Audix microphones are a crucial part of the historic rock band’s sonic formula. Tappero and front-of-house engineer Colin Loynachan explain why … and how.
Great songs and chops are crucial to any band’s musical success, but they don’t mean much if the band doesn’t sound equally great live and on album. Part of that is gear—guitars, amps, stompboxes, and everything else in your signal chain—of course. But audiences and fans don’t really hear gear. They hear the sound captured on recordings and in the front of house at shows by microphones—an absolutely critical but sometimes overlooked component of making a great band sound as great as they truly are.
Soul Asylum’s bassist Jeremy Tappero knows this, as both a stellar player and an experienced engineer. He shares the stage with the Minneapolis-based band’s founder Dave Pirner, guitarist Ryan Smith, and drummer Michael Bland, of Prince fame. And they—along with Soul Asylum’s front-of-house engineer Colin Loynachan—share an enthusiasm for Audix microphones. Especially for vocals and drums, which are the two main focuses that mixes are typically built around.
Tappero and Loynachan took a deep dive into how they use Audix mics in the studio and onstage, but not until Tappero—Soul Asylum’s newest member—shared some deep background on his musical journey.
Jeremy, how did you join Soul Asylum?
Jeremy Tappero: I did the indie rock touring van thing for a long time. I was in a band called Gratitude that got signed with Atlantic Records. After a few years, that band got let go, and I found myself back home but itchy to get back on the road. Soul Asylum is obviously a staple here in Minneapolis.
I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and one of the big reasons I ended up in Minneapolis was the larger music scene there. As Soul Asylum were going back on the road, they were looking for a guitar tech. I jumped into that role. Later, they found themselves on the hunt for a bass player and I watched them audition a lot of people who would go on short runs or not really cut it.
I started thinking, “I can do better.” It was a hurdle because when you come into a group as a crew member, that’s how you’re perceived. Long story short, after they went through several bassists, I insisted on auditioning and wound up with the gig! I’m almost five years with the band now. Not only are they one of the better bands out of Minneapolis, but I think [lead singer] Dave Pirner is one of the better songwriters of his generation.
Would you describe your early musical background?
Jeremy Tappero: I started playing as soon as I was old enough to hold a guitar, I’d say as early as 5 years old. I remember my dad putting one in my hands and trying to get my fingers to stick in an E major chord. When I finally got it, I probably strummed E major for three hours.
My dad is also a bass player and played in bands as I was growing up. They rehearsed in our basement and when they were gone, I would go downstairs and play all their instruments. I really wanted to be a drummer, so I’d play their drums as much as possible.
It just so happened that the drummer for the band my dad played in was Butch Vig. I idolized him growing up, and used to tell people I wanted to be Butch Vig long before he was, you know, Butch Vig.
What was your point of entry into the music business as a professional?
Jeremy Tappero: I’m not sure that’s even happened yet! [laughs] My first paying job was in high school. There was a teen center in Madison, Wisconsin, called the New Loft. They’d have after-school activities during the week, and then bands playing on the weekends. At some point, they got a real booking agent and national touring bands would come through as well as local high school bands. I started being the sound guy there, I think in 10th or 11th grade. I got to meet a lot of the bands. I met Josh Freese when he was with the Vandals. I got to see a lot of punk, ska, young acts. You learn a lot when you get three or four bands up and down in a night.
You said you moved to Minneapolis for the music scene. How would you describe it?
Jeremy Tappero: There’s a ton of bands. There are giant rehearsal spaces with long waiting lists to get a spot. Rock bands, pop, funk—everybody is playing. The hip-hop community is going great. I don’t know if it’s our long winters, but maybe the idea of being indoors and making a record is part of it. Obviously, people think of the big three of R&B in Minneapolis: Prince, Morris Day, and Jam & Lewis. For rock, it’s the Replacements, Soul Asylum, Hüsker Dü, and so on. Everything cross-pollinates here. No matter their style, everyone was aware of what Prince was up to, and Prince was surprisingly aware of the local scene. There are all kinds of places to play, from fancy venues to kids doing $5 basement shows.
