led Zeppelin reunion at London’s O2 Arena. Drummer Jason Bonham requested Fishman ADT drum triggers for the performance. Although we no longer make that product, conversations with front of house sound mixer Mick Hughes (Metallica) revealed his interest in using the triggers to open and close noise gates on the drums for a cleaner, high-volume drum mix. We custom-built several triggers in record time and are proud to be some small part of rock and roll history.
Ani DiFranco, with a new baby and a new CD in to show off, came through the Northeast in brilliant form, since all her guitars sound great with their Fishman equipment and bass player Todd Sickafoose is using his second Full Circle bass pickup.
The Fab Faux, made up of studio and TV musicians dedicated to the Beatles, made their only Boston appearance at the Berklee Performance Center. The players include Will Lee (“The Late Show with David Letterman”) Jimmy Vivino (“Late Night with Conan O’Brien”) Rich Pagano, Frank Agnello, Jack Petruzzelli and a host of others. Rich is a lefty and very much enjoys the sound of a Rare Earth as his “go to” acoustic pick up. The Boston show featured most of the Sgt. Pepper album and a host of other Beatles gems. The added bonus was the Crème Tangerine Strings and Hogshead Horns. A splendid time was had by all.
Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum with the Fab Faux
A Rare Earth
Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum (Don’t cha just love the set-list!)
(See more photo’s at our Fishman MySpace Site!)
J.D. Souther, ex-Eagle and premiere songwriter, recently called for info for his new Ellipse Aura. He really loved the sounds. Joe B. set him straight on all the pre amp functions.
Jethro Tull performed at the Performing Arts Center in Providence and proudly showed off their Fishman-equipped guitars and Bouzoukis. Long time Fishman artists Ian Anderson and Martin Barre also pointed out their Fishman-equipped string section, including; Meena M. Bhasin, Megumi Stohs and Courtnay Vandiver.
Martin Barre's Bouzouki
This year, Jethro Tull released "The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull," a 24-song collection of previously recorded tracks designed to show off the band's unplugged side. “It's really been the heart of Jethro Tull's music almost since the beginning to have a lot of acoustic stuff," Anderson said. "The album's a way of focusing on that and making it an album for people who haven't yet discovered iTunes."
LD and Ian Anderson
Local favorite Duke Levine released his fourth solo CD, “Beneath the Blue,” his first release in 10 years. Duke has been recording with Peter Wolf and gigging with his band. Duke and guitarist Kevin Barry have been Fishman guys for a long time, using Platinum DI, Mandolin pickups and an assortment of guitar pickups
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They Might Be Giants came through the Boston area to wrap up a small theater leg of their tour. I caught up with the band and gave Neil (their sound man) and guitar players John & Dan some Aura information so they can program their own Aura's for some new songs.
The Pogues, while on a world touring, stopped in San Francisco to purchase a new banjo and requested a new Rare Earth Banjo pickup to amplify it. So we sent a Rare Earth Banjo pickup overnight just in time for their next show.
Country rising star Rodney Atkins continues to dominate the country charts with another single from his debut CD. Rodney a Fishman guy from the humble beginning of his career, received some new guitars that needed new Matrix systems for his continuing tour. He is currently opening for Brad Paisley.
John Oates, of the great Hall & Oates band, was gearing up for a short tour supporting the Hall & Oates Christmas CD, "Home for Christmas," which has just been re-released. John said he would be playing mostly acoustic guitar and bought a Loudbox Performer and an Aura for the tour. After trying it at home the gear fit the bill, and once Daryl Hall and guitar/bass player T-Bone Wolk heard it, they needed Loudbox amps and Auras as well. Daryl Hall also hosts a web cast live from his house once a month, catch it at;
http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com.
While on tour with Velvet Revolver, Slash was looking to improve the tone of his acoustic double neck. So we sent him a new Aura Imaging pedal. It helped the tone tremendously both in the monitor and front of house.
Greg Silva, longtime bass player with blues guy Duke Robillard, has been playing a number of gigs with an upright bass and ordered a Full Circle bass pickup. He was overjoyed that the pick up cut through the band on stage.
I spent a long time in discussions with Queens of the Stoneage, who are gearing up for a European tour. Once they understood what the Fishman equipment can do for them, they ordered quite a few pickups, including a couple of Dobro / resonator set ups, which included a resonator pick up and a Platinum DI.
Alicia Keys' guitar player Jeff Gitelman called to introduce himself and tell me as a former Berklee College of Music student he is a loyal Fishman user.
At the release of Keys's CD "As I Am," one of the songs required an acoustic into followed by a crunchy electric part, so Jeff got a Power Bridge for his Stat but also needed one for his Les Paul.
I stopped by the Orpheum Theater here in Boston to say hello to my old friend Larry Campbell who was playing guitar on tour with Grateful Dead alumnus Phil Lesh. After saying hello to Larry, Phil came over and asked for some help with his upright bass. For his application I suggested a BP-100 and a Platinum Bass DI. Two shows later, his front of house engineer called to say thanks because the pickup and DI saved the day. Phil added a couple of extra songs just so he could play that bass more in the show.
