#10 – Backstage with Pat Metheny – October 10, 2010

Say what you will about Facebook - but for all the trouble it may cause, it has also enriched my experiences by tracking down people who have been missing for decades (and sometimes it’s best for some to stay missing)...

After reading Blog #7 (SHS Mini Band Reunion), high school friend, Sheri, said she found band friend Carolyn a few months earlier working for jazz artist Pat Metheny. But actually trying to reach Carolyn was another story. At that time, she was touring through South Korea and Japan but my diligent weekly checks on the tour website showed that they would eventually be coming to the Berkshires in October. What luck! About a week before the concert, Carolyn finally made it to her email to discover my note and set aside 3 tickets to the show for me. I immediately contacted Pam (also from high school band) and invited her up from RI for the concert.


SHS Band Officers
CAROLYN, MARIANNE, Dave, Deb, PAM


Dinner in Great Barrington gave Pam and me a chance to reminisce about high school band and what we remembered about Carolyn. We also imagined what it would be like to travel around the world and perhaps stow away onto the tour bus for a few weeks.

We headed to the Mahaiwe Theatre a little early for the chance that we might be able to say hi. We had been warned that Carolyn wouldn’t get a dinner break and that load out could take an hour and a half after the show. The box office had our tickets and “back stage passes” ready to go. We tried not to blush and look like groupies but we couldn’t help it – we were so excited!

Pam and I settled into our balcony box seats where Dave met us just before the show. As final prep was taking place on the stage, we finally saw Carolyn run out to place Pat’s guitar into the stand. We screamed “Carolyn!” and she excitedly waved and ran off stage right. Down went the lights and Pat Metheny took the stage for an amazing acoustic opening. Before we finished clapping, the black drapes behind him fell to the floor revealing the “Orchestrion Project.” My eyes were trying to take everything in at once as the various rhythm sections began to beat, multiple marimbas sent out their tones, and Metheny’s guitar brought it all together. All senses were now fully engaged. Some of what we saw included: pianos, marimba, vibraphone, orchestral bells, basses, guitar-bots, percussion, cymbals, drums, and even blow bottles!

After seeing it and researching on the web, I still was unable to explain or even comprehend what was happening on that stage, but it was incredible. This is how Metheny describes it on his website:

"Orchestrionics" is the term that I am using to describe a method of developing ensemble-oriented music using acoustic and acoustoelectric musical instruments that are mechanically controlled in a variety of ways, using solenoids and pneumatics. With a guitar, pen or keyboard I am able to create a detailed compositional environment or a spontaneously developed improvisation, with the pieces on this particular recording leaning toward the compositional side of the spectrum. On top of these layers of acoustic sound, I add my conventional electric guitar playing as an improvised component.

Nope. That didn’t help me either. About midway through the show, Carolyn brought out a crazy guitar for Pat that was as intriguing as the 200 other pieces behind him. We found out later that it was called Pikasso and has four necks, two sound holes, and 42 strings. It was created by luthier Linda Manzer for Metheny and took 2 years to build.

After a few standing O’s and encores, those with the coveted back stage passes were brought down to the front row and all others were evacuated. Carolyn finally came down to receive some hugs and praise but was needed to “orchestrate” the packing up of the equipment. At this time, Pat Metheny came out to greet his golden ticket holding fans. I told him that between the 3 of us, we were musicians, engineers and programmers and were still completely unable to figure out how he did what he did. He replied “then I achieved my goal.”

Watching Carolyn organize the packing of the show was almost as interesting as the show itself. Several giant numbered boxes appeared on stage and she knew exactly what went in each and in what order they were to go onto the tractor trailer. It became clear to us what an intense labor of love this job must be.

Once Carolyn and the crew finally fit their perfect jigsaw puzzle of boxes onto the truck (with nary an inch to spare), we were invited onto the elusive tour bus. Pam and I looked at each other with big eyes that seemed to roll into Lucky 7’s with bells and “Jackpot!” screaming through our heads! It was nearly midnight before the crew was able to settle down and join us on this massive mahogany and leather covered rolling condo. The first section was the living room with black buckskin sofas along each wall flowing into the kitchenette with sink, fridge, table, and big screen TV. The bathroom preceded 2 walls of crew bunks which lead to Pat’s room in the back. We didn’t want to completely invade their living quarters so we kept the photos to a few quick shots in the master bedroom (what groupie wouldn’t).



Checking out the master suite

We finally got to ask a few of our hundreds of questions about life on the road. In high school Carolyn played flute in the band and if you were lucky, you might hear her tickle the ivories like no one else you knew. Her entire family was musical and some 25 years ago, her brother asked if she thought she could tune guitars. She said “I don’t see why not?” That began her relationship with Pat Metheny. She showed us her tiny bunk on the bottom by the floor. She said she likes it down there because she has a tendency to roll out when the bus is moving. We looked at the tiny bathroom and thought about shaving, hair straighteners, lotions, and make up and knew there was no place for that on this bus. Carolyn was the only female in this troupe and she was living a stripped down life style. They spend months on the road and only a few months at home during the summer. She said it’s sometimes hard to sleep in her own bed because it doesn’t rock.

The crew was having pizza and beer now and when Pat returned from freshening up at a nearby hotel, the bus would roll its way to Montreal where they would get up in the morning and unload all those boxes, fix what doesn’t work, and do it all over again. Carolyn said she has friends all over the world and after 25 years, doesn’t really know any other way of life.

Now that you have a glimpse into the life of a true traveling roadie, consider this schedule from The Pat Metheny Tour last Feb 2010:

Feb 1 Champagne, France
Feb 3 Gronigen, Holland
Feb 5 Stockholm, Sweden

Feb 6 Oslo, Norway Oslo
Feb 7 Copenhagen, Denmark
Feb 9 Brussels, Belgium
Feb 10 London, England
Feb 11 Amsterdam Concert
Feb 12 Eindhoven, Holland
Feb 13 Paris, France
Feb 15 Montpellier, France
Feb 16 Bordeaux, France
Feb 18 Madrid, Spain
Feb 19 Valladolid, Spain
Feb 20 Logrono, Spain
Feb 21 Barcelona, Spain
Feb 23 Munich, Germany
Feb 25 Vienna, Austria
Feb 26 Bratislava, Slovakia
Feb 28 Wroclaw, Poland

Pam and I enjoyed every moment of our evening and our brief glimpse and visit into Carolyn’s life. We were pretty sure it wasn’t anything we could step right into but we wouldn’t mind meeting up with them again…and maybe we'd stay at a nice hotel near where they parked their bus...?

Please click here to listen to Pat Metheny and his Orchestrion.