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Words & pictures by Steve Moles

Black Stone Cherry

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It’s always good to throw yourself into the unknown once

in a while, and when I saw Black Stone Cherry (BSC)

pop-up on the UK arena circuit listings I was sorely

tempted to step into that dark place. A quick trawl of

YouTube soon convinced me this was a good idea. Here

was a no-nonsense rock band from Kentucky:

determinedly against-trend, they sang songs about Mary

Jane and made videos starring rock chicks with long hair

and wistful faces strumming their guitars under a freeway

flyover that spanned a leafy Appalachian valley. Feeling

isolated and alone? I should say so. That said, how they

came to be plying the arena circuit still eluded me.

The show transpired to be a three-band celebration of hardrock, and while I can’t really say anyone will miss Theory ofa Deadman when they finally get consumed by worms,Airbourne were an altogether different beast. I’m sure it’salready been said a thousand times before, but if AngusYoung could sing as well as play guitar he would beAirbourne’s frontman, Joel O’Keeffe. This band areunashamedly hardwired into the AC/DC mould and pull itoff with some thrash and panache. So good were they infact, that I started to become a little afraid for BSC. 24Marshall cabinets stacked two high dominated the stage,with a pair of Ampeg SVT cabinets flanking them for goodmeasure. Swinging long hair, check; bare-chested leadguitar, check; bourbon-soaked raucous vocals, check - full-on testosterone rock. As a warm-up act they’d be hardto beat at any festival and I really enjoyed them even if theywere ear-whistling loud (that’s what ear plugs are for).

But I needn’t have fretted over BSC: their opening songimmediately put distance between them and Airbourne.While they might not have had quite the power andintensity of Airbourne, they more than made up for it withmelody and harmonies. This was thinking man’s rock witha hard edge; I nearly went and had a tattoo.

What I’d seen on YouTube made me think Lynyrd Skynyrdmeets Nickelback, and while there were echoes of thatcombination in the live performance, they were, to theircredit, an entirely distinct entity. You could smell theHickory smoke in their tunes but there was a touch ofChicago blues to put an edge on things. They also hadone other extremely powerful asset in their inventory - theywere the most charming and engaging band on stage:none of that ‘Fucking-A Sheffield’ - these guys talked likethey would be sharing a beer with some of their fansafterwards, the familiarity with the crowd was something tobehold.

SoundEasily the biggest part of a BSC show is the sound.

While some of the songs I heard were now vaguelyfamiliar to me, the live rendition featured frequent

forays into uncharted exploration. Front-of-house engineer Brandon Henbest has a bigjob - these forays aren’t indulgent noodlingthrough the Southern book of guitar clichés,these guys can play with some invention; that, more than anything, is what gives them

the edge.

“I’ve just got four guys to look after,” Henbest began,modestly enough. “Drums, bass and two guitars, withguitar and bass also providing backing vocals. Vocal micsare all Sennheiser - 935 capsules for BV, with lead on a 945. I chose the 945 for a bit more clarity; he sings rightin front of the drums and our drummer really hits hard, sothat tighter pattern is really helpful. It is loud on stage - alllive cabinets, though all the guys use IEMs - but that levelhas influenced what I do a great deal.”

Henbest seeks and achieves a remarkably clean sound:after the relative din of Airbourne, this was well defined.“Chris Robertson [lead vox] sings on the mic and he has a big voice with powerful delivery, so it’s just spill I’mconcerned with, not gain. But for the guitars I’m usingPalmers.” I’d not heard of these before. “They’re a speakersimulator, like a DI, you just plug the amp head straightinto it. I do have [Sennheiser MD] 421s on the guitarcabinets as well, but they’re for the monitors. The Palmersgive me the guitars totally clean and have a good cabinetsound. I don’t have to do a lot of treatment, practicallynone in fact, the guys provide all the effects, and this waythey are rendered live as they intend.

“I even use one on the Bass,” he continues. “That’s a newthing: I had a spare and thought I’d try it and was surprisedthat it brings a little more warmth to the Bass sound, but Ialso take a feed out of a Sansamp on the Pre, plus there is,again, a 421 for the monitors. The guys all prefer the micsound in their ears. A friend of mine introduced me to thePalmers just as I came into my twenties. He’d heard themon a Joe Satriani tour he’d worked and suggested them.Then, when I came to work for BSC we were touring insupport and the main act used them and let me try a sparethey carried. I’ve been using them ever since. The key isconsistency: you get the same sound whatever the roomyou play, and with BSC we tend to move between littleclubs to big arenas, even in the space of a tour like this.We’d opened in the UK last night at the Hydro in Glasgow;the gig before we were in a place that held just sevenhundred.”

