Gig Gab - The Working Musician's Podcast

Dave Hamilton & Friends
  • 4.9 (53)
  • Music Commentary
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to Gig Gab—the podcast sanctuary for working musicians and anyone fascinated by the vibrant, often unseen world behind every note played on stage. Whether you’re a musician, a member of the crew, or just someone who loves peeking behind the curtain to discover the secrets of live performances, you’ve found your tribe.

  1. 4d ago

    Growing Up Statler: Wilson Fairchild on Harmony, Hustle, and the Working Musician's Life

    This week Wil and Langdon Reid of Wilson Fairchild pull up a chair beside Dave to show you what a life in music actually looks like from the inside. These guys grew up on a tour bus in the ’70s and ’80s watching their dads, Don and Harold Reid, play eight years with Johnny Cash before becoming The Statler Brothers, a side-stage masterclass we all wish we had. You’ll hear the advice that shaped them: nobody can put you in the music business and nobody can take you out, so you’d better love the life and want it bad. You’ll get the manager horror stories (let’s just call him Peter), the reminder that every musician is an entrepreneur, and the hard, useful stuff most players dodge: build a P&L, diversify, manage cash flow first, and when it rains, fill up your buckets. Treat every gig like it matters, because you never know who’s in the room: never punish the people who showed up, and don’t play to the empty seats. Then you’ll dig into the craft that made the family famous: blood harmonies. Learn every part, let the piano teach you how the notes relate, and practice early in the morning just to find your pitch. You’ll discover why four voices were an act nobody wanted to follow, why going from two parts to four is an exponential lift, and where the modulation earns its keep. Through all of it runs one thread: be believable. Whether it’s a vanity song that tells your audience exactly who you are or a closer like It’s Amazing What a Hug Can Do, you sell it because you mean it. That’s the whole game: Always Be Performing, every seat, every song, every night. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 542 – Monday, July 13th, 2026 July 13th: National Barbershop Music Appreciation Day Guest co-hosts: Wil Reid and Langdon Reid of Wilson Fairchild 00:02:19 Post-gig snacks Nachos Chocolate Milk Twinkies Exempt from the food pyramid 00:05:17 Growing up on a tour bus in the 1970s and 1980s A Masterclass in performance art Their Dads, Don and Harold Ried played with Johnny Cash for 8 years before going out on their own as The Statler Brothers Watching from side stage 00:07:25 At 16 and 14, Wil and Langdon started band practice and gigging 00:08:07 Advice from Their Dads “Nobody can put you in the music business, and nobody can take you out” You gotta love the life. You gotta want it really bad. 00:09:24 Learning what to do…and what not to do 00:09:37 Manager stories! The manager who hangs on to you, waiting for something to happen, instead of doing work to make it happen for you. A tuition moment: “Let’s just call him Peter” 00:13:20 Our dads were businessmen Managing and building a retirement as a musician Business Brain – Every musician is an entrepreneur Coming from nothing, sharing a bedroom, make enough to live check-to-check When it rains, fill up your buckets! 00:18:37 The dreamers are the ones generating the income 00:20:24 Build a P&L for your music business 00:23:10 Diversify yourself, produce yourself, protect yourself CD Baby Concert Pay Manage cash flow first 00:24:36 Every gig has an opportunity for you You never know exactly who is in the audience “Never punish the people who showed up” – Parthenon Huxley “Don’t play to the empty seats” – Charlie Daniels 00:28:35 Singing “blood harmonies” together Tip 1: learn to sing every part Tip 2: playing piano will teach you how the notes work and relate together Statler Brothers were “Country lyrics with southern gospel harmonies” Tip 3: practice singing early in the morning just to learn your notes 00:34:30 Learning to blend with other people “Bach says no!” 00:36:00 Always think about the piano for harmonies Their dads, The Statler Brothers, were the first group in country music. Four voices were an act to follow! 00:39:30 Their sons, Jack and Davis Reid…the next generation Four part harmonies with their boys! 00:40:22 And now…harmony blend Going from two parts to four parts is an exponential lift! Dallas Corbin on Gig Gab – Rock is how high can you go? Country is how low can you go? Where is Skid Row of 2026? 00:50:00 The value of the modulation 00:54:17 American Songbook: Country Classics and Gospel Favorites on Gaither Music 00:58:10 Always be believable 01:01:00 The value of vanity songs in your set Show your audience who you are 01:04:00 It’s Amazing What a Hug Can Do 01:06:00 Gig Gab 542 Outtro Follow Wilson Fairchild @wilsonfairchild on IG Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Growing Up Statler: Wilson Fairchild on Harmony, Hustle, and the Working Musician’s Life – Gig Gab 542 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Growing Up Statler: Wilson Fairchild on Harmony, Hustle, and the Working Musician's Life