Acoustic great Willy Porter came to the Boston area recently to play and conduct a workshop at the legendary Club Passim Coffeehouse (formerly the great "Club 47"). Willy was using his Fishman Loudbox Performer Amp as well as his signature Ellipse-equipped Guild guitar. Boy what a sound Willy gets and his playing ain't bad either.
Fall 2007
Steve Earle just released his newest CD, “Washington Square Serenade” and is about to embark on a new tour to support it. Steve has always been very particular about his sound and he has been a Fishman guy for a very long time. As he was preparing for this tour he called and begged to try an Aura. We loaded some guitar and mando sounds for him and hit a home run once again. Look for Steve in the HBO series “The Wire” (in which he has a recurring role) and listen to Steve playing the theme song.
Longtime Fishman artist and sometime Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito has joined Mick Fleetwood to form a band in Hawaii called “Mick Fleetwood’s Island Rumor".
Rick is the principle guitar player, along with some unbelievable island talent. Rick has included a baritone ukulele to his instrument arsenal and will be using a new pickup system for it.
I recently received a call from the “Prairie Home Companion” guitar player Pat Donahue. Pat has a new signature guitar coming from Martin Guitar Co. and he is interested in trying out a Loudbox 100. Pat has been playing his Blender equipped guitar on the public radio show “Prairie Home Companion” for many years, which has become a staple in American culture. The movie wasn’t bad either.
Fishman poster boy Paul Pesco is gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime tour of China with pop star Ciaria. Paul is armed with lots of Fishman gear, including Amps, Powerbridges and the new Aura Imaging Pedal.
Paul Pesco, Heather D, and LD (at Winter NAMM 2007)
Willy Porter called to announce his Guild Willy Porter signature guitar. The guitar will come equipped with a Fishman Ellipse Blend pickup system. This is a great acknowledgement of Willy’s incredible talent. Congratulations!
“Jimmy Eat World” has been seen with an Aura and sounding great. Matchbox 20, now the new Matchbox 20, will emerge with former drummer now new guitar player Paul Doucette and a new sound. Since there is a lot of acoustic guitar sound on the new CD they asked to try out an Aura and an Aura Imaging pedal for their live sound. Rob Thomas and Doucette are very interested in using this new technology. Looking forward to hearing how it sounds.
Jimmy Buffett will be releasing "Live In Anguilla," a double CD and 90-minute DVD, on Nov. 6. While recording this CD his band ran into an interesting problem. They performed and recorded the songs live on the beach. They loved the performances but due to the outdoor setting, the sound was not up to recording standards. So they experimented with re-recording the guitars through an Aura. Guitar player / producer Mac McAnally was pleasantly surprised that the Aura supplied all the rich guitar sounds they could not get from the beach recording. Thus, another unexpected use for the Aura!
Not too long ago I received a call from the J Lo / Mark Anthony tour asking to try out two Loudbox Performers for their upcoming world tour. It seems guitar player Mario Guini had played through one at a rehearsal and liked it a lot. I hooked them up and caught up with them at the second gig of the tour at the Mohegan Sun resort casino. The tour was set up in the arena with a production as big as I have seen in a long time. It had full blown pyro and more than fifteen players on stage. The color theme was chrome and white. The amps were placed on each side of the stage but not easily seen from the audience. The guitar players, guitar techs and front of house engineer were all extremely happy with the amps sound and volume. When the band is happy, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony are happy.
Mario Guini & LD
Ian Anderson and Martin Barre of Jethro Tull called with an update on their tour and a request for a back-up Rare Earth and some violin and cello pickups. It seems the Tull boys are doing an acoustic set with strings. Ian and Martin have been loyal Fishman folks almost since the company started.
Reba was seen on many of the morning and late-night talk shows featuring guitar player Jim Kimball and Fiddler Tammy Rogers. Both are Aura users and they outfit all their instruments with Fishman pickups.
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds’ CD “Live at Radio City Music Hall” is burning up the Billboard charts these days, chalking up incredible sales and solid reviews. All of Tim’s guitars go through his Aura and all of the guitars have Fishman pickups on board. Check it out. It has great slimmed down DMB tunes and many of them feature Tim’s incredible playing style.
Colbie Caillat and her guitar player / Musical Director Tim Fagan have asked for a custom loaded Aura for their tour. Colbie has been enjoying the unbelievable success that grew out of her You Tube video.
Will Dailey, a local Boston singer/songwriter has just released his CD, “Back Flipping Forward.” Will came to the factory to record his guitar to be custom loaded in his Aura. Will was seen performing his song “Rise” on TV’s CSI:NY.