So, you’ve mentioned you’re an Audix devotee. Which Audix mics are you using and on what applications?
Jeremy Tappero: The D6 has been part of our package for quite a while now. We’ve been through a few vocal mics, but a few months ago, Colin, our sound guy, said, “I’m really fighting bleed when it comes to background vocals.” He was the one who drove us trying OM7s onstage. Colin had used them in various applications over the years, and Chris DeNogean [Audix artist relations manager] was nice enough to send us some. Colin was happy in the front-of-house, and our instruments had never been clearer in our in-ear monitor mix. The OM7s really rejected background sound well, and cymbals, guitars, and vocals were all very individuated and clear.
Colin Loynachan: As Jeremy said, the thing I love about the OM7 on vocals is its lack of bleed. Out of all the different mics I’ve used and different acts I’ve worked with, the OM7 is unparalleled in that regard. I can just leave them hot all the time. There’s also no mistaking the D6 on kick drum. We use it outside the drumhead, and it has such a clean attack on transients.
Jeremy Tappero: Everyone in the band except Dave is on in-ear monitors. Changing to the OM7 was a night-and-day difference in terms of the clarity of vocals in our in-ear mixes. The crispness of the high end and the rejection as well … I could crank up a vocal in my in-ears without bringing up the roar of the stage behind the mics and without competing with things like cymbals.
How did you first become aware of Audix microphones?
Colin Loynachan: You know Peter Greenland? He was Willie Nelson’s front-of-house guy for a long time, and he’s sort of a legend in Minneapolis. He’s worked with the Commodores and Phil Collins, too. He was an early adopter of Audix in the late 1980s. Whatever their first live vocal mic was, he bought a bunch. Later, he brought several OM5s to a couple of gigs we were doing. After that, I knew we had to get Audix for Soul Asylum.
What else strikes you about their sound for particular uses?
Colin Loynachan: Working live, we go as fast as we can. Especially with Soul Asylum, we do maybe two songs max at sound check. We don’t want to be up there three or four hours troubleshooting some little resonance in the floor tom, for example. More like 20 or 30 minutes. We’re focused on the big picture. Out of the box, I’m 90 percent of the way to the sound I want if I choose the right Audix mic for the source and place it properly. I don’t have to spend a bunch of time creating that sound after the fact.
Jeremy Tappero: A lot of their mics have a signature frequency shape, which is nice. When we got the OM7s, we just plugged those into the same signal chain as always. There was no EQ change, and the first time I heard them, everything was instantly clearer.
Soul Asylum “Somebody To Shove” Live @ Manchester Ritz 11/11/22
Jeremy, how do you balance touring with owning a recording studio and producing bands?
Jeremy Tappero: I think one helps the other. When I’m working a lot in the studio, I look forward to getting out on tour, and when I’m on the road I look forward to getting home. It also focuses me in terms of scheduling. If I have to tell bands I’ll be gone for a month here or two months there, it narrows down the possibilities and everyone seems to get more serious. So, each keeps the other fresh.
We know you have a blast onstage. What’s your favorite thing about producing and recording other bands?
Jeremy Tappero: I really enjoy working with a band for whom it’s their first time in the studio. I remember how magical that felt when I was young. Now, to be able to be the person who’s mentoring a young musician through their first recording.... It’s really rewarding to see their music come together in a way they maybe didn’t imagine.
Can either of you speak to Audix’s durability? How do the mics handle the rigors of the road?
Jeremy Tappero: I’ve had an i5 as long as I can remember. I think you could literally punch a hole in drywall with it and it would work fine. Put it this way. I’ve never seen an Audix in anyone’s dead mics box. And both Colin and I have extensive boxes! [laughs]
What future projects or applications for Audix mics are on your radar?
Jeremy Tappero: We’d like to try the SCX25A—the “lollipop” mics—as drum overheads. In the studio, I could see them going anywhere, like on a grand piano. We also have some “unplugged” style shows coming up later this year, with a string quartet and some other acoustic players, so maybe we’ll even use them in that context. I’m sure Colin’s wheels are already turning as to which mic to put on which instrument!
