Gig Gab - The Working Musician's Podcast

Stop Winging It: Dial In Your Show with Clicks, Setlists, Insurance, and Gig Prep

You tighten your gig prep by treating every show like a pro mission: build rock-solid routines, line-check your gear and apps, and know your insurance, splitter snake, setlist, click, and IEM plan before you ever hit the stage. You walk into a wedding or club already covered with proper liability, routing, charts, and monitoring so you can stop worrying about logistics and start playing the room. Always Be Performing. Onstage, you think like a storyteller, not just a musician: you record full shows to review your banter and flow, you decide when the click helps and when to ditch it, and you refine what makes your band distinctive so people remember your name and feel the FOMO. Offstage, you act like a lab: you binge showcases at events like SXSW, steal the best ideas, use AI to critique rehearsals, and keep your gig bag dialed so every performance gets sharper, louder, and more undeniable. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 527 – Monday, March 30th, 2026 March 30th: Take a Walk in the Park Day 00:01:29 What is your gig prep process? 00:06:55 Skylar-How does a band get a certificate of insurance for a wedding gig? Insurance Canopy Special Event Insurance 00:11:15 n-Brian from Durham-Do we need a splitter snake? Mixing Station Proreck Splitter Snake 00:16:57 Bill-What Setlist App do you use? forScore 00:19:39 Dan-What click track do you use live? PolyNome 00:21:51 Dan-What about IEMs with ambient filters? Ultimate Ears Ambient Option 00:24:20 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit Claude.ai/giggab 00:27:05 I’m a band guy…how about you? 00:30:15 SXSW 2026 — bands seen and lessons learned: 38 showcases in 2026 Family Battenberg Thelma And James Timmy Skelly 00:39:43 Record yourself live, not just for the music, but for the whole show, including your banter. Lainey Wilson vs. John Popper and band 00:43:24 The stiffness of a click, vs not. Soultone vs. Lainey 00:45:56 PODCAST: Rock Talk Studio Podcast 00:47:29 Tell people who you are, and make it distinctive. Leverage FOMO 00:51:54 Olight OClip Pro in your Gig Bag 00:54:25 Moskowizard-Use AI to evaluate your rehearsals (critical listening) 00:57:00 Andy-CSF-Supertone Clear 00:58:16 Gig Gab 527 Outtro Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Stop Winging It: Dial In Your Show with Clicks, Setlists, Insurance, and Gig Prep – Gig Gab 527 appeared first on Gig Gab.

Touring Brains: Boundaries, Burnout, and Being OK, with Courtney and Paul Klimson

You see how life on the road quietly rewires your brain, from grief and burnout to decision fatigue and STC (Sleepy, Tired, and Crabby), and how Courtney and Paul built The Roadie Clinic to give crews a place to tell their story and get real help. Through flights, heat‑canceled shows, and jumps from Fallon to Timberlake, John Legend, Drake, and beyond, you learn to Always Be Performing for your own mental health with boundaries, support systems, and even AI to protect your headspace. You’re handed concrete ways to care for yourself and your people: snow policies and “last chance to say no” moments, non‑negotiable laundry time, color‑coded calendars that lower stress, and simple communication habits that keep relationships from snapping under pressure. By the end, you’re invited to treat your brain like your most critical piece of touring gear—and to build a crew culture where dignity, respect, and mental health are baked into every gig.​ 00:00:00 Gig Gab 526 – Monday, March 23rd, 2026 March 23rd: National Puppy Day Guest co-hosts: Courtney Klimson and Paul Klimson 00:01:43 Choosing Niles, Michigan for The Roadie Clinic 2019: From living in NYC to “the middle of nowhere” Michigan (but it’s right near an airport) With lots of puppies! 00:04:05 The Roadie Clinic and the whole Human Experience After some family tragedies, Courtney joined Paul on a European leg of the Timberlake tour to support him through the grief 00:07:56 Hottest Day in Central Park doing a show for John Legend And Paul winds up with a sprained ankle but the show must go on…until it’s canceled for the heat! Then off to Sicily the next day… and Courtney joins again! 00:13:24 On the flights, Courtney 00:15:40 “The Show Must Go On” Institute a snow policy 00:17:40 And so exists The Roadie Clinic Remote assistance: tell me your story, how can I help? Works closely with MusiCares RoadieDocRx Decision Fatigue can sometimes be solved by AI 00:26:30 SPONSOR: Squarespace. Check out https://www.squarespace.com/GIGGAB to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code GIGGAB. 00:28:03 Where are you going today, Paul? John Legend to Timberlake to Drake Multi-colored calendars to save the marriage…and the business 00:30:18 From being the monitor/foldback engineer at Fallon to meeting lots of bands …and managers. “Protect the brand” worked to develop relationships 00:32:55 What Gets the Gig Done? What can I do best that serves the team? Scovill’s Back Lounge 00:37:02 The @ Rule of Texting STC = Sleepy Tired and Crabby 00:39:38 Is this the last opportunity I have to say “no”? 00:43:55 Laundry time matters! 00:45:26 Studying Roadie Brains A lot of Parkinsons, PTSD, Strokes From Fallon to Timberlake 00:47:15 Tricks of being efficient with engineers Step one: Communicate the Input List and Stage Plot 00:50:43 Paul Klimson’s Talkback System 00:54:00 We’re going to win because we’re efficient and we care about humans Dignity and Respect Superbowl Halftime Show – Minneapolis Jimmy Fallon Show … and SNL How are you using AI? 00:57:14 Gig Gab 526 Outtro Follow Paul and Courtney Klimson @TheRoadieClinic Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Touring Brains: Boundaries, Burnout, and Being OK, with Courtney and Paul Klimson – Gig Gab 526 appeared first on Gig Gab.

