SPECIAL UPDATE — Fundraiser for Scooter Oi
On July 5, 2014, a benefit concert was held at The Beacon for Skooter Oi. Skooter and his wife Carolyn Jones own and operate Liberty House Guitar Shop.
Skooter suffers from non-alcohol related cirrhosis of the liver. His prognosis is unpredictable, and his condition is managed largely through diet. The benefit concert, which was organized by Skooter’s friend, Jamison Taylor featured singers and songwriters. The plan is to make this an annual event to help musicians with health problems offset their medical bills.
Contributions can be made to:
Alabama Musicians Care
℅ Metro Bank
800 Martin Street South
Pell City, Alabama 35128
For more information, go to www.alabamamc.org
Story and Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.
When the house lights dim, and the stage lights come up, anticipation sweeps through an audience like wind blowing through a stand of pine trees.
Unnoticed and unknown are those backstage, in the wings and on the catwalks. The artist is the focal point, and the performance is everything. Those who are hidden are the technicians and gaffers who make up the production crew.
Their job is to make the show great. The lights, sound, timing and even the performance itself is driven by the crew.
Nothing happens by chance. On the stage is a clock, seen by everyone in the crew as well as the performers. When the stage lights come up, every sound and move is carefully planned, timed and executed with precision.
Stage right and stage left hide instrument technicians, ready to spring into action should any instrument slide out of tune, lose a string or have some other electronic or technical difficulty. In the back of the auditorium are sound and lighting technicians ready to make instant adjustments to overcome any anomaly that may arise.
If a drummer drops a drum stick, one magically appears in his hand. If a guitar loses a string , slips out of tune or suffers some electronic malfunction, another guitar is slipped into place, plugged in and turned on so that not a beat is missed. Being in tune is a given.
Each instrument is carefully set up to eliminate variation and to suit the playing artist. Perfect. There is no room for error.
Hard work, long hours and intense pressure on both a professional and personal level are the hallmarks of top venue concert production. The impromptu atmosphere is an act. It is a facade that conceals a tough, professionally executed schedule that lasts from 60 to 180 minutes or more.
Overruns are costly. The union workers go on overtime. Casino venues have show curfews. They want the audience back on the casino floor. The clock is everything. Precision and perfection are demanded. One mistake or miscue can cascade into a disaster.
This is the crucible where Pell City’s Liberty House Guitar Shop was forged.
A testimony to the meticulous nature of concert production is the stage clock over the passageway to the back room of the shop on U.S. 78 East. Scooter’s Clock hangs as a reminder that everyone has to work together to get it done right.
It is the same Scooter Oi Carolyn Jones met when Scooter was doing lights for Lynyrd Skynyrd and writing a backstage newsletter for the band. What started as a ploy by Carolyn’s brother to use her as “blonde bait” to get backstage grew into a successful professional and personal partnership that has lasted almost 20 years. Carolyn did not get a backstage pass for her brother, but Scooter did get her phone number, and she got his.
Two weeks after they met, Scooter was doing lights for Peter Frampton in Las Vegas, where Carolyn was working for a company that supplied uniforms and linens to the hotel industry. She went to the concert in hopes of seeing Scooter. When Scooter saw her, he said, “Look, if you want to hang out with us, you either have to be real entertaining, or you have to work.”
Work she did. Wearing high heels, business suit, makeup and puffy blonde hair, Carolyn pushed loaded equipment boxes out to the trucks as if she were one of the crew. She never looked back.
For 10 years, Scooter was Peter Frampton’s production manager, and Carolyn worked as his guitar technician. Life on the road is hard, and a 10-year run with an artist like Frampton is unheard of. Yet they did it.
Scooter, with his Dark Places, Inc. production company, was able to administer a crew and manage Frampton’s concerts successfully. During the off seasons, Scooter worked the rodeo circuit doing light and sound production. When the concert season came back, it was on the road again, primarily with Frampton.
Little more than four years ago, Scooter and Carolyn decided to come off the road. Carolyn wanted to settle close to her mother, and the concert production business was beginning to change. Scooter was interested in starting a live venue, “but the more I looked into it, the less attractive it became.” Instead, when he saw the owner putting up a for rent sign on their location, Scooter “put skid marks on the road in front of the building,” and decided to open their shop.
Scooter’s understanding of sound and lighting equipment, combined with Carolyn’s technical expertise with guitars has made The Liberty House Guitar shop a key asset for serious musicians.
Carolyn carefully inspects and adjusts every guitar that comes through Liberty House Guitar Shop. When setting up an instrument, Carolyn provides the owner with a specification sheet showing the exact settings, and the changes she has made. Using the data she provides, meaningful changes can be made to fit the artist’s preferences. “When something changes, this makes it much easier to identify what it is, and set it right.”
Jazz guitarist Reggie Stokes from Birmingham said, “Since I found this shop, I don’t take my instruments anywhere else. The work Carolyn does is awesome, and word is spreading fast. It is unusual to find a shop where the people really know what they are looking at, and know how to meet my needs. You don’t find this in the large music stores, and it is worth the drive.” According to Stokes, he and his close friend, Keith “Cashmere” Williams, are sold on the work done at Liberty House Guitar Shop.
Scooter is equally meticulous when it comes to audio visual and sound equipment. “We are about sales, service, installation and education.” When setting up a system for a church or business, Scooter and Carolyn take time to learn exactly what the customer wants the system to do.
They specify the appropriate equipment based on the customer’s objectives, then set the system up accordingly. Their strength lies in simplifying the system and training the customer.
“We label everything to eliminate any guesswork. It takes time, but it is worth it.”
Two years ago, Liberty House Guitar Shop set up in-house recording capability, so musicians could make demo CDs and collaborate with one another in a studio environment. Though in its infancy, Scooter thinks it has promise. Recording is an integral part of learning how to play on a higher level. Collaboration builds skill quickly. In addition, Carolyn’s daughter, Pink, is teaching guitar, violin and mandolin in the shop.
Long hours and years on the road set a firm foundation for Carolyn and Scooter. Liberty House Guitar Shop is, for them, more than a business. It represents a transition in life, coming home, settling down and letting the roots grow.
Editor’s Note: For a glimpse at the work of some of Liberty House Guitar clients, check out reggiesstokesmusic.com and cashmerewilliams.com.
