T.K. King

Tour!

Today we leave for our Semester 22 tour! It is so exciting to be on the road with such great musicians! 28 students on a charter bus and a giant truck behind with all the equipment, couldn’t be any better. With this being my first big tour as a musician, I am most looking forward to traveling to each new location. Each day, we arrive after lunch, set up all the lighting and sound, do an hour show, take down the equipment, and board the bus to travel to the next show. It’s going to be great! Below are all of our tour dates and locations. I would love to see you come out if we are playing anywhere close!

What equipment do you use?

My equipment:

Acoustic guitar - Takamine

Electric guitar - Fender Tele ‘72 remake

Acoustic strings - Medium Martin SP

Electric strings - Light Elixir Nanoweb 

Computer - 13” MacBook Pro

Recording program - ProTools 9

Live program - Ableton Live 8

Recording and Live interface - PreSonus Firestudio Project 

What equipment do you use? 

Time Off from Music?

Being surrounded by music 24/7 can really take a toll on you. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE playing/writing/recording music, but it can definitely wear you out sometimes. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are great days here at the Contemporary Music Center. Since we are leaving for tour on Thursday, our professors wanted to give us a break, and we have NOTHING to do. It’s wonderful! 

However, I am not one of those people who take my free time and curl up with a good book, and I don’t like taking long walks out into the sunset by myself to find my inner peace. I am a people person and love being surrounded by my friends. So, yesterday, I went to Granny White Park here in Brentwood, TN, and played basketball. In a way, it was very relaxing. Of course, I was panting and sweating the whole time, being completely out of shape, but I loved it! It’s great to just get outside and do stuff. 

Even though these days are supposed to be restful days away from music, I can’t help but pick up my guitar. In a lot of ways, music IS my rest. It’s my “go to” for about any situation in life, my way of expression. 

Break or no break, I’m always playing/writing music. It’s just good to get a game of basketball or ultimate together every once in a while. 

Advice about the Music Industry

The advice I would give to someone going into the music industry:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. you will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

-Matthew 7:15-20 

Ryan Lampa

Ryan Lampa is the manager and FOH guy for Toby Mac. Here are some pieces of advice he would give to up and coming artists when touring. 

1. Be humble. Even if your the head-lining band that a million people are paying to see, you’re just like everyone else. On stage you can be a rockstar and live it up, but off stage, your humility better shine.

2. Don’t tune your drums or play your guitar next to the stage when it’s not your time to sound check.

3. Get a smooth bus driver. 

4. Don’t loose focus. Standing in front of huge crowds or no crowds can quickly change the attitude of an artist. Be sure to keep your focus no matter the circumstances. 

5. Be wise in decision making. Some decisions can be tough, and sometimes you may not know whether to speak up or keep your mouth shut. As cliche as it may sound, what would Jesus do? Once you have figured out the best choice based on that, and as long your decision doesn’t kill anyone, you’ll be fine.