Chris Lisle
Chris Lisle of Chris Lisle Lighting Design has a passion for his work that is matched only by his care for the members of the concert touring community. His 25-plus year career has included work in several segments of touring, including production, lighting design, and tour management. He has worked with Miranda Lambert, Robert Plant, Chris Young, and more.
Now in its sixth year, the Touring Career Workshop will offer a myriad of sessions centering on breaking into the touring industry, retirement options for touring professionals, tax information, freelance opportunities, maintaining health on the road, and more. The Touring Career Workshop, a free event, is slated for Nov. 9 at Soundcheck Nashville Annex.
After launching in 2011, the workshop grew to 300 attendees in 2015. This year, Keith Urban’s production manager Randy Fletcher will present a keynote presentation on the evolvement of the touring industry. Also speaking are Erik Leighty (Miranda Lambert, Paramore), Jim Runge (The Black Keys, Major Lazor), Mark Miles (IEBA, Lambert) and more.
Lisle, who serves as the workshop’s Executive Director, spoke with MusicRow about this year’s Touring Career Workshop, the state of the touring industry, and his advice for newcomers.
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MusicRow: How did Touring Career Workshop begin?
Chris Lisle: Many touring production staff members don’t have any kind of benefits, unless they work for a great company. Friends and colleagues coming to me and asking, ‘Who do you like to use for an accountant?’ Or ‘How do you do your health insurance?’ I also saw someone close to me go through some really tough things in their later years because they didn’t address a lot of things financially and physically that they should have in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
Erik Parker [Touring Career Workshop Co-Founder and Associate Director] and I discussed giving small sessions where people could come and learn how to get insurance or how to get the most out of your tax deductions. We even get into personal things like how to make marriage work on the road or how to raise kids when you are being a part-time parent when you travel so much. Staying fit on the road, just these skills they are not getting anywhere else.
MR: What Touring Career Workshop sessions are you most excited about this year?
CL: We try to always do new stuff every year, but we also know the ones that are most attended. Our most-attended ones are always about getting in and staying in the touring business. Sessions about the health insurance, legal contracts, and accounting are big. This year we have a parenting session. It’s one that is close to my heart. How do you parent when you are only home three days per week?
We’ve also got a tour manager panel this year. I’m always excited about it because they give their perspectives on how they run their tours and handle conflict management. A tour bus holds 12 people. They work together all day in the venue then they get on the bus and there is always that one person who is smelly or plays their music too loud. We grill them to tell the next generation what they can expect as far as conflict resolution on the road.
MR: Artists are relying on income from touring more than ever. What effects has that had on our industry?
CL: It’s no secret that record sales are not what they used to be and touring sales are up. So the touring business as a whole, not just from the artists and band side, but from the production side, is huge right now.
I’ve been doing concert lighting for 25 years and I’ve never seen Nashville or the industry the way it is right now, in terms of demand for not only show production but for technicians, sound people and lighting people, etc. They are in high demand.
MR: Are you finding that sometimes employers are having trouble filling spots?
CL: I do. The good thing with this is that we have a couple of great schools like Belmont,
MTSU and The Blackbird Academy that are training people to take on some of these roles. We are doing our best. I definitely know from a lighting end this past summer, we hit a point where we were out of people. Right now, I have a video person that I am showing how to do lights, to kind of get the most. We are seeing a lot of this. We are molding people to what they need to be and giving them work.
MR: What other services do you offer in addition to the Touring Career Workshop?
CL: We started our All Access program two years ago. We have three counselors working with us, and touring personnel can go to any of those counselors and TCW pays for the first two sessions, no questions asked. We never know the person’s name, we just get an invoice from [the counselor]. I’ve even had situations where the counselor calls and says, ‘I have a person who can’t afford it, but they need at least three more sessions,’ then cool, let’s get them in there and let’s do it. That’s all about us wanting to make sure if you are going through stuff, you can talk it out.
MR: What advice do you give to young people wanting to enter the touring business?