Henbest indicated that BSC are in the midst of growingtheir audience and that Europe is their strongest market,with the UK at the top - hence this venture into arenas.Readers should note the Sheffield Motorpoint was drapeddown to maybe 5,000 capacity, but then what’s thealternative? Four nights at the City Hall - and you’d neversqueeze Airbourne on there. There is an argument for avenue circuit to sit between the large theatres (typically3,000 cap max) and the 10k and above arenas, but I guessif the existing arenas can make this reduced capacity workfinancially, then why not?

“The kit is all Sennheiser and Neumann,” Henbestcontinued. “I have to be really careful with the kit: one ofmy primary concerns is the physical size of themicrophone. The drummer (John Fred Young) can getpretty wild and did trash a mic last night. So despite a bigkit - he has two kick drums and a 20” floor Tom that isreally a kick on its side - I don’t use too many mics, andwhat I do use is all pretty standard.”

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Henbest has been with BSC since 2010 andthey are his main act. “I do sound for my localchurch in Kentucky when I’m not touring, butsince I started with them I’ve got other work withSleeper Agent, Cadillac 3 and Paper Kites. Thefunny thing is, BSC are the only hard rock bandamongst them,” which nicely qualifies hismixing abilities.

A DiGiCo SD10 sits out front, and systemsuppliers Britannia Row have also provided a Midas PRO2 for Airbourne. “I’ve always got onwith DiGiCo; we shared an SD10 with Theoryearlier this year and I really liked it. It’s a realworkhorse - all the compressors and gates areperfect for what I need. I have selected a Tube[the DiGiCo D-TuBe] on each vocal channel towarm up what I get from the pre’s. Between themix busses and the groups I’m easily able toshape the sound I want, wrapping the BVsaround the lead vocal, placing the guitarsforward in the mix without overwhelming thevocal. Effects-wise I don’t do much, just someLarge Hall on the snare mic, and that’s for thedrum solo where he does some really nicesnare rolls; and I use a little Plate on the vocals.That’s about it.”

The PA system is L-Acoustics K1, “and the guysfrom Brit Row have been fantastic. This is justour second UK arena show and I’ve neverworked with them before, but already I appreciate how knowledgeable they are. TheHydro has some issues around the low end,unwanted rumbling, and hey, I encounter allsorts in the different venues we play, but havingsomeone on your crew who’s been there beforeand can give you good advice about what’sgoing on is a real bonus.”

How come Henbest is working with a companyhe’s never worked with before? “Colin West isour production manager and he put this legtogether for us while he was in Europe withSoundgarden for the summer. This arena leg isthe only part of our European tour that carriesproduction and being a short run we neededproduction supply nailed early to ensure we gotwhat we wanted. For me, I’m happiest witheither K1 or the d&b J-Series, though I have a Meyer system at Church and like that too. Butfor touring this band the K1 or J are best. Colin

had used Brit Row for Soundgarden and likedthem; he brought that experience to the tableand I said the system is good so let’s do it. I came in today, ran my recordings from lastnight’s show in Glasgow - I track every show -and after a few tweaks I was really happy.”

As I mentioned at the beginning, the band dodrift off from their recorded sound: “I don’t doscenes,” is Henbest’s response. “They couldjam at any moment, so I just lay with it,” a laid-back understatement of how, despite its hardrock edges, this show can be delightfullymusical.

MonitorsI’m introduced to ‘British Mike’ as the band’smonitor man, though to listen to MichaelRoland’s accent you’d be hard pushed to saywhere he is from. The reason soon becomesclear. “This is my first run with BSC but I workwith a bunch of big name acts in Canada - BigWreck who supported Motley Crue earlier thisyear; Marianas Trench, a Canadian arena act,and Call Me Maybe. Doing a headline tour withBig Wreck we had Theory of a Deadman insupport; they called me afterwards to do somework for them and they shared some showswith BSC. One night BSC’s truck arrived late, I threw together a mix for them in ten minutesand they loved it.”