  2. Jul 6

    Ryan Goldbacher on Touring with Tom Keifer, Mixing FOH (and Monitors), and AI

    This week front-of-house engineer Ryan Goldbacher calls in from the road with Tom Keifer, and you’ll quickly learn that landing the next gig comes down to two things: competence, and not being miserable to be around. Word of mouth is the real currency of touring life, so Always Be Performing applies long after you step off stage: when the tour bus is smaller than your bedroom and there are twelve people on it, how you treat the room matters. You’ll pick up honest strategies for protecting your sanity on the road, from taking a walk to renting a car and disappearing into the mountains, plus why testing your limits only works if you actually know where they are. Then you and Ryan get deep into the craft. You’ll hear why the way FOH mixes your band one night can shape how it sounds for gigs to come, why you’ve got about thirty seconds to describe your band to a house engineer at load-in, and the EQ lessons Ryan learned the hard way dialing in loud rock guitars and high-passing the bass. Stop calling a kick a bass drum, leave some air in it, and don’t be afraid to turn the knobs until it sounds good. From the pressure-cooker of mixing monitors on Mr. Big’s final US tour to a frank take on AI mixing and building the next generation of engineers, this one’s loaded for anyone serious about live sound. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 541 – Monday, July 6th, 2026 July 6th: National Fried Chicken Day Guest co-hosts: Ryan Goldbacher 00:01:17 Ryan on tour with Tom Keifer 00:02:29 Word of mouth is the key Competence is key…that’s number one. Close number two: you’re not miserable to be around! 00:05:09 The tour bus is smaller than your bedroom, and there’s 12 people in it 00:07:19 Creating your own personal space Take a walk Rent a car and drive into the mountains 00:08:45 Week off between gigs Fly me to Spokane, then I’ll drive to Alaska Skagway, Alaska 00:11:11 FOH for Tom Keifer for Summer, 2026 You can’t spread yourself too thin If it won’t fit on your plate, get it off Having a dedicated monitor engineer makes a huge difference 00:13:50 Test your limits, but don’t be afraid to know where they are. 00:16:52 Always be communicating 00:18:46 This tour Ryan brings a FOH console House monitor engineer Band is all on wedges A&H Avantis Tom Keifer goes over the entire set with the house lighting designer 00:21:12 Tom Keifer helps Ryan with producing the show for the night The benefits of working with an artist who tells you how to make yourself more valuable to them 00:23:32 The FOH and Band relationship The way FOH mixes the band for one gig could affect the band for the future. Respect this! Communicate what your band sounds like to the engineer…early on as you’re loading in 00:29:42 Developing trust with your engineer first 00:31:03 Thirty seconds to describe your band 00:32:33 Making the next generation of engineers better 00:33:59 Engineers who are musicians / Musicians who are engineers ProTools…great software, dumb name! 00:38:18 Learning from mistakes 00:40:16 Stacking EQs on Rock Guitars by mistake…and then intentionally! Working with loud guitars on Stiff Little Fingers Steve Smith introduced Ryan to Stiff Little Fingers 00:41:21 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin’s OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code GigGab athttps://oneskin.co/GigGab  #oneskinpod #ad 00:43:30 Accidentally learning to drop guitar EQ between 2k-4k Adding a high-pass filter on the bass guitar in a rock band 00:48:21 Don’t call a kick drum a “bass” drum, otherwise you’ll mix it the wrong way. You want some air in that kick! 00:49:07 Don’t be afraid to turn the knobs until it sounds good 00:51:27 The pressure of mixing monitors makes you a great engineer Mixing monitors for Mr. Big’s final US tour 00:55:09 RTAs are great, but be able to do it by ear 00:58:29 Speaking of Toys…Let’s Talk AI Mixing Mentorship and apprentice programs 01:08:43 Show Logistics 01:10:03 Gig Gab 541 Outtro Follow Ryan Goldbacher @ryanthegoldbacher on IG Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Ryan Goldbacher on Touring with Tom Keifer, Mixing FOH (and Monitors), and AI – Gig Gab 541 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Ryan Goldbacher on Touring with Tom Keifer, Mixing FOH (and Monitors), and AI