From Wall Street Hacker to Music Mogul: Mike Grande’s Journey

You get a front-row seat to how Michael Grande turned hard-won tech chops and late-night studio hacks into real music-business wins. From escaping NAMM chaos and leveraging smart PR and management, to transforming a throwaway “stupid idea” into Card Chords—an Amazon-topping guitar tool born from a Cricut, Guitar Center testing, and sheer persistence—you see how necessity, experimentation, and saying yes the first time landed him in Jimi Hendrix’s old bedroom at Electric Lady Studios, shredding in the lineage of Vai and Satriani, and inventing Tone Picks on the fly. Along the way, you’re reminded that when you know you’re right, you embrace it, protect your IP, and keep swinging big—whether that’s launching music schools, eyeing Shark Tank with a bold offer, or pivoting your career from Wall Street CTO and Certified Ethical Hacker to full-on guitar innovator. Then you’re pushed to rethink how you teach, lead, and build your own music brand. You learn why great schools and studios run on clear mission statements, strong unique selling propositions, and a coaching mindset that focuses on the student, not the curriculum—getting them hooked on the songs they actually want to play, then turning them toward what they need. You see how asking potential customers for their own answers, treating every audience like they matter, and showing up like a coach instead of a teacher all point to one core operating principle: you’re never off-duty, because you Always Be Performing—ALWAYS. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 525 – Monday, March 16th, 2026 March 16th: Freedom of Information Day Guest co-host: Michael Grande from Card Chords and more 00:02:14 Getting out of NAMM 00:03:10 Have a good PR guy! Christopher Buttner 00:04:15 Hey, NAMM: How high can I go? 00:06:09 Can you afford NOT to hire a manager? Or a PR person? Our Mistakes are Our Tuition – Business Brain 00:08:04 COVID Vaccines lead to Card Chords Mike was a (very successful) ​Certified Ethical Hacker & CTO on Wall Street 00:11:09 Dad – come up with an idea to teach people how to play guitar “That’s a stupid idea” – Ignore, and move on. Bought a Cricut machine, built the prototype and tested it on hundreds of guitars at Guitar Center Came out on December 21st, and became Amazon’s #1 Musical Accessories item within 30 days Also includes an eBook to teach out Beatles, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses songs WITH Card Chords 00:16:35 Born of Necessity! 00:18:39 The birth of Tone Picks Story time: I didn’t bring a 12-string to Electric Lady Studios at 3am Taped two picks together to simulate a 12-string sound. 00:21:41 How did you get on the list of Electric Lady Studios session players? Mike was a shredder after Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, etc 00:22:27 Recording in Jimi Hendrix’s old bedroom at Electric Lady Studios! Say yes the first time! Sponsors 00:25:39 SPONSOR: Factor, America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with flavorful and nutritious ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door. Visit FactorMeals.com/giggab50off and use code giggab50off for 50% off! 00:27:22 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at https://gusto.com/giggab 00:28:51 Mike uses Gusto for his Music Schools! 00:30:33 Running music schools Mike’s Book: From Teacher to Coach: (And why you would NEVER want to be a Teacher) Taught private lessons, then students wanted more, so… Mike started The Staten Island School of Rock 00:33:37 Mike’s coaching methods are different Learning hands-on Getting students hooked on the songs you want to play THEN turn them around 00:34:42 You gotta be juiced about playing the songs Gig Gab 500 with Skylar and the drum coaching story 00:37:16 You need to have a mission statement Mike’s: “We build the confidence and self-esteem through music lessons” You need a Unique Selling Proposition! 00:39:30 Mike’s Unique Selling Proposition Never answer the question… ask the potential customer for the answer! 00:41:48 A teacher focuses on the curriculum, a coach focuses on the student 00:42:44 Mary Fanaro’s Rwanda Rocks Rwanda’s Minister of Education: The children of Rwanda don’t need teachers, they need coaches. 00:48:08 When you know you’re right, embrace it. 00:49:45 Always Be Performing…ALWAYS! 00:53:18 An audience wants to be treated 00:55:23 We’re always wearing 00:57:54 The Chinese stole Mike’s IP for Card Chords Mike’s got a new product that is in the running for Shark Tank Mike’s offer to Shark Tank will be: 20% of his company for $1 01:03:23 Gig Gab 525 Outtro Follow Michael Grande CardChords.com Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post From Wall Street Hacker to Music Mogul: Michael Grande’s Journey – Gig Gab 525 appeared first on Gig Gab.

