Working at Jazz Fest

This is well after the fact, but a couple of months back A was asked by the esteemed JM if she would be interested in learning how to work the soundboard at various town events. It was kind of a cool opportunity and I think it stemmed from A's borrowing of JM's deejay equipment that she used to entertain a party at her camp. A was into it, and her inaugural event was going to be Jazz Fest, which is an all day event and has some serious talent involved.

She and I met up with the town sound man, DL, to move the equipment to the field, and then he walked her through the various pieces of equipment and what all those dials and knobs, hundreds of them, do. She was excited about it and on the big day reported for duty in the early AM. I guess they've done a few apprentice programs to teach kids about sound engineering, but I think A was the youngest. The grounds were buzzing with activity and I left her to learn the ropes. At some point in the afternoon we all headed over to check up on her and see if she wanted to take a break, which they were allowing for, but she said she wanted to stay and do her thing. In the end she worked the entire time, and I think it was nice for her to see some really good live music while also feeling important and useful in a grown up setting. As always, we are really proud of her, but most of all I'm glad she had fun doing it. Plus, since she loves music so much, it gives her a better understanding of how music recording and sound engineering works. Not a bad thing.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Joe Wallace for the pic.