  3. Jun 29

    Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don't Need a Backup Plan

    This week singer-songwriter Patrice Peris joins Dave to flip the script on building a music career. That question musicians always get – what’s your backup plan? – is a terrible one, because Plan A was never required to land where you first mapped it. Through COVID, a cancer diagnosis, and a bone-marrow transplant she now calls a rebirth, Patrice kept asking what each detour was teaching her and never stopped writing, landing sync placements on Netflix, HBO Max, and The Voice along the way. Want to break into sync licensing yourself? Get resourceful and bullheaded: take a class, build multiple streams of revenue, and gamify the grind: how many gigs can you find, how many music supervisors can you email? Every musician is an entrepreneur, and the numbers game rewards whoever keeps opening doors. Then Patrice gets practical, because gigging musicians are athletes. You get her playbook for protecting your voice across three-set nights: a real warmup, scale work, stretching, smart placement that pulls the sound out of your throat and into the mask, and the vocal rest you keep skipping. From there comes the band conversation nobody wants to have: in-ear monitors and the whole mix exist to serve the lead vocalist, so drop the ego and decide together what you actually want your band to sound like. Build a backup bench while you’re at it, because life happens and roles need filling. Patrice stepped back from the stage but never stopped creating, and that’s the whole point: keep writing, keep adapting, and Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 540 – Monday, June 29th, 2026 June 29th: National Waffle Iron Day Guest co-hosts: Patrice Peris 00:02:36 Live has given me things in waves that weren’t what I wanted Welcoming the unexpected 00:05:20 “What’s your Plan B?” Is a terrible question And Plan A doesn’t have to go where you planned 00:07:55 COVID and Cancer…all a journey 00:09:10 Perspective… always be asking: what is this teaching me? 00:10:43 Always writing 00:11:40 How do you get started writing for sync? A nod to bullheaded persistence 00:15:10 Starting a Sync Business Always have multiple streams of revenue Take a class (or two) 00:19:44 Being resourceful is the key to bullheaded persistence Gamify it all! How many gigs can I find? How many people can I email? 00:22:57 Learn to be strategic and mindful Anytime you’re climbing the ladder, failure is inevitable Invest energy into the creative realm and also into the business realm 00:25:54 “No Plan” isn’t a plan Listen to your inner 16 year old…sometimes! 00:29:47 Coaching people to let go of the hat The 80% Rule 00:35:20 Growing your music business 00:35:38 Vocal blowout Learn to Sing Like the Pro’s with Patrice Peris Voice Studios Gigging musicians are athletes Good warmup Scale work Physically stretching Take some vocal rest 00:41:00 Listening for Placement Where is the voice going? 00:42:31 In Ear Monitors can make a big difference Bands need to understand the sound has to serve the lead vocalist 00:44:42 What do we want our band to sound like to people listening? Bands need to come together as a group Communicate and decide upon the goal for what the BAND is going to sound like 00:49:38 Get two of everything 00:50:56 Gig Gab 540 Outtro Follow Patrice Peris Patrice Peris Voice Studios Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don’t Need a Backup Plan – Gig Gab 540 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don't Need a Backup Plan