Kristen Andreassen, guitar player for the cool bluegrass ensemble Uncle Earl, has recently moved to the Boston area and took advantage of being so close to the factory to record her guitar for her Aura and to update the pickup system in her guitar. The Uncle Earl CD “Waterloo Tennessee” was produced by none other than legendary rock bass player John Paul Jones, and the band is out on tour to support the release. She could not wait to get back on the road to show off her new sounds. (Check out our MySpace site for photos of the installation by Joe B.)
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Fishman Powerbridges
will be on display in New York’s Hard Rock Café. Nick Wheeler, guitar player for the hugely popular, All-American Rejects, has donated some items, including his Fishman equipped guitar to the popular rock ‘n’ roll restaurant chain.
Boston radio’s 98.5 held their annual concert Mix Fest. This year they featured Fishman bands, Daughtry, Matchbox 20, and Colbie Caillat. It was fun to see and talk to all three bands’ players and all their techs all in one place.
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Summer 2007 News
On one amazing day in August, I headed down to Newport RI for the second day of the Newport Folk Festival. There is no place as picturesque as Fort Adams State Park. The stage overlooks the bay, with sailboats and pleasure craft all visible out on a shimmering blue sea. The line up included Alison Krauss & Union Station, Emmylou Harris, Amos Lee, Alejandro Escovedo, and Ralph Stanley.
Amos Lee was a great choice for this festival. Amos is a Platinum DI guy and is still toying with his Aura (he liked recording on the bus with it).
Emmylou Harris had an incredible backing band including Mike Auldridge (dobro, vocals) and Tom Gray (bass vocals). Rickie Simpkins performed on fiddle and mandolin rounded out by guitarist and singer John Starling. It was amazing from my vantage point to see three Fishman Auras on that stage and to hear the magnificent sounds coming through the PA.
It was also fun to see Jerry Douglas playing through his Aura on stage with Alison Krauss. Jerry is a featured player and committed Aura user and his solo spot was unbelievable.
Back in Boston, I caught a show by Travis, one of the more popular bands in the UK (they are from Scotland). In the US they have a very strong following. Travis was established before a number of other successful UK bands, including Coldplay. The guitar players Andy and Fran have a number of Fishman products both at home and on tour.
Chris Daughtry & Aaron Lewis of Staind showed up at the Tweeter Center for an incredible night of music. Both bands were Fishman equipped: Chris with Powerbridges on his electric guitars and Aaron with his Matrix equipped acoustics.
Chris Daughtry and LD
Aaron Lewis and LD
James Morrison is a young singer/songwriter from England. He is quite popular there and is building a following in the US. James has an incredible voice and he is a really great guy. James and his band came through Boston while on a short tour of the States. James and his guitar player Nickoli are dedicated Rare Earth users. The have a fantastic guitar sound, in fact the whole band sounded great. For their Boston stop, they decided to play the local hit, “Dirty Water,” but they’d only downloaded it and weren’t too sure of it. I was happy to step in and help them with the lyrics and the chord changes.
A sweet pair of Rare Earth pickups
Longtime Fishman user Glen Phillips was on tour with Bluegrass favorites Nickel Creek. They were performing in one of the nicest outdoor venues in Lowell, Mass. It was great to check in with Glen and introduce him to the new Aura pedals and it was good to check in with Aura user Sara Watkins. Sara is hoping to come into the factory and record her violin sounds to customize her Aura and load it with her sounds.
Sara Watkins and LD
One of the finest vocalists on the scene today is Fishman Aura user Chris Cornell, who came through Boston twice recently, once as a promo stop to support his newest solo venture, and again in a larger venue with full-blown production. Chris has quite an ear for guitar players, first in Soundgarden and then Audioslave and now with his own band. For this go-round, Chris has Peter Thorn and Yogi doing the guitar duties. Peter has also been a Fishman guy for awhile and Yogi has just recently came aboard. Chris is another genuinely nice guy and a huge talent.
Do the words legend and Boz Scaggs go together? I think so. Boz staged a short mid summer tour this year to the delight of many fans. It was fun hooking up with world-famous guitar tech Mark Scaggs, who happens to be Boz’s brother. I took the opportunity to introduce Boz to an Aura Pedal. He was delighted and could not wait to try it.
What a thrill it was to see Dave Matthews twice this year, first with Tim Reynolds (their live cd is selling incredibly well) and late summer with the band. This season, the tour started with rehearsals here and then two shows. It was a lot of fun to see the guys relaxed and playing without an audience. I brought some Platinum DIs for both Dave and the bass version for Stefan.
LD and DM
Boy, talk about success. Rodney Atkins has made an incredible rise to the top of the charts. His CD has gone Platinum and he is touring constantly and releasing new singles all the time. I met Rodney many years ago at the summer NAMM show in Nashville. He was just starting to market his debut CD and needed some help with his acoustic guitar sound. So we introduced him to the Aura and he has been hooked ever since. Rodney was headlining a promo show in a small but packed venue in the great country music town, Boston. It was great to catch up with Rodney, Kevin, James and the boys. We can’t wait to see them again. Congratulations Rodney, well done!
Rodney Atkins and LD
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