CL: Honestly, technical skill is great, but personality is key. You are your own business. You have to sell yourself constantly. Yes, I want you to know how to run lights, or whatever your path is, but you have to get along with others for months on end and find that next gig. The key is your networking tree. I explain how even in my career, one contact branches out to become 50. That’s how you get work to progress your career.
The Sixth Annual Touring Career Workshop will take place Wednesday, Nov. 9 at Soundcheck Nashville Annex, beginning at 6 p.m. For more information on the Touring Career Workshop or the All Access program, and to register for the Touring Career Workshop, visit touringcareerworkshop.com.
This year, the Touring Career Workshop has partnered with Stagecall, which collects bikes for underprivileged children in Nashville. Attendees are encouraged to bring a new bike and/or cash donations.
Songkick Partners With Shazam
/by Jessica Nicholson“In partnering with Songkick to create this new offering, we are able to further connect the dots from discovery to fandom that make up a strong artist-to-fan relationship,” said Shazam’s Chief Product Officer Fabio Santini via a statement.
“The moment of discovery is such an important time to educate the fan about a show,” said Matt Jones, CEO of Songkick, in a statement. “I’m proud to say we’ve built a technology platform that will enable every artist we work with, and every fan who uses us, a chance to seamlessly discover new artists and immediately have the opportunity to see them live. Shazam plays such a pivotal role in music discovery, and we’re excited to expand our reach to millions of more live music fans around the globe, ensuring Songkick is available wherever fans are engaging the most.”
Songkick’s platform is available in 60 markets around the world, and is visited by 12 million music fans each month. Songkick has offices in London, Los Angeles, Nashville and New York. Shazam’s mobile apps have been downloaded more than 1 billion times and users have performed more than 30 billion “Shazams” since its launch in 2002.
Exclusive: HologramUSA Promises The World After Hunter Hayes Stunt On Kimmel
/by Eric T. ParkerJimmy Kimmel (L) appears at Nashville’s CMA Theater via hologram from Hollywood, California next to Hunter Hayes (R). Photo: ABC
A few months after HologramUSA’s 2014 launch, Sr. VP of Sales, David Nussbaum, worked out a deal with Jimmy Kimmel Live! Co-Executive Producer, Doug DeLuca, to pair its technology during CMA Awards week on the ABC broadcast. This year Hunter Hayes took center stage before his holographic one-man band—playing every instrument and singing—on his latest single, “Yesterday’s Song.”
Nussbaum gave MusicRow a behind-the-scenes look at the technology and its future in live events. HologramUSA was founded by Greek billionaire Alki David and a European partner who had control over the decades old patented technology. It is part of FOTV Media Networks, which plans to go public on the Nasdaq later this fall.
HologramUSA has gone on to announce, but yet to deliver on, deals with estates of many entertainers like Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette.
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How have the Kimmel events progressed over the past three years?
Jimmy Kimmel’s producers originally thought it would be cool to beam Jimmy in real time from his studio in Hollywood, while he was doing his monologue in front of his studio audience, to the CMA Theater in Nashville. The folks in Nashville saw him as if he was really there and we had a reverse feed going back to him, so Jimmy could hear, see and interact with the audience whether it be in there or anywhere around the world.
Florida Georgia Line hologram on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2014. Photo: ABC/Randy Holmes
Then we beamed Florida Georgia Line from the CMA Theater back to Hollywood. Never had that been done before, where we had sent one person one way, and an entire musical group in another direction. Last year we sent The Band Perry back in real time, performing from Nashville on Kimmel’s outside, 40-foot stage in Hollywood, and we did a fun multiplicity thing with Guillermo. This year we took that idea and made it less silly.
It was always an idea of mine to have a really talented, single performer perform live with their holograms. All the stars aligned, Hunter was in to the idea, so we filmed him playing four different ways during the same song with our special hologram technique. Then my editors put all the images together, added depth and shadows, to create an entire band of Hunter Hayes’. I appreciate everyone at Kimmel for giving us the opportunity.
Hunter Hayes Hologram. Photo: ABC
How did the audio work for the Hunter[s] performance?
I don’t know exactly how the producers did it. I’m not a producer, but I believe they replaced the track with a layered individual performance but each instrument was played separately as we filmed.