  4. Jun 22

    Sub Gigs, Mic Mutes & the Art of Mixing Live with Jesus Hernandez

    This week you start things off digging into the craft that separates good gigs from great ones. You’ll get the playbook for prepping and surviving sub gigs, learn (again!) why a splitter snake earns its place in your rig, and sort through the real options when you need a mic mute switch that actually works. Then you wrestle with a question every working band faces today: are fan-posted videos helping your brand or hurting it? It’s the kind of practical, in-the-trenches breakdown that reminds you to Always Be Performing, whether the camera’s rolling or not. Then guest co-host Jesus Hernandez joins, and you trace his path from a Portastudio kid to the engineer bands trust with their sound, along with the philosophy he’s built along the way: you’re serving people’s ears, and the console is your instrument. You’ll hear why you should ask a band what they want to sound like before you touch a fader, why learning to mix yourself turns your engineer into a producer, and how routing a digital mixer keeps everything simple when the power flickers. He shares the gear that’s earned his trust, hard-won war stories from the road, his time subbing as a bass player in Nashville, and life on tour with a Phil Collins and Genesis tribute. By the end you’ll be listening to your own gigs with sharper ears and a hungrier inner critic. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 539 – Monday, June 22nd, 2026 June 22nd: National Chocolate Éclair Day Guest co-host: Jesus Hernandez 00:01:32 Prepping for and playing Sub Gigs Ultimate-Guitar’s Pro Charts…now with lyrics! 00:04:25 The benefits of splitter snake Listener Questions 00:09:55 Mark-What’s the best MD Mic Switch? D’Addario Mic Mute Infrared Mic Sensor Optogate Radial HotShot DM-1 or HotShot MD LILYP4D Mic Mute 00:20:25 Mark-Are fan-posted videos good or bad? 00:24:36 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code GIGGAB at https://www.oneskin.co/GIGGAB  #oneskinpod 00:26:54 Guest Co-host: Jesus Hernandez 00:28:20 Lady and the Tramp Start taught him to record multi-track Then the Portastudio Tascam Multitrack Recorder Jesus became the go-to guy for recording bands and fixing sounds 00:34:27 A2 at a local theater Then the A1 went on vacation, and Jesus became the A1 00:35:38 Then a jazz club Sound reinforcement at the most basic level Ultimately what you’re trying to serve is people’s ears. Use your eyes to serve that purpose. 00:37:38 Recording was rough at first, but you learn! Making recordings with a live performance in mind Let it Be…Naked 00:41:24 Ask the band: what do you guys want to sound like on the recording? “Take a picture of the band, then paint on top of it!” 00:32:36 For live sound: how do you find out what the band sounds like? Before arriving: listen to the band’s records (or the band they’re covering) 00:47:26 When doing sound, consider yourself a band member “Playing the console” – The mixer is an instrument I’m controlling the arrangement 00:48:50 Singing the praises of bands that can set levels on stage 00:49:20 A band whose levels are ALL over the place So bad the band was sent home after the first set. You have to be your hardest critic 00:53:25 Learn to mix yourself, then your engineer can go from problem-solver to producer! 00:55:26 “If the power goes out at the mixer, you’ll still sound good” Fixing it at the source The night the power-flickered and factory reset the mixer! PreSonus StudioLive 01:00:19 Keeping it as simple as possible Soft-patching, routing, matrixes, oh my! Learn how to route a digital mixer 01:06:39 The downsides of strictly analog But you learn how to ring out frequencies Fix low-end feedback by popping in/out the polarity button Rick Carmona (From “No Peace At All”), the engineer who mentored Jesus Every business is in the customer service Davis Thurston on Gig Gab The engineer has multiple customers: the band, the audience, and the staff at the venue 01:13:38 Bands vs. Reunion Gigs 01:18:25 Bringing an analog mixer…and no snake! 01:24:50 Soca Music 01:26:00 Time for some war stories 01:31:46 Subbing in Nashville as a bass player 01:08:21 On the road with Face Value, Phil Collins & Genesis Tribute Band 01:37:24 Jesus Hernandez Home Studio 01:38:23 Gig Gab 539 Outtro Follow Jesus Hernandez IG: @jesusandthecomplaintdepartment Jesus is my Sound Guy Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Sub Gigs, Mic Mutes & the Art of Mixing Live with Jesus Hernandez – Gig Gab 539 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Sub Gigs, Mic Mutes & the Art of Mixing Live with Jesus Hernandez

