Music On The Couch @ The 2012 International Blues Challenge

Music On The Couch At The IBC was a first time event.  In fact, it was the first live remote I had ever attempted.  That is the way I am...in with both feet!

The weekly shows are done from the office in my home, wired internet.

Rum Boogie had assured me of wired DSL, so I had no concerns there.  The Orpheum shows on Saturday would be streamed over their wireless network. 

When I arrived at Rum Boogie on Tuesday at 10:00am (for the 9:00pm show), we ran the line, I ran a test show and both my connection to the internet, my connection to SKYPE and the final connection to BlogTalk Radio all worked perfectly.

When I went on-air at 9:00pm, the connection slowed considerably on my end, but it felt like I was still on air as all connections were a go.

Then about 20 minutes in, my chat room crashed and when I went to play an ad that was stored on the BTR servers it never connected.

I was off air.

When we began to investigate, I realized  I was sharing a DSL box with the credit card stations located in three locations on Beale Street.  When I did my test shows, everything went fine, but with the street teeming, well those machines were cranking.  We also found that at 9:00pm all the servers began reporting the machines had slowed down and we could hear them being kicked over to dial-up.

Good news, the machines still worked. Bad news we had "crashed the internet", and I was not getting enough signal to stay on-line.

No one wanted to start swapping wires and possibly cause problems to the restaurants systems.  So we pulled the plug.  I took the show down, so that people would not be subjected to a sub-par product. 

I received a call at about 8:30 the next morning that the IT guy would meet me at Rum Boogie.  Quickly it became evident that set-up was not going to be workable, so I was given a dedicated DSL line.

NO PROBLEMS! The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday shows went off smooth and those who listened reported sound was not an issue.

Saturday, as I said above was different.  Wireless was my connection.  There was not going to be an opportunity to pretest the setup, so I guess you can say I went on faith, hope and internet!

As anyone who tuned in knows, the setup was not adequate.  Sound from my end was choppy.  Phone calls were heard by the listeners, but not by me.  I could hear the music, but the listeners could not. When I spoke with people in the Orpheum, that did not transmit clearly.     I actually tried a different wireless network (The Orpheum has 4) and that was worse.

After an hour it became clear there was no answer.  In the middle of the Finals,there was no chance I could approach those running the event from the Blues Foundation or the staff at the Orpheum for assistance, so I shut the show down, deleted it from being downloaded as soon as I could, and cancelled the evening show. 

I tried something I have a passion for and in total, I believe it was a success.  Whether it was or not, is up to you, the listeners and musicians. 

There are many things I learned this year which could make next year's broadcasts much better. 

As far as the Saturday shows, if I don't have access to wired internet, then I would not attempt them.  I would broadcast 7 shows, all from Rum Boogie Cafe. 

Then, as I am doing tomorrow (Monday, February 6), I will speak with the champions of the Band and Solo/Duo Challenges as well as some of the other finalists and fans who attended the event.

I received messages from a number of people asking why the Saturday shows were not on the air.  Thank you for your concern.  I am hopeful you enjoyed those 6 shows enough that you share them with your friends.

 Bottom Line - I want to continue these broadcasts from the IBC each year.  If you agree, let your voice be heard.

Thank you