Colin Loynachan: I’m also pumped about the SCX25A. We first tried them on a show when an audio production company brought them in. We put them on overheads, and they were very smooth, almost like ribbon mics but not as dark. For the unplugged shows, they’d probably be my first choice on acoustic sources.
Let’s wrap up a little differently. Tell us about a nightmare gig and how you survived it.
Jeremy Tappero: Soul Asylum did a big festival in Mexico City. Anything that could go wrong, did. It started off with our tour manager’s passport going missing. We made it to Mexico City, and the next morning, the van that was supposed to take us to the venue became unavailable at the last minute. [The next van] was three hours late and the driver had no idea where he was going. We were literally driving off the road through fields at one point. The band Filter was playing their final song when we arrived. We had literally minutes to set up. Somehow, we pulled through, started and ended on time, and had a great show. But getting there was more Spinal Tap than Spinal Tap!
Hypercard-Extreme Dyn Vocal Mic
A rig meant to inspire! That’s Jerry Garcia with his Doug Irwin-built Tiger guitar, in front of his Twin Reverb + McIntosh + JBL amp rig.
“I met Jerry Garcia once, in 1992, at the bar at the Ritz Carlton in New York,” Dark Star Orchestra guitarist Jeff Mattson tells me over the phone. Nearly sixty-seven years old, Mattson is one of the longest-running members of the Grateful Dead tribute band scene, which encompasses hundreds of groups worldwide. The guitarist is old enough to have lived through most of the arc ofthe actual Grateful Dead’s career. As a young teen, he first absorbed their music by borrowing their seminal records, American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, brand new then, from his local library to spin on his turntable. Around that same moment, he started studying jazz guitar. Between 1973 and 1995, Mattson saw the Dead play live hundreds of times, formed the landmark jam bandZen Tricksters, and later stepped into theJerry Garcia lead guitarist role with the Dark Star Orchestra (DSO), one of the leading Dead tribute acts.
“At the bar, I didn’t even tellGarcia I was a guitar player,” Mattson explains. “I had just heard him play the new song ‘Days Between’ and I told him how excited I was by it, and he told me he was excited too. It wasn’t that long of a conversation, but I got to shake his hand and tell him how much his music meant to me. It’s a very sweet memory.”
The Grateful Dead’s final studio album was 1989’sBuilt to Last, and that title was prophetic. From 1965 to 1995, the band combined psychedelic rock with folk, blues, country, jazz, and even touches of prog rock and funk, placing a premium on improvisation and pushing into their own unique musical spaces. Along the way, they earned a reputation that placed them among the greatest American bands in rock ’n’ roll history—to many, the ultimate. Although no one member was more important than another, the heart and soul of the ensemble was Garcia. After his death in 1995, the surviving members retired the name the Grateful Dead.
“I think Jerry Garcia was the most creative guitarist of the 20th century because he had the widest ears and the sharpest instincts,” opines historian, author, and official Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNally, over the phone. “What we see after his death are the Deadheads coming to terms with his passing but indicating that it’s the music that was most important to them. And who plays the music now becomes simply a matter of taste.”
Dark Star Orchestra guitarist Jeff Mattson, seen here with Garcia’s Alligator Stratocaster (yes, the real one).
Photo by Susana Millman
This year marks 30 years since Garcia’s passing and 60 years since the band formed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, the guitarist’s musical vocabulary and unique, personal tone manifests in new generations of players. Perhaps the most visible of these musicians is John Mayer, anointed as Garcia’s “replacement” in Dead and Co. But dozens of others, like Mattson, Tom Hamilton Jr., and a young new artist named Bella Rayne, strive to keep the Dead alive.