  5. Jun 13

    Three Rush Fans and Rush's 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar

    Three Rush fans — a father, a son, and Spartacus — walk into a podcast. There’s no punchline, just the tape rolling on a conversation that was going to happen anyway, and you get to be the fly on the wall. Two of them just flew home from LA, where they stood in the room and watched Rush kick off the tour nobody was sure would ever come. The third has been taking it all in from a distance, which is its own peculiar thing when you once mixed front of house for the band for years. You’ll get the origin stories — a kite-flying contest in early-seventies St. Louis, an R40 playlist that turned a kid into a lifer — plus enough on the drummer question (yes, Anika Nilles) and show-count stats to earn the Rush-nerd badge none of them will quite cop to. Then it gets real. This is a band that fans and insiders alike once quietly accepted was finished, now back out there proving otherwise, and that turns the talk toward something bigger than setlists. You get to do this. Whether it’s thousands of people or a Tuesday night for a dozen, that gratitude is the whole game — the reason to Always Be Performing no matter how rough the bus ride was. Stick around for a ten-year-old’s perfectly timed gut check that still lands two decades later. Press play, and join Lucas Hamilton, Robert Scovill, and Dave Hamilton for a tour through the opening of Rush’s comeback — from inside the room, and from afar. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 538 – Monday, June 15th, 2026 June 15th: British Beer Day Guest co-hosts: Lucas Hamilton and Robert Scovill 00:02:46 Rush Stats All three co-hosts have seen Rush live with 2 drummers Lucas and Anika are tied for Rush shows… as of this recording 00:04:39 Robert Scovill was living in St. Louis when he saw Rush with Rutsey KC Kite Flying Contest 00:07:31 Lucas’s Rush origin story 00:08:31 About that whole live concert sound thing Spoiler: Rush always sounded good 00:11:02 Favorite Rush heirlooms 00:13:55 I want a Red Barchetta for my midlife crisis Rush 2026 Tour started with 12 dates 00:16:02 That opening song, that opening night Rick Beato’s Breakdown of Xanadu 00:23:40 Anika Nilles’ dropped stick recovery Getting the first mistake out of the way moments into the first song of Rush’s 2026 Reunion tour 00:27:21 Time Stand Still for those emotional moments 00:33:11 Lights and video for 2112 – in the cave! 00:34:00 Singing 2112: Presentation at the tops of our lungs 00:38:50 Moving Pictures to open night 3 set 2 00:40:13 Loren Gold’s keys and vocal harmonies And Geddy Lee’s voice, too! 00:44:29 The composition of YYZ Alex Lifeson is the most underrated guitarist in rock and roll 00:45:48 Anika Nilles is just a star 00:49:25 Anika grooving during A Passage to Bangkok 00:52:22 The physicality of playing Rush music The wisdom of days off in between shows for the entire Rush Fifty Something tour 00:57:41 You know what we get to do today? We get to go play music in front of thousands of people! This is the best job on earth 01:01:23 Who is Spartacus? 01:03:33 Gig Gab 538 Outtro Follow Lucas Hamilton On Instagram Follow Robert Scovill On Facebook On Instagram On LinkedIn RobertScovill.com (where you’ll find The Back Lounge) Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Three Rush Fans and Rush’s 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar – Gig Gab 538 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Three Rush Fans and Rush's 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar

