A Trip Through The South
My trip through the south started on a Monday and ended on a Saturday. During that time Mackie DSM Jeff Lyon took me from New Orleans to Birmingham, where I gave Mackie product training to several stores. I met many great people and heard a lot of interesting stories in a region that is as diverse as the music and culture that makes it famous. The first two days put me at three different C & M Music stores in southern Louisiana. The employees in each location were anticipating the training and were full of questions that I was happy to answer. I even learned some new tricks myself. During the hottest days of the summer, the heat and humidity in the south can wreak havoc on all powered speakers. In fact, the guys at C&M clip a portable fan to the back of the speaker. After all, there is no substitution for quality sound and Lafayette’s Randy K and his band want to use their SRM 450 active speakers… in any condition.
While in the gulf region I witnessed the massive rebuilding process underway in the short time after the hurricane. I was happy to see the industry back on its feet and doing well.
Time to hit the road.
I pulled into Birmingham right about the same time the city watched a certain local IDOL win it all on that one TV show. The excitement didn’t end early in the morning when I visited Long’s Electronics . I gave Mackie product training to several groups that had all levels of experience. I enjoyed taking some of the employees who had no previous experience through the signal chain of the Onyx small- and mid-format mixers. They were eager to learn the process and excited about the quality and additional features of the Onyx line. Long’s Electronics was full of great people who gave meaning to the term “southern hospitality”. We laughed, we cried, we ate doughnuts and talked about Mackie gear. It was a good day.
Friday morning Jeff and I headed to our last stop, Bailey Brothers, near the Five Points area of Birmingham. These guys were sharp and the training went well. I focused on our high quality Onyx mixers, Tetrad passive, and SAz active speaker lines. I also showed them some new gear like the M Series amplifiers, and the Quad EQ and Quad Gate/Compressor. I even had some time to show them the new Onyx Satellite. After the training I talked to Gary M about some of our new gear and the Tetrad speakers for his band. He was interested in the power handling and 75-degree splay angle, perfect for a band that tours with their own system. The employees at Bailey Brothers were experienced and have been using Mackie gear for years. After seeing the new lines they were ready for more.
My work was complete so I checked out the town that night. Birmingham was fun, but it was time to leave. I caught a plane Saturday afternoon and headed back to Seattle. My week in the south was a great experience and I enjoyed training the employees on Mackie gear and giving the local stores the factory support they need. I look forward to my next trip through the south.
-Dallas Dougherty product specialist
