GearCast - Earthworks Sits Down with the Roadie Clinic

Our friends at Earthworks are helping boost the signal of a fantastic organization, the Roadie Clinic. These unprecedented times have called for some unprecedented responses to help us all make it through, and Courtney and Paul Klimson took their life-long passion for running live sound and have created an advocacy group to assist live touring professionals. Earthworks spoke to the founders about how they got started, why they got started, and what they can offer to those that need it.

Interview

How did you both get your start in audio?

Courtney: Paul started as a young kid in church. His Dad taught him how to work the consoleDefinition:
A control surface for audio, video, or lighting control positioned like a desk. Also called, Mixer, Controller, Board, or (British) Desk. from a really young age, and it clicked. He was in bands all through high school, and college started with recording school which took him to his first studio gig in St. Louis. He started taking small tours where they essentially paid him in merch money. And he’s never looked back. Christian ->Tanya Tucker->Masque Sound->John Legend (monitor engineer)->Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon + The Roots (monitor engineer - broadcast and touring), Justin Timberlake (monitor engineer), Drake (monitor engineer), Alicia Keys (monitors), and now back with The Roots in the FOHDefinition:
FOH (Front of House): Typically a sound mixing or lighting control position. position. As I type this, he’s running FOH for Madonna in NYC.

Paul: I never wanted to be in audio. But Paul and I started working together in college before we ultimately ended up getting married the week after I graduated college. In college, I was the director of a music festival and hired him to head up audio. We always found a way to work together for the same client. So when he got a job at Masque Sound, it was his first desk job that didn’t involve a console. And he was a little behind in how to handle contracts or include all of the details in major pitches. I started helping him with the paperwork for his job there, and eventually noticed that they were missing a piece of the marketplace by not having a pro-audio installation division. I wrote a proposal to the owners, and they brought me in to give it a shot. I stayed for 7 years, and inevitably you have to learn audio to a certain level in a job like that. Theory One Productions was also born in that time, and the rest is history. Or so we thought, until The Roadie Clinic started to take shape..."

What was your initial inspiration to start the Roadie Clinic?

Courtney: At the time, we had been married about 16 years.  Paul had worked his way up from van + trailer tours, to the first gig on a bus, from Christian music to country, a stop-off at Masque Sound before getting his first national tour with John Legend, leaving that gig to jump into Broadcast for 7 years with Jimmy Fallon + SNL, and left those gigs to take a world tour with Justin Timberlake…

Paul: The thought process from Day 1 was always: 'If we can just make it to the next level of gig, life will get so much easier. Finances will be no problem. Healthcare will be handled with bigger paychecks. Mental health - how could we not be happy? We just have to make it to ____.'

Courtney: Along the way, we were growing our network within the industry without realizing it. Paul had been at Late Night and The Tonight Show for seven years, meaning he had worked with thousands of bands, crew members and management teams by the time he left. We often opened our homes to crews that were in town, and over the years, the stories of the struggles people were facing were all so similar: isolation, paranoia, mental health challenges, family issues, broken marriages, addiction, and even thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

In July 2019, after years of trying to figure out what my specific place was in this industry, it all started to make sense. Paul was literally jumping between 5 clients in that season, so I was in full-time manager mode keeping up with invoicing, travel plans, and all things related to the business. A very long and frustrating weekend (Paul fell down the stairs heading to a gig, sprained his ankle, had to hobble to the gig in Central Park, followed by a flight the next day to Siciliy, which turned into a side-trip to France for 48 hours, back to Sicily where a travel strike was in full swing in the European airline system, all to land at JFK airport for all of 5 hours before getting on another flight to Toronto to start a new gig), I started writing. And I didn’t stop.

My writing turned into the foundation for what would later become The Roadie Clinic. Three months later, we were in our happy place visiting our favorite people in Niles, MIDefinition:
1. MI (Music Industry): Companies that manufacture, distribute, sell, buy, or promote gear intended for use by musicians. 2. MI (Musical Instrument): A device of any kind intended for music creation., and Paul noticed a commercial building for sale.

We walked inside and knew we had to have it, and not for us, but for a place that our community could utilize for self and family care. Little did we know that it used to be the Telegram building for Niles, which really couldn’t be more perfect…if the telegram didn’t exist, pro-audio wouldn’t exist. We still use that patch bayDefinition:
Also Jackfield. A panel of connectors for routing (patching) signals, by using plug-in patch cords to complete electrical connections. technology to this day! We were meant to have this building.

Can you give us a rundown of the services offered by the Clinic to live touring professionals?

Paul: This is the question that everybody wants the complete answer to, but that I do not enjoy answering. I never want people to see a list and think 'Oh - well, my need isn’t listed here, so they won’t be able to help me.' The intro conversation between The Roadie Clinic and a new client will always start with: 'Tell me your story. How can we help?' And the conversations will always remain confidential.

• Mental health advocacy
• Family support
• Peer chats
• 12-step meetings
• Suicide prevention
• Overdose prevention
• Healthcare resources
• Financial literacy + planning
• Legal consultation

'Some services and resources are through partner organizations in our care network. As your advocate, we will stay by your side until you get the care you need.'

As touring picks up again, where do you see the Clinic going in the next few years?

Courtney: The big goal for the next few years is to get our headquarters built and our Lofts open for people to use as needed. COVID took all of our plans and wiped them clean for 18 months, so we had to start back at the beginning financially. 

I would like all systems to be fully operational by then, with funding secured indefinitely to continue to grow our staff and resources. I would hope that it’s all running like a well-oiled machine in the next 3 years.

Another goal is to have TRC ambassadors on multiple tours, acting as crew-care facilitators full-time. We’ll start seeing a new trend in the coming tour season with many tours bringing in either 3rd-party HR organizations, therapists for crews and/or health + wellness facilitators.

And finally, do you have any takeaways or insight from starting this initiative that you could share with our followers?

Paul: The biggest thing I’m learning is that there are so many incredible organizations out there that want to help our industry. They don’t exist just for musicians - they exist for us, and for our families. I’ve been getting to know the people inside of these organizations and hear their hearts behind why they do it, and I’m here to bring those organizations and our community together.
In addition to the music-industry related organizations, there are also national organizations for things like crisis care, suicide prevention and sexual assault. And while the thought of a nationally-based organization can often feel less than personal, I have had the privilege of listening in on several panels interviewing leadership within these organizations, and there are real people on the other side of those phone numbers and email addresses. They have been trained to assist you, and many of the volunteers have gone through exactly what you are experiencing.

I also have the honor of leading a Global Care Network, currently bringing together music industry-based care organizations from Australia, Canada, the US and the UK. We speak quarterly, sharing insights on what the industry looks like in all corners of the world. We have consistent growth, and it’s beautiful to witness the love all over the world for our community.

Listen to your mind. Listen to your body. Listen to your heart. If any of those have been nudging  you to get help, trust those little voices, be brave and reach out.

If you enjoyed hearing Courtney and Paul's story, then we highly encourage you to visit the Roadie Clinic's website and support them in any way you can. By doing so, you're supporting the touring professionals that make live shows possible.