The first few Grateful Dead tribute bands began emerging in local dive bars by the late ’70s. More than mere cover bands, these groups devoted themselves entirely to playing the Dead. A few of these early groups eventually toured the country, playing in college towns, ski resorts, and small theatres across the United States. Mattson started one on Long Island, New York. He tells me, “The first band I was in that played exclusively Grateful Dead was Wild Oats. It was 1977, and we played local bars. Then, in 1979, I joined a band called the Volunteers. We also played almost exclusively the Grateful Dead, and that was a much more professional outfit—we had a good PA and lights and a truck, the whole nine yards.” The Volunteers eventually morphed into the Zen Tricksters.
Garcia’s death turbocharged the Dead tribute band landscape. Fanbases grew, and some bands reached the point where big-time agents booked them into blue-chip venues like Red Rocks and the Beacon Theatre. Summer festivals devoted to these bands evolved.
“The first band I was in that played exclusively Grateful Dead was Wild Oats. It was 1977, and we played local bars.” —Jeff Mattson
Dark Star Orchestra launched in 1997, and they do something particular, taking an individual show from somewhere out of Grateful Dead history and recreating that evening’s setlist. It’s musically and sonically challenging. They try to use era-specific gear, so on any given night, they may be playing through recreations of the Grateful Dead’s backline from 1971 or 1981, for example. It all depends on the show they choose to present. Mattson joined DSO as its lead guitar player in 2009.
Something else significant happened after Jerry died: The remaining living members of the Grateful Dead and other musicians from Garcia’s inner circle embraced the tribute scene, inviting musicians steeped in their music to step up and sit in with them. For Mattson, it’s meant playing over the years with all the core members of the band, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart, plus former members Donna Jean Godchaux, who sang in the band from 1971 to 1979, and Tom Constanten, who played keyboards with the Dead from 1968 to 1970.
Tom Hamilton’s Lotto custom built had a Doug Irwin-inspired upper horn.
In the newest post-Garcia tribute bands, many guitar players aren’t old enough to have seen Garcia perform live—or if they did, it was towards the end of his life and career. One of those guys sitting today at the top of the Garcia pyramid, along with Mattson, is Tom Hamilton Jr. Growing up in a musical family in Philadelphia, Hamilton saw Garcia play live only three times. Early on, he was influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, but Hamilton’s older brother, who was also a guitar player, loved the Dead and Garcia. “My brother wanted to play like Jerry,” he recalls, “so he roped me in because he needed me to play ‘Bob Weir’ and be his rhythm guitar sidekick.” Eventually, Hamilton leaned more into the Jerry role himself. “Then I spent my entire twenties trying to develop my own voice as a songwriter and as a guitar player. And I did,” Hamilton says. “And during that time, I met Joe Russo. He was not so much into the Dead then, but he knew I was.”
A drummer from Brooklyn, by about 2006, Russo found himself collaborating on projects with members of Phish and Ween. That put him on the radar of Lesh and Weir, who invited Russo to be a part of their post-Dead project Furthur in 2009. (And on guitar, they chose DSO founding member John Kadlecik, opening that role up for Mattson.)
“When Joe played in Furthur, he got under the hood of the Grateful Dead’s music and started to understand how special it was,” Hamilton points out. “After Furthur wound down, we decided to form JRAD. We weren’t trying to do something academic, not some note-for-note recreation. We were coming at it through the pure joy of the songs, and the fact that the five of us in JRAD were improvisers ourselves.”
“We were coming at it through the pure joy of the songs, and the fact that the five of us in JRAD were improvisers ourselves.” —Tom Hamilton Jr.
Today, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) is considered to be one of the premier Grateful Dead tribute bands. They formed in 2013, with Hamilton and Scott Metzger as the band’s guitar frontline, with Hamilton handling Garcia’s vocal roles. Eventually, Hamilton, too, found himself jamming onstage with the ever-evolving Phil Lesh and Friends. That, of course, further enmeshed him in the scene, and in 2015, he started a band with Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann calledBilly and the Kids.
