Sound check, one two, one two.

above:  AKU-MATU performance at the Great Northern Festival, 2024.  photo by Jayme Halbritter.

 This performance had amazing sound for my 30 minute set.

Maybe it was because I understand and respect the sound engineering team, and I know what I need.  I do have a one-year certificate in Audio Engineering after all, and it does help me to communicate my needs.

The school I went to for audio engineering, I recently attempted to get a copy of my transcripts, and I found out the school closed eight years ago.  I never became an audio engineer, yet something in me "clicks" when I am about to perform, and there is no one who understands what is going wrong, and there is no amazing professional engineer on-hand.  In these moments, I am usually able to figure it out, but the extreme pressure has to be there for that knowledge to be pulled out, as I don't use it everyday, and it has been over 20 years since that schooling happened.

During this soundcheck, I changed one of my songs.  It became an improvised ode to the main sound engineer, and it was a funny, soulful ballad of what it must be like to be him, and to interact with artists, like me.  It made him and his staff laugh, and after my set, one of the bouncers pulled me aside and said my set was great, but that he really enjoyed hearing his boss have his own serenade for the sound check.

I hope that I will get to play at this venue again someday, in Minneapolis.  A stage where Prince had performed, and many many other amazing artists.  And I hope to make the amazing staff there laugh again, when I am placing props and explaining my preferences.

You could feel the vibrations that had graced the stage beforehand, and even in the skinny greenroom.   Next time, a longer set, and a full band behind me.

That is the dream attached to this photo.