Click on the link above to follow what I am doing to develop a music act that can work from a boat, a quay side or a bar.
The boat will have to a living space for two humans and two small dogs so I will be very limited with the amount of equipment I can transport from port to port and from boat to venue.
So that is the challenge – if this interests you please join in the conversation
4 responses to “Getting the Show Ready”
-
🎸 Sailing, Gigging, and Shrinking the Rig
Over the last couple of decades I’ve played small venues across Ireland and the UK as a solo artist, constantly refining my setup — lighter PA systems, compact lighting, and streamlined gig rigs. The modern column array I use now is brilliant on land, but it’s still far too big to haul down a marina walkway or stash aboard a small yacht.This season I tried a different approach. For a few local gigs I used my foldback monitors as the main PA, just to see if the idea had legs. It turns out they work surprisingly well for small bars and restaurants — simple, portable, and perfectly adequate for the kind of intimate gigs I enjoy doing while cruising.
The challenge is electric guitar. Carrying a dedicated guitar amplifier on board isn’t realistic, so I may have to return to using the Headrush Pedalboard as my amp and effects solution. It’s compact, reliable, and gives me the tones I need without lugging heavy gear around.
So the question is this: can I make do with what I already have, or is there a more space‑efficient setup for the water‑borne musician? The goal is a rig that’s light, rugged, and small enough to live happily on S.V. Arrested — without sacrificing the sound that keeps the gigs fun.
-
Hi Steve. Fair play to you. This sounds like a wonderful idea. No sitting around waiting for Adventure to come and knock on your door to see if you want to play, but rather actively going out and looking for it. Your music is a great gift and is the grease to earning money to spread the ‘dream’ into the next few years. Having heard you in The Suir Inn once only, you and your electric guitar would have no problem in putting on the best of shows anywhere. Acoustically too for more intimate encounters. Is your idea to winter it out in New Ross and then pick up your boat wherever when Spring comes and become a travelling musical pirate for eight or nine months?
-
Thank Fergal.
We are in the planning stages and exploring options currently.
We do love our home in New Ross, it is convenient being walking distance from the boat.
However, a base in a sunnier climate where that we can travel back and forth to easily with the dogs is definately an aspiration.
-
-
Having travelled in the boat with guitars an gear I think the original Journeyman PA , lights etc is just too big and I need a way carrying everything I need, instruments, gear and spares in one quarter berth behind the Nav station.
The proof of concept, using just two little foldback monitors has worked for solo gigs and with the two bands i am currently playing in.
So does anyone want to buy a brilliant Db Technologies column array PC ????
Leave a Reply