While it sounds like good fortune shone onRoland, he is not afraid to go looking for it. I asked if he ever ventured front-of-house? “I don’t really do front-of-house much, in fact I started out studying photography at college. I left England for Australia to try my luck outthere but got tired of it all - I didn’t want to endup a wedding photographer. I happened to flickthrough a sound mag of some sort and althoughI’d never really wanted to be a musician, I likedthe idea of working with sound, so I went to SAEto learn. It was six months before I realised whatyou learn is not the full picture and dropped out.A local guy at Byron Bay on the East Coast,where I was staying, gave me a gig at his club,the Back Room. I worked there for almost twoyears and learned to do everything, but again I got itchy feet and went to Canada where I havesome family.” He has since settled in Torontoand has a Canadian partner, hence theindecipherable accent.

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From top:

L-R, Britannia Row’s PA crew: Terence Hulkes,Colin Burrell and Craig Ross (system tech).

The L-Acoustics K1 and K2 system, supplied byBritannia Row Productions.

Brandon Henbest, FOH sound engineer.

Mike Roland, monitor engineer.

Above, left: LD Joe McKinney.

Above, right: Colin West, production manager.

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“When I first arrived I ended up working inCalgary at a 300-capacity club and soon pickedup a monitor gig with Down, an offshoot ofPantera. I really love doing monitors and enjoythe direct contact with the artists - you can seethe fruits of your efforts immediately on theirfaces. Ever since then I’ve been getting calls.”His ability appears solid enough, and as BSChad experienced his work before he was a natural shoe-in when Colin West called. “He’sbeen with us just two shows and it’s going verysmooth,’ said West.

Like Henbest, Roland singled out the backinghe got from Brit Row: “The thing is, they werethrown in at the deep end. We all flew in fromdifferent places, me, Colin, Brandon - and theypieced it together really quickly.”

Roland has an Avid Profile. “I need something I know. I like to know where I need to massagethe console; they all have their own character. I try not to colour the sound too much but I douse a few Plug-ins: the C6 I swear by; the NLS,which is a pre-amp drive emulator of the SSLEMI console; the V-Comp; SSL G Buss Comp,and the API 550B which I find breathes a bit oflife into the digital conversion - it really takes theflatness out that you get with guitar sound.

“When I started with the band - that first ten-minute throw-it-together gig notwithstanding - I tried to take the rock band approach, all super-tight and isolated. But actually what they want ismore organic, Chris [Robertson, lead vocals,lead guitar] totally flipped that idea on its head -he wants the room in there; it’s unusual theamount of ambience mic he wants in there. So room acoustics play a big part and I do haveto fluctuate the presence constantly, so when I set-up I shape the mix for the empty room,probably only needing very little, and then pull itin for the show.

“Like Brandon, I don’t write scenes: forexample, there are two positions for backingvocals, downstage left and right and up at theback walkway, and both men move around a lot, and switch sides. I have Opto-Gates onthe mics to open the channel for me while I identify who is singing where; they work prettygood though there are lighting scenes that canthrow them. The IEM system is Sennheiser2050, and the guys have just switched to 1964plugs and seem pretty happy with them.

Probably the best tool I have added is a BlackLion Clock on the end of the digital mic feed;that really improves clarity, though it also drawsattention to those console characteristics I mentioned, so it’s a good and bad thing.”

LightsHe probably won’t like me for saying it, but it’shard to escape the likeness: LD Joe McKinneyboth looks and sounds like actor RichardDreyfuss, circa Jaws, when he was young, vitaland compelling. That said, McKinney is a morediffident character - but there is something moreto this . . .

“I’m not really an LD,” he reveals. “My mainwork is editing for video and TV.” You mightassume this means music videos, but not so.“It’s what I studied at University; although I’vedone the lights for BSC on and off for the lastfive years, it’s editing that is my trade. I especially like working on animation andgraphics; that’s one of the reasons I moved tothe UK two years ago: things are much moreadvanced here in terms of what’s being done,and the attitude is better, much more open.”

So just how did he get to be the band’s LD? “I grew up in Kentucky with these guys andspent a couple of years on the road with them.We came over here with Nickelback a few yearsago and when the band then took off to writetheir third album, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, I sat back and tried to evaluate what I reallywanted to do. I went for editing and got my firstjob in St Louis, then I moved on to Houston,and eventually to London. You might say I washaving my quarter-life crisis, but as I said, I’dtoured here and knew I liked it and as far aspost production editing is concerned Soho inLondon is where it’s at.” McKinney has tworetainers, has filed for UK residency and is self-evidently a successful editor.