  6. Jun 8

    Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings

    This week on Gig Gab, Dave Hamilton sits down with guest co-host Rand Lempert of the Broken Rings, a two-piece recording project built on 15 years of musical kinship between Rand and guitarist Gio da Silva. You’ll hear how these two have crafted an intentional, travel-fueled recording process across cities, cutting live instruments and vocals together, passing files between New Orleans, Tampa, and now Denver, and why that friction and urgency is exactly the point. Rand makes a compelling case for keeping things analog as long as possible: real amps, minimal pedals, old-school mic placements like a modified Glyn Johns setup, and the conviction that nothing replaces the feeling of having a human being in the room when the tape (or hard drive) is rolling. The conversation ranges wide, from Rand’s vivid 9/11 tour story, stranded in St. John’s Newfoundland on one of the last planes to land before U.S. airspace shut down, to a deep dive into the art of the perfect pop song, with nominations for Tempted by Squeeze, Big Star’s Thirteen, Bryan Adams’ Cuts Like a Knife, and Fastball’s Out of My Head. Whether you’re a working drummer obsessing over beat placement, a songwriter who only writes when the muse actually shows up, or a road veteran who knows that idle days on tour are far worse than grueling ones, this episode has your number. Get out there, stay curious, and Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 537 – Monday, June 8th, 2026 June 8th: Name Your Poison Day Guest co-host: Rand Lempert 00:01:38 The Broken Rings are a 2-man band Drums, guitar, vocals all handled by Rand Lempert and Gio da Silva, his bandmate They consider themselves musical kin: They agree on 95% of all music Met in Houston, played in bands, then moved to different corners of the USA 00:04:48 Songwriting duo starts with a long distance relationship Lutefish Stream 00:07:03 Recording remotely doesn’t have the muse of travel So many different avenues to approach recording Finding a way to record with technology in a less sterile way 00:15:08 Preserving analog recording to digital “tape” 00:17:07 The process of recording drums Don’t mess up the end of the track! 00:21:14 Country music 00:23:25 Drummer kinship: Tris Imboden saves the day! Learning by visual 00:31:41 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit https://Claude.ai/giggab 00:33:37 Surviving the road 00:34:45 Road story: hanging out in St. John’s Newfoundland for 5 days Sonny James and the Centers in Europe in 2001 “There’s nothing wrong with this airplane, but this plane is being diverted because of terrorist attacks in the United States.” Canadian authorities: “What do we do with these people? Bring them to a hockey arena!” Memorial University of Newfoundland 00:44:35 Opening up for Bo Diddley in 2004 In Beaumont, Texas Touring is a lot of driving, and you’re doing the driving It’s a lot of lugging equipment, and you’re doing the lugging You get a hotel room…for the entire band! 00:48:55 When touring, days off are worse than the grueling days on 00:51:02 It’s important to travel Touring is the way to do that for a lot of us musicians 00:51:25 Making touring maps as a kid is a good sign Rand needed to do this as a career 00:52:50 First concerts, sound nerding, and getting lost in the music for the first time Rand got lost at four years old! Nerd out about sound and recording First concerts! Weather Report for Dave Air Supply for Rand 00:58:05 The Best pop songs Gravitating towards the hook! Cuts Like a Knife – Bryan Adams Tempted – Squeeze Thirteen – Big Star Out of My Head – Fastball One Headlight – Wallflowers No Matter What – Badfinger 01:12:22 Gig Gab 537 Outtro Follow Rand Lempert The Broken Rings Sick in the city – The Broken Rings Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – Gig Gab 537 with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings

  7. Jun 1

    AI and Music for Working Musicians: Tool, Threat, or Bandmate?

