A little bit of country and a whole lot of rock n roll

While most of you were enjoying your Labor Day weekend, I was working a couple concerts. Not that I'm complaining mind you, I'm just sayin..

My weekend started off with a little bit of country on Friday. I worked the Toby Keith concert at Verizon Wireless Ampitheater. It was one of the longest load ins ever. Toby travels with quite a lot of "stuff". I was assigned to doing backline which means I help set up all the guitar amps, keyboards, guitars, etc. Load out took less time than I thought it would, so that was a good thing. The cool part about the whole day is I was able to get a pair of tickets for my mom to go to the show. She loves Toby Keith. She had a blast and she can't stop talking about it. I was glad to make her day.

I rested on Saturday and prepared for my next gig which was the Family Values Tour at Verizon Wireless on Sunday. The tour featured Korn (the tours founders), Evenescence, Atreyu, Flyleaf, Hell Yeah (featuring Vinnie Paul from Pantera on drums), Trivium and a slew of others. It was a pretty cool day.

I was assigned to the B Stage. However, because of that, I didn't get to see any of the main stage bands except for Korn. At the B Stage, we loaded in the P.A. onto a portable stage in the concourse area of the venue. There were 5 bands that played that stage and of those 5 only 2 were worth remembering. They were Five Finger Death Punch and Droid.

After working the side stage for 10 hours, I had a 2 hour break before I had to work the load out on main stage. It went pretty quickly so that was good. All in all I had a pretty good weekend. However, it's been so freakin hot here that I had no energy to do anything on Monday (Labor Day). I just sat around the house all day.

I hope everyone had a good 3 day weekend and got to spend some time with their families and friends.

DENIED!

You snooze, you lose. Or so the saying goes. Well, it seems like I waited too long to take care of everything in order to be "fully accepted" into the Music Business program at school. I was struggling trying to raise the $300.00 for my tuition deposit that was required for full acceptance into the program. I finally raised the money (actually it was my rent money) and went in to the school yesterday to pay it. I was given the impression that I was in and it was all a done deal. I was told I'd be getting a letter telling me what my registration date would be.

Well, all was fine until I received a letter today saying.....

"Dear Kenneth,

Thank you for applying to the Music Business Program for the Fall 2007 start. We have received and processed your application for the program.

However, in order to provide excellent education in an intimate environment, we accept only 90 reservations (with deposit) each start date. At this time the program has been filled. We have started a waiting list and your place on the list will be held in the order that your application and deposit was received"....blah blah blah.

I immediately called my counselor and asked him if this was true. He said it was. The funny thing is, the letter had yesterdays date on it (I was there yesterday). I'm thinking they must have known before hand. Why didn't they tell me when I was there paying my deposit that I missed the cutoff and would be paced on a waiting list?

My counselor says I still have a shot at getting into the program. He says a lot of out of state people tend not to show up for registration and in doing so they forfeit their spot in the program. However, I won't find out until the week of registration.

So, needless to say, I'm a little bummed right now. I have been looking forward to getting into this program for like 7 months now. If I don't make it in, I will have to start thinking of Plan B. Actually Plan B is very similar to Plan A (school) anyway. My original plan was to move to Austin, Texas after I graduate. Now, I'll just move there a little bit sooner. I'll just have to save up some money and try to get a job lined up there first. It would be easier to get a job with my school experience though.

So, if all of you who are reading this could say a prayer for me, it would be much appreciated. Also, please leave comments and let me know that you actually read my blog. It would mean so much to me.


Ken

Warped Tour

Yes, that time of year has come once again. The Warped Tour came through town. It has been an annual tradition for some for the past 13 years. Those who know me, know that I worked and traveled on the Warped Tour for 4 years from 2000 to 2003. This past weekend, I got the chance to go to the show to hang out with old friends and check out the bands.

I went with my friend Gina Thieme, her daughter Rachel and Rachel's friend (I forgot her name, oops). I was able to get backstage passes for all of us. It was a dream come true for Rachel since some of her favorite bands were playing. She got to meet them and take her picture with them. It was cool seeing her meet her favorite musicians. She wasn't shy about going up to them and asking for autographs and taking pics with them. She seemed the most excited about meeting Bam Margera from Jackass.