Now, there’s a new kid on the block, literally. Bella Rayne recently turned 18 and grew up in Mendocino, California. Her parents were into the Dead, but even they were too young to have really followed the original band around the country. At her age, they were big into Phish. By the pandemic, Bella started embracing the guitar out of boredom, woodshedding while social distancing in quarantine. She explains, “Like any other teen, I was bored out of my mind looking for anything to do.” Rummaging through her garage, she came across her mom’s old Strat. “At the time, I was really into ’90s Seattle grunge. I put new strings on the Strat, and then I tried to teach myself Pearl Jam songs, and I learned how to play them by watching YouTube videos. Then, I started posting videos of my journey online as I became more serious about it. I hit a point where I knew it would be my thing. The next thing I knew, one of the Bay Area Dead bands [China Dolls] reached out to me and asked me to sit in. I thought, ‘no way.’“My parents are huge Deadheads,” she continues. “That’s theirthing. I grew up with the Dead being pushed on me my whole life. But I ended up going, and it’s just been this awesome spiral ever since.” Bella calls her current Dead-related project Bella Rayne and Friends, and she, too, has been recognized not only by the new generation of Garcia players in the Dead tribute bands, but also by Melvin Seals, the Hammond organist who played for years in theJerry Garcia Band. “I was hired to just sit-in for a couple of numbers withMelvin and his JGB band,” she recalls, “and we were having so much fun he said to me, ‘Why don’t you just sit in for the whole second set.’ It was an amazing night.”
Bella Rayne with her Alligator-inspired Strat, with a JGB Cats Under the Starssticker on the body.
Photo by Sean Reiter
Jerry Garcia played many different guitars. But for those guitarists wanting to emulate Garcia’s tone, the focus is on four instruments in particular. One is a1955 Fender Stratocaster known as “Alligator,” which Garcia had heavily modified and began playing in 1971. The other three guitars were hand built in Northern California by luthier Doug Irwin: Wolf, Tiger, and Rosebud. Garcia introduced them in 1973, 1979, and 1989, respectively. Sometimes, in a jam-band version of being knighted by the Excalibur sword, a chosen member of this next generation of Dead players is handed one of Garcia’s personal guitars to play onstage for a few songs or even an entire set.
Although they started their journeys at different times and in separate ways, Mattson, Hamilton, and Rayne all have “knighthood” in common. Rayne remembers, “In March of 2024, I was sitting in one night with anall-girl Dead tribute band called the China Dolls, and no one had told me that Jerry’s actual 1955 Strat, Alligator, was there that evening. My friend [roots musician] Alex Jordan handed me the guitar unannounced. It’s something I’ll never forget.”What’s it like to strap on one of Jerry Garcia’s iconic instruments? Tom Hamilton recalls, “It wasRed Rocks in 2017, and I played with Bob Weir, Melvin Seals, and JGB at a tribute show for Jerry’s 75th birthday. I got to play both Wolf and Tiger that night. I was in my head with it for about one song, but then you sort of have a job to do. But I do recall that we were playing the song ‘Deal.’ I have a [DigiTech] Whammy pedal that has a two-octave pitch raise on it, real high gain that gives me a lot of sustain, and it’s a trick I use that really peaks a jam. That night, while I am doing it, I had the thought of, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I am doing this trick of mine on Garcia’s guitar.’ Jerry would have thought what I was doing was the greatest thing in the world or the absolute worst, but either way, I’m cool with it!”
“I was sitting in one night with an all-girl Dead tribute band called the China Dolls, and no one had told me that Jerry’s actual 1955 Strat, Alligator, was there that evening. My friend [roots musician] Alex Jordan handed me the guitar unannounced. It’s something I’ll never forget.” —Bella Rayne
Jeff Mattson has played Alligator, Wolf, Garcia’s Travis Bean 500, and his Martin D-28. He sums it up this way: “I used to have posters up in my childhood bedroom of Garcia playing his Alligator guitar. I would stare at those images all the time. And sowhen I got a chance to play it and plug it in, suddenly there were those distinctive tones. Those guitars of his all have a certain mojo. It’s so great to play those guitars that you have to stop in the moment and remind yourself to take a mental picture, so it doesn’t just fly by. It’s just a tremendous pleasure and an honor. I never imagined I would get to play four of Jerry Garcia’s guitars.”
