Flyout Gig Blog

After two solid years with almost zero gigs, things finally picked back up for me this past year. And, after two solid years of practically zero air travel, flyout gigs are once again a reality, if still a somewhat rare one. But that's what this week was about, when I got called to play with a stellar lineup of musicians for a show in Steven's Point, Wisconsin.

I put together a nifty little pedalboard that could fit in my suitcase, a lightweight and sturdy model from the Livewire company. Then I needed to figure out what guitar to bring, and I was only going to bring one. I don't want to shock anyone, but I decided to bring an EverTune-equipped model, my sunburst PRS. I changed the strings on it, and tuned it from Eb up to standard, which was a breeze to accomplish. I checked the intonation and only needed to make a few minor tweaks. I was good to go.

I got to lovely Wisconsin, where the climate is pretty different from my home in Northern California--hotter and much more humid. The guitar was still in tune. Got to the gig and discovered it was outdoors, with no cover for the stage. We did a long soundcheck in direct sunlight (brutal!), and the PRS stayed in perfect tune for the duration, which is always a good thing, but it was especially good because I didn't even bring a tuner.

The show itself went from 6:00 to 9:00, so constant temperature changes the whole time, and guess what? Yep. Never went out of tune. Flew back yesterday and, get ready for this totally unexpected, Sixth Sense-level, out of nowhere, "never saw that coming" ending to the story: the guitar is still 100% in tune. 

This was a fairly nerve-wracking gig: tons of material I had never played before, musicians I had never even met, a rig I had never performed with, reading charts, and no rehearsal whatsoever. If I had to worry about going out of tune, hitting sour chords, or needing to tune up between songs when I should have been locating my next chart, it would have been too much. The added confidence that the EverTune bridge provided saved me, and made my rig sound great.

Oh, and my bandmates that night collectively have performed or recorded with (no kidding) Steve Miller, Dizzy Gillespie, Night Ranger, the Doobie Brothers, Prince, the Zac Brown Band, Poison, Emmy Lou Harris, Eddie Money, and many, many others. So no pressure there.

EverTune: The only way to fly!

My awesome bandmates. From left: vocalists Paula and Jesse Bradman, Matt Blackett, drummer Andy Eberhard, bassist Terry Miller, vibraphonist Roger Glenn, and vocalist Tim Hockenberry. Behind Paula on piano is bandleader Nolan Gasser.