Outside of TV, how else has hologram technology been applied?
A lot of people know of this technology because of what we’re able to do bringing the dead back to life to perform posthumously. But not many people know about the ability to beam anyone from anywhere and even multiply them.
We also sent the actor Jack Black form Los Angeles to Madrid, live via hologram so he could be at a press junket for that he couldn’t be at because he was filming a movie. A journalist would sit down with his live hologram every ten minutes over the course of two hours. So he was able to promote it in real time to Europe without ever leaving Los Angeles. He did print and video—some TV shows like the Extra’s and Access Hollywood’s of Spain all ran it.
Live concerts is the future of this technology. It makes a lot of sense as a new way for people to experience live entertainment. For example, I can bring anybody back with the approval of the estate of the late icons. Name an artist, if the estate sees value in it, we would create a hologram that can live in residency, as a museum piece or go on a real hologram concert tour.
Do you rotoscope old footage for deceased stars, or draft new CGI images?
We feel the best way to create a hologram is to work with the estate for video and picture references to use CGI and other digital methods to recreate the person from head to toe. The estate has a number of approvals along the way to make it all as authentic as possible. We don’t use any voiceovers or impersonators. There are also ways to get creative and match their voices, which is what happened when Tupac’s hologram played Coachella a number of years ago when he said “What the f— is up Coachella.” Coachella was not a thing before he passed, so obviously the producers behind that got creative.
What is the status on the hologram projects you’ve already announced?
Four days before Kimmel [this year, Oct. 29], we brought the late star Jenni Rivera back to life for 70,000 people at the Day of the Dead festival in California. I worked with her family and Universal Music, who owns the rights to the music. They have already announced doing this again in March and the idea is to tour her hologram.
HologramUSA is partners with 19 estates spanning music and entertainment. Many are in pre-production now. I don’t think you’ll have to wait much longer for the first one to come out—probably as early as spring-summer 2017. We’re researching how long people will want to watch a hologram and if they want to see a real band behind a hologram, etc. We want the first hologram concert to be right, so when the first one takes place it will be more than anyone imagined.
Are living artists approaching you to record and store their polygons for use at a later date?
Yes. Some of the biggest stars in the world have walked through our studio in Beverly Hills. We’ve partnered with many of them on legacy holograms, where we film them, while they are alive, singing their hits. When the time comes—not even if they’ve passed, but if someone in their band is sick or they wanted to retire.
What is the cost of stunts like these? The Kimmel event this year was clearly sponsored by Crown Royal.
Just to build a hologram projection stage for a day, it would cost $100,000+ just for the tech. Permanent installations at a venue may be between $500,000 to $1 million. To bring somebody back as a hologram can cost from hundreds of thousands to low seven figures. It really just depends on the hologram and how long it will run, every minute of animation has a value to it.
Hunter Hayes hologram at Nashville’s CMA Theater. Photo: ABC
In Pictures: Classic Country Night For YEP’s “Rewind” Show
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Jordan Walker of Walker McGuire/Wheelhouse Records; MaryAnn Keen/BMI; Amelia Varni/Universal Music Publishing; Craig Campbell/Red Bow Records; Andrew Cohen/Suit Music, YEP Exec. Director; Johnny McGuire of Walker McGuire/ Wheelhouse Records. Photo: Jason Myers
Brent Anderson. Photo: Jason Myers
Towne. Photo: Jason Myers
Russ Pahl. Photo: Jason Myers
Craig Campbell. Photo: Jason Myers
Troy Cartwright. Photo: Jason Myers
Walker McGuire. Photo: Jason Myers
Brinley Addington. Photo: Jason Myers
Horsettes. Photo: Jason Myers
Air Hawg Music Publishing, Sea Gayle Team To Sign Dave Turnbull
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Air Hawg Music’s Cory Lovelace; Sea Gayle’s Marc Driskill; Air Hawg Music’s Kelley Lovelace and Karen Lovelace; Dave Turnbull; Sea Gayle’s Chris DuBois, Jake Gear and Christina Wiltshire
Air Hawg Music Publishing, a newly-launched publishing company led by Kelley Lovelace, has signed songwriter Dave Turnbull as its first writer, in conjunction with Sea Gayle Music.