“But when Ben [Wells, rhythm guitar] called meabout this arena run, I found that beingfreelance I could re-schedule myself and takeon the tour. PRG provides the system; it hadbeen a while since I’d touched a console, so I was little anxious.”

An initial glance at the rig when entering thevenue led me to comment that the band hadgiven him a generous budget. “The design issimple,” says McKinney, “the concept of the

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Cherry Pits & Pieces• Production - Colin West: When I got

the call to do this I was still out withSoundgarden, so I sat down with

Kevin Cauley, Soundgarden’s LD. Hedrew something up, we sent it to Joe

Miller, BSC’s tour manager. He andJoe (McKinney) added some bits andsent it to PRG. John Lawhon, in the

band, did the stage design - that’s notso unusual for these guys - and

Robert Achlimbari at All Access put ittogether. It works very well.”

The stage set is simple enough: a riser across the back has a broadramp to each side, giving the band

easy running-around space for theirhigh energy performance. A pair of

small, maybe half-metre-wide, posingplatforms flank the centre vocal mic,

sitting between BV mic positions andthe centre mic stand. The great thing

about these and the back ramps isthe two guitar players’ willingness touse them. The amount of movement

on stage is a real boost to theperformance.

• On Britannia Row Productions:“The Brit Row thing was more direct”,

continued West. “They were alreadydoing a great job for us with

Soundgarden, so I called Lez Dwight,my contact at Brit Row, said I wanted

a rig of K1/K2 for the arenas andgave him the dates. Considering the

short run, everyone gave us anunbelievable price’ the production

rehearsal at LS-Live was just great,the crew up there were really

supportive - we even enjoyed thatstrange little pub just up the road -

and it was really nice to see theband’s design realised.”

• On Special Effects: “The only thingthat’s thrown me on this run was ourspecial effects. We have six cryo’ jets

from PyroJunkies: we submitted allthe paper work and have had OK’s

back from all the venues, but for ourfirst show in Glasgow they weren’t

allowed. I’m not quite sure what wentwrong there - maybe I didn’t submit

correctly, but it’s just blasts of frozenair so I was a little disappointed. Butthe band took it OK, they’re not a bigpart of the show, they just punctuate

a couple of big moments.” Actuallythe use of the cryo jets I saw was

rather tasty . . . rather than follow thebeat of the song, they pulsed briefly,as if building up a head of steam just

ahead of a big burst of energy fromthe band.

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front and mid trusses being split in the middleand shaped to present as a diamond en pointegives a lot of depth and makes the rig look farbigger than it is. On the front, mid and rear thereare 12 VL3500s on each, a fifty-fifty mix of Spotand Wash, plus I have another three lamps eachside on short trusses running up/down stage.

“Apart from that there are 23 Atomic 3Ks - thisband need a lot of strobes - and I have a dozenSharpys, three each on floor-standing uprighttrusses behind the band’s rear walkway. TheSharpys are my workhorse effect, while theVari*Lites carry the band, wash the stage andlight the backdrop. There are also 16 four-cellMoles spread evenly around the trusses. I couldhave gone with VL3000 but PRG had the 3500sand who was I to say no? The great thing for mewas the pre-production time that Colin arrangedat LS-Live. We had a day to rig then the bandcame in the next day, so I had that night tomyself. Previously I had done most of my workon the original GrandMA, and had used the newMA 2 before I stopped. I don’t so much build a show song by song as assemble a bunch ofsequences. Knowing the material as well as I do,that means I can respond when they fall into ajam session. I suppose it’s because I’m used tothem, but I’m much more comfortable with a setof palettes and a handful of effects. It’s not a totalbusk, but with the amount of time available inproduction rehearsals I needed somethingflexible to get started. It’s by no means there yet,but it soon will be.”

Considering McKinney has had his rig on tourfor just two shows it was remarkably fluid; hecertainly knows the band’s chops, no matterhow free-form they become. Another couple ofalternative painted backdrops on Kabuki torelieve the tedium of the Prairie vista withmountains on the near horizon would have beennice, but that was a band thing, so he had nochoice. “The thing is, they like to be seen, theyare as happy to be in a little 300-capacity clubin Amarillo Texas as they are at Wembley Arena,just so long as they’re in touch with theaudience. In that sense what I do can appearclub-like, and even with so few lights I don’t feelthe need to always use the whole rig. At thesame time, when it gets heavy, then I make surethe strobes go crazy.”