As soon as we walked in the gate, I started running into old friends from when I was on the tour. The tour is very different from when I used to be on it. It seems more corporate now. There are lots of new people. Some of the people I worked with are long gone now. But I did enjoy seeing friends like Kevin Lyman (Warped tour owner/producer), Maurice Acosta (former stage manager), Shelly (owner of catering company), Kenny Leath (stage manager), Kerry Nicholson (Production manager), Gary Olitzsky (stage manager) Steve Sullivan (Director of Security), Mitch Alden(Stage manager), Brian Bishop (former backline tech), Greg Teal (former stage manager) and a slew of others.

I had a great time catching up with the guys in Flogging Molly. I hadn't seem them in almost 3 years. They are heading off to Ireland soon to work on pre-production for their new album. It's amazing how awesome they are live. I have been seeing them play for the past 7 years and they never seize to amaze me.

I was feeling a bit nostalgic as the day wore on. Part of me misses being on the Warped Tour but I think an even bigger part of me doesn't. A lot of people think it's pretty glamorous but trust me when I say that it is not. A lot of hard work goes into putting this tour on and making it successful. My hat goes off to Kevin Lyman and the rest of the crew and bands that make the Warped Tour what it is each and every year.

Musical highlights for me were, in no particular order...Killswitch Engage, Revolution Mother, Coheed and Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold (they were the surprise special guest band), Tiger Army, The Almost, Warped Tour veterans Bad Religion and Pennywise, and last but not least the one the only..Flogging Molly.

If you have never had the experience of going to a Warped Tour show, you must plan on going next year. It is not to be missed.

My essay

Here is the scholarship essay I wrote. If it gets selected, I will receive a scholarship in the form of a minimum $1,000.00 tuition reduction. Please leave comments and tell me what you think.

Why I want to go to MI

By: Ken Sheahan

A wise friend once said, “make time for your dreams today or they won’t come true tomorrow”. With the impending fall semester at Musicians Institute, I intend to do just that. I am in my 30’s and have put off going to school to pursue my dream of the open road. Throughout the years, I have had the privilege of traveling and touring with many different bands. Although I cherished my time on the road, the time has come for me to switch gears and focus on the future. That future is Music Business.

Most who know me, know that I have already been involved in the music industry in one capacity or another since I was a teenager. Some have even asked why I am going to school for something I am already doing. My answer to them was to explain that my experience has been related to the production side of things and I want to learn more about the business side of things. In my opinion, Musicians Institute is the perfect place for me to gain that knowledge.

I hope to use the knowledge and experience I will gain at MI to broaden my horizons and open up new doors that have in the past been closed to me. I liken the Music Business Program at Musicians Institute to a key that will open those doors.

I am looking forward to starting school this fall. I think it will be a wonderful opportunity for me. I will be taught by the leaders, movers and shakers in the industry.

With instructors like these and a school like MI, there’s no telling what tomorrow will bring-My future is wide open.

Work

I have decided to add more content to my blog in addition to my experiences with school. Most of you know that I work in entertainment so I will chronicle the jobs/shows I work alongside my experiences at school.

Lately, I have been working as a stage hand at Verizon Wireless Ampitheater in Irvine, California as well as Pacific Ampitheater in Costa Mesa, California. This year, I have done shows for Roger Waters, Rush, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Martina McBride, Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and just this past Sunday, Poison and Ratt.

I enjoy this line of work. It pays well but there is not always a steady flow of work. I am hoping to get as much work as possible before school starts. Once I start school, my availability for work will be greatly diminished.

Student Loans

Well, here is my first post on my new blog. Not much to report as of yet. I am still going through the whole enrollment process. I have been "provisionally" accepted as a student. I will not be fully accepted until I pay my tuition deposit of $300.00. Still trying to raise that. I have applied for student loans and have been awarded a good majority of what I need, however, the deposit must be paid out of pocket and I will still have some additional out of pocket expenses unless I secure more funding. I will be applying for a scholarship which is awarded as a tuition reduction. I need to write an essay for that. Any help or tips on the essay would be much appreciated (that means you Vince). Also, If any of you know of any good leads I can follow up on for more loans and financial aid, please don't hesitate to let me know.

I am looking forward to starting school. I think it will be a wonderful opportunity. Most of you know that I have already been involved in the music industry in one capacity or another since I was a teenager. You may be asking why I am going to school for something I am already doing. Well, my experience has been related to the production side of things and I want to learn more about the business side of things. In my opinion, Musicians Institute is the perfect place for me to gain that knowledge. I will be taught by the leaders, movers and shakers in the industry.