Turnbull achieved a Triple Play Award from the CMA for his 2012 hits Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall,” Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me” and “Old Alabama” featuring Alabama. He has also had hits with artists including Montgomery Gentry, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins and Craig Campbell’s charting single, “Outskirts Of Heaven.”
Turnbull said, “I couldn’t be more excited to partner with Air Hawg and Sea Gayle. Kelley Lovelace was the first person to ever believe in me as a writer in this town and give me a shot at a publishing deal almost 20 years ago, and Chris DuBois was the second. They are the two people I respect the most in terms of creative input and it’s a true pleasure to be working with them together in this new venture. I’m also extremely excited to be working with Marc Driskill, Jake Gear, Mike Owens, Christina Wiltshire and Brandon Gregg and certainly all the writers at Sea Gayle who have been so welcoming to me.”
“God is good and timing is everything!” says Kelley Lovelace. “After 20 years of friendship and ‘big talk’ of starting a publishing company, we finally did it! I’m so humbled and proud that a veteran hit songwriter like Dave has blessed Air Hawg Music Publishing by signing as our first writer. Also, we are extremely thankful to partner with my lifelong friends Brad Paisley, Chris DuBois and Marc Driskill at Sea Gaye Music. And we are anxious to work with the rest of the team at Sea Gayle, Mike Owens, Jake Gear, Christina Wiltshire and Brandon Gregg, to help Dave continue his incredible success. He is writing better than ever and I truly believe his best songs are brewing right now.”
Sea Gayle’s Chris DuBois added, “We are so thankful and excited for the opportunity to partner with Kelley Lovelace and Air Hawg Music in signing Dave Turnbull as their first writer. Kelley and Dave are two of my closest friends and favorite writers in town. They have always felt like family to everyone at Sea Gayle, so we couldn’t be happier to make it official. We look forward to working closely with Kelley to help grow Dave’s career and add to his already impressive list of awards.”
Chicks With Hits Aid Backpacks of Love Children’s Program
/by Lorie HollabaughChicks with Hits recently put together backpacks for the Keith Edmonds Foundation “Backpacks of Love” program. The backpacks are given to children who are removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and provide essentials for the child’s immediate needs and items to provide comfort such as a stuffed animal, blanket, night light, a book or journal.
Eric Church and his wife also donated $10,000 toward purchasing the backpacks and contents through the Chief Cares Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
“The Chicks with Hits group went above and beyond in building backpacks that will go to children that are in immediate need,” said Edmonds, himself a survivor of child abuse. “There is a report of child abuse made every 10 seconds in the United States. Together we are doing our part in showing love to these children that are going through such adverse circumstances.”
ACM Lifting Lives Board Announced
/by Lorie HollabaughThe Lifting Lives Board of Directors is made up of an equal number of ACM Board Members, referred to as representative directors, as well as leaders in non-profit and corporate organizations that aren’t ACM Board Members, referred to as public directors. This year, there were 10 representative director positions and nine public director positions elected/appointed by the ACM Lifting Lives Board of Directors.
New REPRESENTATIVE directors include:
New PUBLIC directors include:
Stars Come Out for Stars and Strings Benefit in Chicago
/by Lorie HollabaughJason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Brantley Gilbert, Kelsea Ballerini, Tyler Farr, Randy Houser, Chase Rice, Dan + Shay, and Big & Rich are performing at the 2nd Annual Stars and Strings Concert at the Chicago Theater tonight (Nov. 9). CBS Radio and US99 are presenting the sold-out show, which will help raise funds for Folds of Honor, an organization which provides educational support to spouses and children of America’s fallen and wounded soldiers.
More than one million dependents are adversely affected by military deployments and nearly nine out of 10 do not qualify for federal scholarships.