With young people like Bella Rayne dedicating herself at the tender age of 18 to keeping the Dead’s music going, it feels like what the band called their “long strange trip” will keep rolling down the tracks and far over the horizon. “People will be listening to the Grateful Dead in one hundred years the same way they will be listening to John Coltrane, too,” predicts McNally. “Improvisational music is like jumping off a cliff. Sometimes you fly, and sometimes you land on the rocks. When you take that risk, there’s an opportunity for magic to happen. And that will always appeal to a certain segment of people who don’t want predictability in the music they listen to. The Grateful Dead is for people who want complete craziness in their music—sometimes leading to disaster and oftentimes leading to something wonderful. It’s music for people who want to be surprised.”
Guest picker Ally Venable
Ally Venable - Guest Picker
By FifthLegend from Eagan, Minnesota, United States of America - Thundercat, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70617212
A: For my late-night show's house band, I’ve assembled a dream team. This ensemble inspires me with their unparalleled musical talents and diverse backgrounds. Chris Layton’s drumming is unmatched and he will provide a solid foundation. I’ll have Jon Batiste on keys. His creativity and energy is boundless. Eric Gales would be on guitar. I love how emotive his music is, and I strive for that type of connection within my playing as well. Finally, I’d have Thundercat on bass. His playing is infused with jazz and funk sensibilities that would tie the whole sound together in an interesting way.
Obsession: My current obsession is shifting my approach to playing—focusing on connection over applause. Instead of chasing technical perfection or crowd reactions, I’m leaning into the emotional and spiritual side of music. It’s about creating moments that resonate deeply, whether it’s with myself, my bandmates, or the audience.
David Saenger - Reader of the Month
A: I love the idea of supergroups and how each of the players would interact. On guitars I would have Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) and Isaiah Sharkey. My drum and bass combo would be Stewart Copeland (The Police) and Mohini Dey. On keys and sax, I would have Herbie Hancock and Joshua Redman. My male and female vocalists would be Corey Glover (Living Colour) and Liv Warfield (Prince). All of these players are fantastic improvisers and really know how to put on an entertaining show in any genre.
Bassist Victor Wooten
Obsession: My current obsession has been bass. My 12-year-old daughter started playing electric and upright bass about two years ago, and it’s been a blast working with her. I’ve been really focusing on having a solid pocket, and it’s forced me to get better at reading bass clef. I’m taking her to see Victor Wooten next week. Can’t wait!
Jason Shadrick - Managing Editor
Jason Shadrick on the SNL stage.
A: The natural move would be to go for a high-energy party band decked out with multiple keyboards, horns, and vocalists. I’d go a different route. I’d go for a more rootsy vibe with Blake Mills leading a band consisting of Jay Bellerose on drums, esperanza spalding on bass, Bob Reynolds on saxophones, and a rotating guest each week. They could cover lo-fi Americana, funky open-tuned blues, and so much more.
Obsession: This month is slightly less obsession and more reflection as this will be my last issue as Managing Editor for PG. Over the last 15 years I’ve worked on 182 issues, which is kinda mind-boggling. I’ve been lucky enough to do some incredible things during my time at PG, including walking through the host door at SNL and spending a few minutes with Brian May. Never could have imagined it. I am very grateful.
Nick Millevoi - Senior Editor
A: I’ve long said that joining one of the late night bands would probably be my absolute top dream gig. So, if I were choosing my own late-night band, from any era, I would go no further than getting a chance to sit with Paul Schaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band or G.E. Smith-era Saturday Night Live Band.
Obsession: The late guitarist Jef Lee Johnson, who spent time in Schaffer’s band, had a heavy resume that included stars of all genres from Billy Joel to the Roots to McCoy Tyner. I got to see him play some low-key gigs around Philly, and each rearranged my molecules. It’s only now, years after his 2013 death, that I’ve become obsessed with his discography. Though much of his work was as a high-level sideman, his albums show the broad range of this masterful guitarist, whose tone, feel, and phrasing conveyed the instrument’s deepest emotional capabilities.
