"Atlanta has a huge music scene, but it's spread out in different neighborhoods and we all gig on the same nights, so no one ever gets to experience what's happening in other parts of the community," explains Schumacher. "I wanted to create something that would draw musicians together from all over town."
The result was the Tin Roof Acoustic Showdown, a weekly competition held at the Tin Roof Cantina - a longtime hangout for local musicians. Each Monday, 12 artists are booked, with fans and competitors selecting two winners. After six weeks, finals are held and prizes are awarded. Then the process repeats throughout the year.
"We got some sponsors to create a pretty great prize package worth $4,000, including cash, gigs, recording time, design services and music gear," says Schumacher. "Guitar Centre Atlanta has been a huge supporter, but what really took it to another level was when they let us borrow a StageScape M20d digital mixer for the finals."
As a musician who routinely gigs 200 or more times annually, Schumacher was looking for a digital console that would make life easier - both for his own shows and for the Acoustic Showdown. "I had my eye on another model, but Kirby Oliveras, the Assistant Manager at Guitar Centre, said I had to check out the Line 6 mixer," he recounts.
"As a demo, they let me take it out to the club for the finals. It was a little scary, since load-in wasn't until 6:30pm and my set started at 8:00pm. Just by patching this mixer into the house system - which wasn't hard at all - we set up quickly and got better sound than ever, set after set. The sound just totally floored everyone. I was getting extreme compliments all night.
"The sound [of StageScape M20d] just totally floored everyone. I was getting extreme compliments all night."
Schumacher feels that the on-board DSP processing contributes greatly to the ease of use. "I do a lot of production work, and you can tell how much thought Line 6 put into the channel strip design. It gives me full access to every parameter in Deep Tweak mode," he says. "The reverbs are super natural, and having six sweepable bands of EQ with a visual representation of your sound spectrum is incredibly powerful. I feel it rivals just about any plug-in suite I use. Everything is quick and responsive, with no lag, even from the iPad. It makes mixing effortless... and more fun that I could've ever imagined."
Meanwhile, Atlanta's Tin Roof Acoustic Showdown is approaching its first anniversary and seventh series, and Schumacher's newest venture, the Buckhead Saloon Electric Showdown, has just begun. "People are coming from all over to compete, listen and join in the infamous late-night jam sessions, which is great for the community," says Schumacher. "With support from sponsors like Guitar Center and great sound with the Line 6 StageScape mixer, we've put on well over 600 acts this year, and we're going stronger and sounding better than ever."
(Jim Evans)