    This week Stu Dias joins Dave from a slightly different corner of Durham, New Hampshire, and after a quick detour through barefoot drumming, sweaty-hand fixes, and oversized triangle guitar picks, the conversation locks onto the question every working musician is wrestling with right now: what does AI mean for music? You’ll hear why Dave reframes it as Assistive Intelligence (and the best procrastination-killer and writer’s-block-buster going) even as you stare down the harder stuff: Suno-generated tracks, Jack Tempchin’s AI-assisted album, and the ouroboros of machines learning from the music we make. Should AI art be labeled? What happens when it conjures someone’s likeness? And does any of it move you the way a human in a room can? That last question is the heartbeat of the episode. Dave and Stu weigh AI music against the cover-band hustle, remember what COVID lockdowns taught us about humans craving real humans together, and get honest about whose jobs are actually on the line and where AI mixing fits in your workflow. The kicker for every gigging musician: if the machines are going to use your voice and your playing, take a long-term cut of the sales. It’s a sharp, funny, occasionally unsettling look at the line between tool and threat…and a reminder that however the tech shakes out, you Always Be Performing. Hit play for the full conversation. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 536 – Monday, June 1st, 2026 May 25th: National Barefoot Day Guest co-host: Stu Dias 00:00:56 Playing drums barefoot 00:02:34 Iontophoresis for sweaty feet and hands 00:05:05 We all have our own thing for ourselves Large guitar picks for Stu. Equilateral triangles! 00:07:03 AI and Music 00:12:40 AI is the best procrastination eliminator It helps with writer’s block AI Based Plugins and Compressors are fantastic For Dave, AI is Assistive Intelligence 00:13:59 AI Generated music like Suno 00:18:22 Should AI-generated art be labeled as such? 00:22:58 What about if AI generates the likeness of someone? De-Feedback on Gig Gab 00:24:53 Ouroborotic 00:27:31 Using AI to create music Business Brain theme music Jack Tempchin’s AI-assisted album Beck’s Song Reader Creating walk-on music for your band Bowling For Soup’s (non-AI-created) walk-on music for live shows 00:40:47 Comparing Human-Created Music vs. AI-Created music 00:45:11 AI Music vs. Cover Music 00:47:58 COVID Lockdowns taught us that we like to bring humans together 00:55:37 What’s AI going to make Dave say? 01:03:08 Jobs on the line Elvis impersonators and sax players from rock songs in the 80’s 01:05:42 AI Mixing Davis Thurston on Gig Gab 01:13:04 Do we have to Take a long-term cut of the sales, folks! 01:18:06 Gig Gab 536 Outtro Follow Stu Dias Diaspora-Radio.com Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post AI and Music for Working Musicians: Tool, Threat, or Bandmate? – Gig Gab 536 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    AI and Music for Working Musicians: Tool, Threat, or Bandmate?

  8. May 25

    Loaded Out, Rolling Home, Rolling Tape

    Ride shotgun with Dave as he records GigGab on the drive home from a Casual Gravity gig, finally living out the show’s original mission. You’ll hear why packing your own mixer saves the night when the venue only wants a single feed from the band, what it’s like when an in-ear band plays its first fully sober gig, and why counting songs in to a click track changes everything once adrenaline stops driving your tempo. Then dig into relearning vocal harmonies for the Underground Band: using the Moises app to isolate vocals, pulling sheet music, and plunking out intervals on piano to lock stacks into your ear. Buddy Gibbons sparks a drumming debate on single strokes versus marching-style sticking through the Foreplay/Long Time triplets, and Dave gets honest about throat fatigue, Lyme disease aftermath, dust mite allergies, and the sublingual immunotherapy bringing his voice back. Listen to your body, learn the parts, and Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 535 – Monday, May 25th, 2026 May 25th: National Tap Dance Day 00:00:10 Driving Home Experiment 00:01:42 Casino Gig Setup 00:06:38 Sober Show, Strong Set 00:08:19 Relearning Vocal Harmonies 00:18:15 Drumming Through Both Hands 00:21:47 Insurance And Smoke-Filled Gigs 00:26:42 Throat Troubles And Recovery Stuff Mentioned: Mackie DL32S Moises I Love a Piano MusicPro Equipment Insurance 00:31:24 Gig Gab 535 Outtro Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Loaded Out, Rolling Home, Rolling Tape – Gig Gab 535 appeared first on Gig Gab.

    Loaded Out, Rolling Home, Rolling Tape
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Welcome to Gig Gab—the podcast sanctuary for working musicians and anyone fascinated by the vibrant, often unseen world behind every note played on stage. Whether you’re a musician, a member of the crew, or just someone who loves peeking behind the curtain to discover the secrets of live performances, you’ve found your tribe.

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