Last year my trio was featured statewide on a morning chat show. (For the record I have some background in TV as a producer, camera, sound and lighting op on many cable access shows.)
The show runs live, and we arrived at 7am to set up and prep. My pianist was skeptical of the worth of the whole endeavor, but I wanted the video to help sell, so I had to pay him fifty bucks to show up and physically prompt him out of his hovel. My drummer was in urgent need of dental attention, and was more than a little grumpy. They told me they wanted no more than two minutes of music at a time, so I'd prepared two pieces with abbreviated arrangements.
The pianist and I had wireless body mics for the interview bit in addition to the stand mics for all of us for the vocals. The director scheduled us for the second eight-minute slot of three, and we had our own set in the studio. We ran a soundcheck before air, and everything was to be left as it was at the end of that. We sat on set waiting during the first segment. We hit the break and the floor director told us two minutes. My drummer had been needing to pee and ran for the little room. The FD called places after a minute and a half, and was suddenly concerned about no drummer. Pianist went and fished him out, both of them rushing in just before the count-in.
The segment started with the affable (substitute) presenter saying something affable and flubbing the drummer's name. Behind him, cranky drummer stage-whispered his name correctly, several times, without effect, cracking us up. The presenter then turned to him and asked a couple of affable questions, further annoying drummer. He then talked with me, and I plugged an upcoming restaurant gig. Pianist plugged his teaching program. Then presenter cleared out and we played our stuff, pretty well I thought. After another dollop of affability we played the second number into the break.
We had to wait through the third segment before we could load out, and everything was peachy. I paid the receptionist 35 bucks for a DVD copy of the segment, and we left.
When I got the DVD a few days later I discovered that the sound op had left his mics muted (both wireless and wired!), so for a third of the first number there was only piano and bass on the track, and the video was useless. The upside is that I've yet to hear anyone say they saw the show.
They asked us back a few months later, but we couldn't find the time.
Things to know:
Be prepared for a lot more hassle than it looks.
Don't wear white, black or solid red.
Pee first, and be ready at all times.
In the break, doublecheck that your mics, inputs and monitors are hot.
Pretend you're kind of stoned so you move and talk more slowly.
The Big Six Trio, Prescott AZ:
