“Guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel has spent most of 2011 touring the world, performing concerts in Europe, Asia, and even Russia. Best known for his complex finger picking style, energetic performances, and the use of percussive effects on the guitar, he now brings his high-energy show to the US for a series of summer dates. Along for the entire voyage has been a full package of Heil Sound microphones…” So begins a press release that I just completed over the holiday weekend.
From my point of view, the ideal situation is to have every mic on a stage be a Heil microphone. Some production people have a problem using only one brand throughout a stage. I’ve never understood that, but I’m fortunate in that nine times out of ten a Heil mic will be a better fit than a competing brand. Sound mixers are a feisty and independent bunch though and there are times when they will insist on using something that perhaps could have been covered with a Heil mic. But in my perfect world…
Back to Tommy…
Steve Law, Tommy’s FOH mixer, formerly with Keith Urban among others, sent Bob an email earlier this year inquiring about providing some Heil mics for Tommy Emmanuel’s upcoming tour. It consisted of a lot of dates and the opportunity for some great promo. Bob asked me to intervene, which is my job, and figure this out. I’ve known Steve for a long time and flat out asked him if he could get every mic to be Heil. I wasn’t sure about this as Steve has done ads for another small boutique mic company and I didn’t want to put him in a bad spot. Steve said he personally had no problems with it but would check with the powers-that-be at Tommy’s management company and get back to me.
Here is how the conversation went as reported back by Steve.
Steve to management, “Think we could use Heil Sound mics for the whole stage?”
Management to Steve, “If Tommy is cool with it, sure.”
Tommy to Steve, “I’m cool with it.”
Done.
Heil shipped a box of mics to rehearsals and now every input that needs a mic gets a Heil. Tommy has commented several times to Steve at the great sound he is getting. Steve, Tommy, and the band have been a fantastic addition to the Friends of Heil. Tommy does interviews, Steve invites interested parties to sound check, and even the merchandise table has cards inviting people to join the Heil Sound Facebook page. I couldn’t ask for more and I thank the entire organization for being so cool.
Greg McVeigh
Guesthouse Projects, Inc
Artist Relations for Heil Sound