Industry Ink: Lightning 100, Radio Rehab, Charlie Monk, Bandtwango
/by Lorie HollabaughLightning 100 Hosts Open House
Lightning 100 is hosting an Open House to celebrate the success of several initiatives and campaigns over the past year, including being awarded the National Association of Broadcasters Crystal Radio Award, the National Association of Broadcasters’ Education Foundation Service to America Award, which honors exceptional public and community service of America’s broadcasters, and other accolades. The Open House, which is not open to the public, will be held Nov. 16 at the Lightning 100 Studio in Marathon Village.
GrassRoots Goes to Radio Rehab
GrassRoots Promotion is launching a radio syndication division with the syndication of “Radio ReHab with Dana Williams.” The syndication division is in partnership with CloudCast Radio, a radio programming distributor and media agency serving radio stations in any size market. “Radio ReHab with Dana Williams” is a three-hour program focusing on country music from the 90’s and beyond and includes behind the scenes stories, artist drop-in interviews, new music features, never-before heard song demos and more. The program will be offered as a market exclusive in any size market on barter.
Charlie Monk Gets Namesake in Geneva
“Everybody in Geneva, Alabama, population 4,500, knew that I was the poorest kid in town but they knew that I was a hard worker and many of them gave me jobs and encouragement,” Monk says. “It took a village to raise me. I am unbelievably honored with this recognition and thank the mayor and city council for having the ceremony during a reunion of my 1957 high school graduating class.”
Bandtwango Launched By Alexander and Allocco
Pictured (L-R): John Alexander and Carl Allocco
John Alexander and Carl Allocco have launched a new fundraising platform called Bandtwango. In addition to raising capital, they guide and advise artists on new projects then curate and connect them with trusted industry affiliates including radio promotion teams, publicists, social media marketers and more in a customized plan so each artist can select what’s most beneficial to their individual plans and timelines.
Alexander has 30-plus years of music business experience, including work in marketing, promotion, ad sales and artist development for companies such as Great American Country, Black River Entertainment and Jones Radio Networks.
Allocco is a New York-based creative professional, and singer-songwriter with major label recording, publishing and management deals to his credit. Allocco has also guided web and creative services development for non-profit and music companies.
Jeannie Seely to Release New Album in January
/by Lorie HollabaughJeannie Seely will release a new album, Written In Song on Jan. 13. The new CD features 14 tracks written or co-written by Seely herself, which were recorded by legends like Merle Haggard, Dottie West, Ernest Tubb, and Ray Price. The project is her first new album since 2011’s Vintage Country.
Distributed by Smith Music Group, the album also includes songs featuring some special guests like “Senses” with Connie Smith and Marty Stuart, and “We’re Still Hangin’ In There Ain’t We Jessi” with Jan Howard and Jessi Colter.
Written In Song is such an exciting project for me for many reasons,” states Seely. “It consists of 14 songs that I have written over the years, most of them recorded by my peers and my heroes. It’s also very rewarding to know that these songs have stood the test of time and are just as viable today. I am extremely grateful to the musicians and singers who made them sound brand new.”
Written In Song Track Listing
1. Sometimes I Do
2. He’s All I Need
3. I’m Never Gonna See You
4. Senses
5. Anyone Who Knows What Love Is
6. You Don’t Need Me
7. My Love For You
8. Leavin’ And Sayin’ Goodbye
9. The Pain Once You’re Gone
10. He Always Got What He Wanted
11. Life Of A Rodeo Cowboy
12. Enough To Lie
13. Who Needs You
14. We’re Still Hangin’ In There Ain’t We Jessi
Exclusive: Touring Career Workshop—Leading With Heart And Wisdom
/by Jessica NicholsonChris Lisle
Chris Lisle of Chris Lisle Lighting Design has a passion for his work that is matched only by his care for the members of the concert touring community. His 25-plus year career has included work in several segments of touring, including production, lighting design, and tour management. He has worked with Miranda Lambert, Robert Plant, Chris Young, and more.
Now in its sixth year, the Touring Career Workshop will offer a myriad of sessions centering on breaking into the touring industry, retirement options for touring professionals, tax information, freelance opportunities, maintaining health on the road, and more. The Touring Career Workshop, a free event, is slated for Nov. 9 at Soundcheck Nashville Annex.
