[ATTACH=CONFIG]199650.vB5-legacyid=11356[/ATTACH]Vancouver BC – The fast approaching holiday season has bassist Dirk Shumaker and nine piece band ‘Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’ hitting the road. Their annual ‘Wild & Swingin’ Holiday Tour’ occupies much of December, delivering the band’s signature holiday sounds.
It was almost 20 years ago when the band’s notoriety catapulted following the success of the movie Swingers, introducing swing music to a new generation. A Superbowl half-time show, numerous late night talk show performances, movie premiers and an appearance on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ has kept Shumaker and the band in the foreground and eliciting new fans.
Beyond the television and movie appearances you can find BBVD performing with a number of sympohony orchestras each year. The symphony performances are among Shumaker’s favorites: “The physical sound that a live orchestra produces is something everyone should experience at some point in time. Listening to a recording of a symphony is enjoyable, but hearing it live is really special.”
Outside of his work with BBVD, he is working on a new quartet project with a fellow BBVD member, Karl Hunter on tenor saxophone: “It’s a fun project that tests my ability as a bass player. We played our first show recently at a great jazz club and wine bar here in Ventura. The quartet also features Trey O’Toole on Drums and Hans Ottsen on guitar.”
Preparing for tour you will always find Shumaker packing his stylish swing era style wardrobe and his Radial Tube DI. The latter has been a staple since his FOH engineer planted a bug in his ear. “Brian Stanley found the Radial Firefly, and we have been using it for over a year now. All throughout my career, I have been told that the bass would sound SO much better with a tube pre-amp, but the gear that was available at the time was very delicate. When the band would record in a studio, we always used a tube pre-amp and the bass track was noticably more warm and rich sounding. Seeing that the band performs year round, and in various settings, there just wasn’t anything in my price range that was road worthy. The Firefly Tube DI is a fantastic addition to my bass set up. It’s made a huge improvement to how the bass sounds in concert.”
Shumaker and his Radial Firefly will light up the Vegas strip for the finale of the tour. This is one of his favorite stops. The Firefly Tube DI solves many problems on the road but there’s one thing it just can’t fix according to Shumaker: “By the time we get out of the venue each night, it’s around midnight. Getting good food on the road has its challenges but in Vegas there will always be a good restaurant that is still open after the show.”
For more information on the Radial Firefly
[HR][/HR]
About Radial Engineering Ltd.
Radial Engineering Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of fine products used by audio professionals
and musicians around the world.