De-Feedback Plugin for Working Musicians: More Gain, Less Feedback with Devin Sheets

You’re invited into a legacy family audio business that refused to accept “good enough” on feedback control and instead chased the impossible: a truly zero‑latency, AI‑driven way to push your PA louder without squeals. You follow Devin Sheets from growing up on sound gigs to roaming European stages, then back home to build De‑Feedback plugin for working musicians, a live sound feedback plugin and on‑the‑fly impulse‑response generator that listens like a seasoned engineer: separating human voice, room reverb, background noise, and feedback in real time so you can grab at least 6 dB more gain before things start to howl. Along the way you see how NAMM sparked the idea, how inverse impulse responses and probability math beat old EQ and gate tricks, and how “homebrew AI” meant sneaking into every empty church at 3 a.m. just to teach the model what real rooms actually sound like. You also learn how to think like a modern working musician: using social media to find the right AI programmers across the world, leaning on LLMs to translate, collaborate, and even rate contractor work so you can move faster without losing control. You come away knowing you can drop a dedicated De‑Feedback box or plugin into almost any rig, from churches to touring consoles to tiny clubs, take it with you even when someone else is behind the board, and quietly stack the deck in your favor. In the end, it’s a roadmap for how you run your own gigs and career: stay curious, embrace new tools, protect your sound, and Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 524 – Monday, March 9th, 2026 March 9th: National Meatball Day Guest co-host: Devin Sheets from Alpha Labs 00:02:12 Let’s Grow this Legacy Family Business Grew up doing sound Also a musician Lived in Europe Then came back and said, “let’s grow this family business!” 00:03:44 We haven’t “just solved” this feedback problem Went to NAMM for the first time, and was inspired There are automated EQ-based or gate-based systems PSE plugin from Waves 5045 for feedback 00:04:57 Why isn’t there a “balanced audio”-type solution for Feedback Balanced Audio fixes hums and it just works. 00:08:24 NAMM is a great inspiration…and it inspired Devin and his team to seek a feedback plugin solution People get entrenched Inverse Impulse Response methodology 00:12:35 Training the AI to listen for three things: human voice, reverb, and feedback Created a de-reverb algorithm and went beyond that A probability calculation does the math 00:16:05 Truly zero latency for the plugin Workflow latency remains 00:19:32 I don’t have any coding or AI background, but I have a gut feeling AI will fix this feedback problem Others: It’s harder than you think Devin: I knew that it needed to happen 00:20:58 Finding an AI programmer who was interested in doing Experimented with some programmers, failed, learned some things! 00:21:09 Social Media to the rescue! Late 2023: Devin found a group of AI programmers who would be interested Sending large amounts of money to China…it’s a risk! 00:26:30 At 3am, a text message: I think I’ve done it. Devin immediately started testing it himself “It seemed to work.” 00:27:17 Installing De-Feedback in Churches Sponsors 00:30:57 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit Claude.ai/giggab 00:32:43 SPONSOR: Squarespace. Check out https://www.squarespace.com/GIGGAB to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code GIGGAB. 00:34:20 What is an impulse response? Impulse Response: An audio picture of how the room sounds Popping balloons in a room/environment and recording the sound is a common approach for creating impulse responses 00:38:33 De-Feedback is an on-the-fly IR generator …and analyzer that’s trained on the human voice, room reverb, background noise…and feedback 00:41:55 Finding the right programmers was the key …in addition to actually having the idea and the bullheaded persistence to make it happen. 00:44:46 Mind-melding was necessary And LLMs helped with translation! 00:48:39 Using AI to make it possible to collaborate with other humans 00:50:03 Using an LLM to rate the work of your contractors and employees 00:51:54 How do we get De-Feedback into the hands of working musicians US$499 for the De-Feedback plugin VST3 or AU plugin A higher-end Windows laptop can likely run it on its own Apple’s Core Audio tech makes it difficult, but they’re working on it. De-Feedback also sells a perfectly-tuned headless computer to do this Alpha Labs tried tons of interfaces that the Focusrite Scarlett keeps glitches out of the mix Waves SuperRack LiveBox 01:01:37 Where do we expand? Allen & Heath mixers? Midas/Behringer mixers? Paul Falcone, mixing Mariah Carey, wanted to use it! Robert Scovill talking Rock Hall on Gig Gab 01:05:18 Homebrew AI! Training EVERY room he could find “Can you let me into your empty church at 3am?” – To record IR to then train the data set for De-Feeback 01:07:25 Creating your own AI model 01:08:13 What’s the future look like? Acquisition? Demands for security? – Planning for it all 01:09:26 You can get this and bring it with you to gigs where someone else is doing sound De-Feedback Option 1 Allen & Heath Qu-5’s Feedback Eliminator De-Feedback gets at least as 6dB more gain before feedback 01:17:46 Gig Gab 524 Outtro Follow Devin Sheets And Alpha Labs Facebook and Instagram YouTube for Alpha Labs Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post De-Feedback Plugin for Working Musicians: More Gain, Less Feedback – Gig Gab 524 with Devin Sheets appeared first on Gig Gab.

