Claire Murphy is a Guitar Tech originally from Wales, and currently based out of Long Beach, CA. For the last four years she has been with Vance Joy as his tech over his last two album cycles.
She is a member of Soundgirls.org, offering her time to young women seeking a path into the touring industry. Recently, Claire has launched a book of her own, Girl on the Road – How to Break into Touring from a Female Perspective.
Ryan Philip George is a guitar and keyboard tech and one of the founders of thistourlife.com. Ryan is a graduate of Temple University and got his start in the music business in Philadelphia at Centerstaging in 2001, where he became well versed in all aspects of Backline.
A few short years later he accepted his first touring gig as keyboard/computer tech on Beckʼs Guero tour. Since then, he has been touring full-time for such artists as Jack White, Sigur Ros, Arcade Fire, MGMT, Death Cab For Cutie, Macklemore and more.
Ashley Shepherd is a producer, composer, musician, author and owner of Audio Grotto, a full-service recording studio located in a turn-of-the-century church in Newport, KY.
Ashley’s client list includes Puma, Buffalo Trace, Proctor and Gamble, NFL, Oprah, Seinfeld, Craig Kilborn, and NASCAR. A short list of his film credits include “b-movie,” Three Barbecues, Vino Veritas, Fractured, and 50/50.
Ashley is also part owner in PICTUREMUSIC, a three-way partnership with Ben Davis and engineer Matt Hueneman to create complete audio productions (including original music) for agencies, brands, movie trailers and more.
There are many types of successful people out there; those who fell into their position, those for whom luck comes easy and often, and even those that lie, cheat, and steal their way into opportunities until they find themselves in a position of power, leaving a trail of heartbreak and deceit along the way.
Yet there’s another group, who climb the ladder of success in a most understated way. Day in and day out, they quietly do their jobs, learning, getting better, being forthright with their peers and employers, their innocence and naïveté coupled with a pure love and passion for their career, eventually leading them to the highest ranks within their chosen field.
Guitar Tech Steven “Charley” Cohen is a member of this aforementioned group. His approach is simple, his love of his job is pure and palpable, and his sense of self and his ability is straightforward and clear.
This week’s guest is guitar/bass tech Aron Michalski, a New England native who has toured the world a few times over with the likes of Paul Simon, Metallica, the Indigo Girls, Norah Jones, Babyface, Bruce Springsteen, Weezer, and Little Feat, just to name a few.
I caught up with Aron via Skype, while he was on a short break a few weeks ago in-between runs with the Indigo girls. Given the depth of his resume, you can only imagine how deep his story runs, and I’m very excited to share it with you.
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