Production

Over the years I have been involved in a lot of "production" work, starting when I was in the U S Navy on Admirals staff in 1961 and continuing on from New York to Florida to New Mexico. I have met some truly amazing performers over the years.

Getting the Dead Gig

A small diatribe about the Grateful Dead concerts in Santa Fe.

I worked on the first concert as the assistant to the production manager, David Noffsinger. David was contracted to produce the event with his pay coming out of the net from the gate. As with most promoters, there was no profit and so David got nothing.

Two years later when the Dead came back to Santa Fe for their second concert in Santa Fe, David said, not again. After the concert was over, I received a phone call from John Morris asking me if I could pick him up from where he was staying and take him to the airport shuttle at the Hilton of santa Fe.

It was raining very hard that day. When we got to the Hilton, John said he would wait inside for the shuttle, I said no I'll wait with you so we can talk. Since the first Dead concert John and I recognized each other but couldn't place where we had met. While waiting for the shuttle I asked John where he was going and he said Pleasantville.

I said Pleasantville where and John replied New York.

It turned out we had gone to the same elementary school and high school in Pleasantville and we also were in the boy scouts together for a few years. In John's Junior year in high school John's family sent John to Choate a college prep boarding school and I never saw John again ( 1954) until the Dead concert in Santa Fe New Mexico in 85.

We have become fast friends again and John bought a house near Las Campanas a few years ago and now lives in Santa Fe year round.

More Work

Concert and music production work were my main source of work here in New Mexico.

I built a special "lighting rig" for the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater on the grounds of the Santa Fe Indian School campus.

Consequently when national acts came to Santa Fe and discovered not only no "hang" positions for lights and sound but an uneven ellipse as the shape of the venue's stage, they would contact me (after I had contacted the promoter) to provide lighting for the concert, which I did, time and again, List of clients can be found on my website biography.