As do the Sharpys, 3500 Spots and pulses fromthe Moles. McKinney had a beautiful movement

cue that really caught my eye about halfway intothe show, one that is probably indicative ofthose sequences he mentioned when talking ofproduction rehearsals. Nothing complex, it sawthe Sharpys in a gentle ballyhoo come to a standstill and a wide beam circular gobo inthe Spots then picked up the motion exactly asthe Sharpys stopped and took the ballyhoo outinto the audience. Like so many such things,timing was everything and it looked a lot crisperthan it sounds in the written word.

How had he got on with the MA2? “Well, therehave been a few software updates since my lasttime, so it’s taken me a while to find wherethose things you really want are hidden inamong all the other features, but I’m more thancomfortable with it. Even coming from editing,which has quite different pressures in how youoperate, the MA2 just makes sense to me - I love the console.”

As he had raised the subject himself, I askedhow the two disciplines compare? “They dohave similarities in that both require you to tell a story, but lighting all happens in the moment,whereas editing is very considered, so thethinking is quite different. It has taken me theselast couple of days to switch into the moreimmediate way of thinking and that’s beeninteresting to experience. But I’ve been lucky,the crew have been fantastic and that hasmade the whole process a million timeseasier.”

In what way? “Simple things, like getting the rigup in short order. We have sound-check at 3pmbecause of the other acts, and I’ve been able tograb a couple of hour’s quiet desk time beforesound-check to work on the show. You can’t betrying to reorganise cue stacks when there’s a whole lot of noise going on. I know that mightsound weird, but the concentration required todo that is quite different from the concentrationyou need to run a show.”

So having got comfortably behind the consoleagain, is he tempted to stay? “My career as anLD is direct from BSC: this is a special group ofguys for me. So editing is what I do, but if theycall, I will be here.” McKinney will get to exerciseboth skills in the not-too-distant future: the bandare recording the show in Birmingham with a view to releasing a live DVD.

Craig Ross, System TechCraig Ross, Terence Hulkes and ColinBurrell constitute the Britannia RowPA crew. Ross has been a systemtech for Brit Row since arriving fromNew Zealand five years ago. “InitiallyI learnt my craft with Oceania in NewZealand,” he said, “but I’ve continuedto learn a lot here with Brit Row.” I pondered what Oceania think aboutlosing their staff to the northernhemisphere, but suppose it is insome ways inevitable because oftheir remote location. Ross agreed,and added: “Although Brit Row has,to my knowledge, employed manysound techs from Australia and NewZealand over the years, we currentlyhave a big influx of some really goodItalians.” No doubt a reflection of thesagging Italian economy? “Maybe.Either way they’re good guys,” -which rather fits with Brit Row’sglobal connections and its history ofhiring good people from all over theworld.

What about the rig? “Interestingly,after five years in the UK this is myfirst time in the Sheffield Arena. A lovely room to work, with the backwall covered with drapes it hasmade the rig easy enough. Mainleft/right hangs of K1 with two Karaat the bottom of each for down fill,and four K2 off to each side for thecloser seating in the tiers to thesides of stage. Front-fills are alsoKara with nine Subs stacked three-high per side.”

I had listened to the K2s earlier inthe day, standing directly on-axiswhen Airbourne were sound-checking. Having never had theopportunity to hear them alonebefore I was impressed by thepowerful delivery at approximately20m. I asked Ross, ‘Do you thinkwith the Arena curtained off for a smaller audience you could cover a room like this with just a K2system?’ “Possibly, but they don’thave the throw of the K1. K1 doesthe room comfortably, throwing 60to 70 metres, so there is no need fordelays.”

Considering the sustained high levelsI heard during this show I’m inclinedto agree the longer-throw, morepowerful K1 was the better option,but if this was Olly Murs, say, then itmight be worth considering. As Rosssaid, the room is easy enough, butthat doesn’t mean you can justthrow it up, and he certainly didn’tdo that; coverage was veryconsistent and the sub array inparticular was very potent, flappingthe trouser well beyond the mixingdesk - an essential ingredient for anyhard rock show.

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