LAS VEGAS — The 47th annual ACM Awards, held here last month at the MGM Arena, featured new and established country music artists who used Sennheiser gear, including Vocalist of the Year winners Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert and emerging artist Jana Kramer.
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LAS VEGAS – The ACM Awards are among the most prestigious awards in the music industry and have been recognizing top country artists for over four decades. During the 47th annual ceremony held in Las Vegas last month at the MGM Arena, Sennheiser artists Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert captured top honors including Male Vocalist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year while Jana Kramer, a newcomer on the country music scene, celebrated the skyrocketing success of her recent single “Why Ya Wanna” with a performance during ACM Weekend at the Fremont Street Experience.
For each of these artists — and indeed many others who participated in the ACMs, Sennheiser was at the fore with its microphone technology while providing support to both more established artists and emerging artists such as Jana Kramer.
Tracy Broussard, who has been Blake Shelton’s drummer for nine years, comments on the longevity of his relationship with Sennheiser: “We were using Sennheiser when we were playing clubs. One of the gigs we played was at bowling alley in Canada; our stage was made out of plywood over the bowling lane. Now we are selling out arenas across the country, and Sennheiser has been with us since then and for every gig in between.”
During the performances at the ACMs Sunday night, both Shelton and Lambert relied on Sennheiser SKM 2000 wireless transmitters coupled with MMD 935-1 cardioid capsules. Lambert’s sported a custom pink finish. Zac Brown Band and Lady Antebellum, who won ACM Top Vocal Group honors, sang through a SKM 2000 / MMD 935-1 and SKM 5200 / MD 5235 combination respectively, all going through Sennheiser EM3732-II receivers. “I really like the sound of the 935 capsule — it has the spike at around 4 or 5k and the vocal always sits so nicely in the mix,” comments Jeff (Pig) Parsons, FOH engineer for Blake Shelton. “We have Sennheiser mics on everything — we use them because we know they will perform.”
During the ACM Weekend on Fremont Street Experience prior to the awards ceremony, Sennheiser emerging artist Kramer sang through a SMK 2000 / MM 935-I combination. Kramer’s tour manager, Gordon Buchanan, feels that Sennheiser’s role in this delicate part of her career is invaluable: “We want Jana singing through Sennheiser mics,” he states. “With a new artist, reliability and sound quality are so important. Anything we can do to make the sound consistent and reliable for her, the more comfortable she is going to feel — especially in the newer stages of this music career. Both the sound of Sennheiser’s products as well as the support we get are absolutely incredible.” Kramer, who moved to Nashville two years ago and signed with Warner Bros. Records, recently gained attention as her debut single “Why Ya Wanna” climbed the chart at a record setting pace, reaching Top 25 at country radio in only 10 weeks. Kramer’s self-titled debut album will be released June 5, 2012 on Elektra Nashville.
Constant quality and support
The consistency of sound quality and artist support is crucial for superstar artists such as Shelton, so they can remain focused on the performance itself rather than on the technology: “Blake knows how the mic is supposed to sound and he wants to be comfortable — he has to have the best stuff out there,” Broussard observes. “Sennheiser microphones provide him with that sense of comfort. For something like the ACMs, where there are potentially nerves involved, we don’t have to worry about the equipment. If we know the gear is going to do what it is supposed to do, we can relax a little bit and just play.”
As Shelton’s drummer, Broussard has more microphones on his instrument than anyone else in the band. He appreciates not only consistent sonic performance, but the consistent product support as well: “The way I look at it from a layman’s perspective is that the microphones overlap so there are no frequency gaps across the entire drum kit,” he says. “As far as support is concerned, we want the same support for every single mic on the kit and we know we can count on Sennheiser for this.”
Looking towards the future
While Shelton and Kramer’s careers are at very different points in their own trajectories, both Broussard and Buchanan agree that their future is bright with Sennheiser. Kramer will soon be participating in a CMT simulcast program entitled “Listen Up,” a program featuring new artists. “We will be using an entire Sennheiser package on the stage — including wireless personal monitors. I am confident that Sennheiser will be there to support Jana’s career as she grows as an artist,” Buchanan says.
For Broussard, Sennheiser has been a rock solid foundation of Blake Shelton’s success to build upon: “Sennheiser has been the constant during all this change. They have been there the whole way and it has been an awesome ride.” Parsons agrees: “It’s been a great run with Sennheiser and I hope it continues for a long time. I don’t know if other companies are like that or not, but Sennheiser takes care of us.”
