Tech Rider Information
I aspire to becoming a prima-donna with nothing but white orchids and champagne in my dressing room but for now I'll keep it simple.
Things I need for a good show:
1) A couple of bottles of water, no bubbles!
2) A cup of tea is always nice. I like PG Tips, Barrys, Red Rose, Typhoo. Black tea, milk and a Splenda
3) A PA to make me louder. Ideally something with a monitor and a boom stand. I need at least 2 channels.
4) If this is a house concert I may not need the PA. We can discuss.
5) I like playing on a rug and not on hard ground or concrete. It makes a difference.
6) Be great if I could get some food too. Chicken Caesar salad is my favorite meal.
If I'm on tour in the U.S. and am driving - I will typically travel with a 6 string acoustic, 12 string acoustic, a dobro and a telecaster, my own PA and my own little amp. If I am in Europe I will likely need a PA and a little amp. I had them there but some bastard stole them in 2019. I'm not bitter.
As far as PA and amps are concerned - I can make just about anything work for me but ideally I would have 2 inputs on the PA, 1 for voice and 1 for acoustic guitar. I would like to have a monitor speaker facing back at me so I can hear too and a microphone stand with a boom on it, a "boom" is like an arm that tips backwards, most stands have them. Don't worry, I will have my own microphone.
As far as amps go - my favorite is a Vox AC15 with a footswitch to turn the tremolo on and off. If a Vox isn't available a Fender Blues Jr will do the trick. The great thing about blues jr's is they are everywhere. If you don't have one, I'll bet money that you know someone that does and will let you borrow it for the night. They're cool little indestructible amps. I own a couple of them, I think. Ok. I know where one of them is. I don't know where the others are. I probably let someone borrow it. It'll turn up. I'm not worried.
Lastly, and I know this is bordering on prima-donna-ish again, a rug. If the ground is hard or it's a wooden stage, a rug looks nice and it really does improve the sound. Rugs eat up a lot of harsher tones that create feedback and noise. Playing on a rug helps my pedals not slide away and it just really pulls the room together. Yeah, of course I went Lebowski there.