From Festival Gigs to SXSW: Survival Tips for Musicians and Attendees

You get dropped into a two-show day where you’re juggling festival chaos, a paramedic emergency during set change, and a mysteriously mudded-out bass that turns out to be a rogue low‑pass filter at 90 Hz, all while keeping the gig on the rails because you Always Be Performing. Then you pivot into first‑timer survival tactics for attending SXSW: locking in reservations weeks out, over‑planning so you can gleefully abandon those plans, and treating the whole thing as a marathon and a sprint while your calendar app becomes your best friend…and your worst enemy. Throughout it all, you’re thinking like a pro: dialing in efficient monitor setups for festival stages, dealing with sketchy solder joints on a microphone (or is that a mic cable issue?), staying sane amid SXSW security, and never underestimating the power of great brisket, BBQ, and a solid spot to reset your brain. You’ll also get the practical stuff no one tells you: what to wear, why you always keep your badge on you, and how finding a seasoned SXSW Sherpa can save your week (and your feet) before you ever hit your first line. ​From Festival Gigs to SXSW: Essential Survival Tips for Musicians and Attendees 00:00:00 Gig Gab 523 – Monday, March 2nd, 2026 March 2nd: International Rescue Cat Day Guest co-host: Lisa Hamilton 00:01:41 Two Show Day for Dave First gig, Bitter Pill – Festival And there was a paramedic Bitter Pill: It’s Rock and Roll… It’s Rockabilly… It’s Blues… I don’t know! 00:10:43 Second gig – somehow the bass got a low-pass filter set at 90hZ! Problem solved, gig a success! 00:18:23 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at https://gusto.com/giggab 00:20:00 Attending SXSW for the first time 00:25:45 Learning how to manage SXSW 00:27:30 SXXpress passes become Reservations And now they’re 3-weeks out instead of 2 days! 00:33:21 Reserving things in advance 00:37:25 It’s all about planning in advance And then throwing away your plans and making a series of Sophie’s Choices 00:39:24 It’s a marathon…and a sprint 00:39:42 Managing the Calendar 00:43:39 With the App 00:48:43 Managing your monitor needs with efficiency at festival gigs 00:52:51 Security at SXSW 00:58:15 Luke Warm Solder Joint on the Microphone Heil PR-40 00:58:57 Eat good food! Brisket and BBQ Eastside Cafe in Austin 01:01:11 What should I wear? 01:06:36 Find a SXSW Sherpa! 01:07:58 Finding your badge? 01:08:59 Always have your badge with you 01:11:38 Gig Gab 523 Outtro Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post From Festival Gigs to SXSW: Survival Tips for Musicians and Attendees — Gig Gab 523 with Lisa Hamilton appeared first on Gig Gab.