After launching in 2011, the workshop grew to 300 attendees in 2015. This year, Keith Urban’s production manager Randy Fletcher will present a keynote presentation on the evolvement of the touring industry. Also speaking are Erik Leighty (Miranda Lambert, Paramore), Jim Runge (The Black Keys, Major Lazor), Mark Miles (IEBA, Lambert) and more.
Lisle, who serves as the workshop’s Executive Director, spoke with MusicRow about this year’s Touring Career Workshop, the state of the touring industry, and his advice for newcomers.
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MusicRow: How did Touring Career Workshop begin?
Chris Lisle: Many touring production staff members don’t have any kind of benefits, unless they work for a great company. Friends and colleagues coming to me and asking, ‘Who do you like to use for an accountant?’ Or ‘How do you do your health insurance?’ I also saw someone close to me go through some really tough things in their later years because they didn’t address a lot of things financially and physically that they should have in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
Erik Parker [Touring Career Workshop Co-Founder and Associate Director] and I discussed giving small sessions where people could come and learn how to get insurance or how to get the most out of your tax deductions. We even get into personal things like how to make marriage work on the road or how to raise kids when you are being a part-time parent when you travel so much. Staying fit on the road, just these skills they are not getting anywhere else.
MR: What Touring Career Workshop sessions are you most excited about this year?
CL: We try to always do new stuff every year, but we also know the ones that are most attended. Our most-attended ones are always about getting in and staying in the touring business. Sessions about the health insurance, legal contracts, and accounting are big. This year we have a parenting session. It’s one that is close to my heart. How do you parent when you are only home three days per week?
We’ve also got a tour manager panel this year. I’m always excited about it because they give their perspectives on how they run their tours and handle conflict management. A tour bus holds 12 people. They work together all day in the venue then they get on the bus and there is always that one person who is smelly or plays their music too loud. We grill them to tell the next generation what they can expect as far as conflict resolution on the road.
MR: Artists are relying on income from touring more than ever. What effects has that had on our industry?
CL: It’s no secret that record sales are not what they used to be and touring sales are up. So the touring business as a whole, not just from the artists and band side, but from the production side, is huge right now.
I’ve been doing concert lighting for 25 years and I’ve never seen Nashville or the industry the way it is right now, in terms of demand for not only show production but for technicians, sound people and lighting people, etc. They are in high demand.
MR: Are you finding that sometimes employers are having trouble filling spots?
CL: I do. The good thing with this is that we have a couple of great schools like Belmont,
MTSU and The Blackbird Academy that are training people to take on some of these roles. We are doing our best. I definitely know from a lighting end this past summer, we hit a point where we were out of people. Right now, I have a video person that I am showing how to do lights, to kind of get the most. We are seeing a lot of this. We are molding people to what they need to be and giving them work.
MR: What other services do you offer in addition to the Touring Career Workshop?
CL: We started our All Access program two years ago. We have three counselors working with us, and touring personnel can go to any of those counselors and TCW pays for the first two sessions, no questions asked. We never know the person’s name, we just get an invoice from [the counselor]. I’ve even had situations where the counselor calls and says, ‘I have a person who can’t afford it, but they need at least three more sessions,’ then cool, let’s get them in there and let’s do it. That’s all about us wanting to make sure if you are going through stuff, you can talk it out.
MR: What advice do you give to young people wanting to enter the touring business?
CL: Honestly, technical skill is great, but personality is key. You are your own business. You have to sell yourself constantly. Yes, I want you to know how to run lights, or whatever your path is, but you have to get along with others for months on end and find that next gig. The key is your networking tree. I explain how even in my career, one contact branches out to become 50. That’s how you get work to progress your career.
The Sixth Annual Touring Career Workshop will take place Wednesday, Nov. 9 at Soundcheck Nashville Annex, beginning at 6 p.m. For more information on the Touring Career Workshop or the All Access program, and to register for the Touring Career Workshop, visit touringcareerworkshop.com.
This year, the Touring Career Workshop has partnered with Stagecall, which collects bikes for underprivileged children in Nashville. Attendees are encouraged to bring a new bike and/or cash donations.