On episode 113 Mary Broadbent joins the hosts to talks about getting her start from the ground up as a merch tech/truck driver for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. This set Mary up to learn the Tour manager role. They discuss the respect level needed for merch techs and how they often are dismissed and overlooked as to what their skill sets actually are. Mary Broadbent is a Tour Manager, Production Manager, and Guitar-Backline Tech who’s been in the music touring industry for 15+ years. She’s tour managed for artists such as Clairo, The Mowglis, Magic Giant, The Staves, Loote, Wrabel, and production managed/stage-managed the festival Girlschool and She Rocks Awards 2018 & 2020. In 2015 she added Guitar-Backline teching to her skill-set working for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Against Me!, Plain White T’s, and Tegan and Sara. She also had a chance to jump behind the board running FOH for Wrabel, but would still consider herself very much a novice when it comes to sound engineering. She serves as a TM/PM mainly but pulls double duty Tour Managing & Teching when tours require it. During the 'pause' in the touring industry she found work as a Covid Compliance Officer for the ABC/Disney Show REBEL, and adopted a corgi, named Covax both of which kept her pretty busy most of last year. She enters the summer of 2021 jumping back on-board guitar teching for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Stage Managing for My Morning Jacket, and is hopeful and excited for everyone to get back to work and on the road. This episode is sponsored by Audix and Allen & Heath.Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."Join our Mentorship Program here:https://forms.gle/ZhsJP5D6BFiBLZiX8Be sure to check out the Signal To Noise Facebook Group, & Discord Server It’s a space for listeners to create to generate conversations around the people and topics covered in the podcast — we want your questions and comments! Let’s build a great sound community with a place to learn, discuss, and reminisce about the “good old days.”The Signal To Noise podcast series on ProSoundWeb is hosted by Live Sound/PSW technical editor Michael Lawrence and pro audio veterans Kyle Chirnside and Chris Leonard