“We all just did something pretty epic in a tiny town.” NMU 2001 alumnus Mike Picotte texted that message to NMU faculty members Dan Zini and Mark Shevy after the conclusion of The Big 3 concert Saturday night in Gwinn. Picotte was referring to the fact that they had successfully produced a high-quality, large-scale concert that would usually require a much larger team and the support of a bigger city's infrastructure. They did it with a crew of six—all with NMU connections—in a town with a population under 1,500.
The concert headliner was Chase Matthew, one of Nashville's hottest newcomers. His song “County Line” was recently certified platinum. The opening artists were multi-instrumentalist Gabe Bailey from Indiana, followed by country music artist Colin Stough from Mississippi.
Picotte was production manager for the entire show, front of house engineer for the two opening artists, and fulfilled at least 10 other titles for the event. As vice president of The Big 3 board, he was the main board member booking the artists and organizing many other elements of the show. His preparation included a year of planning and little to no sleep in the days leading up to the event. This is the second year he has organized The Big 3 concert in his hometown.
“I grew up in Gwinn and after leaving and working so many years in the music industry at a professional level, I was asked to join The Big 3 organization to help bring shows to Gwinn and give back to our community,” said Picotte. “I wanted to make sure we would bring real entertainment with top-level production if we were going to do it, and I feel like we achieved that this year and had a great show.
“Chase Matthew, who is No. 13 on the country charts, just played in our small town, and Colin Stough and Gabe Bailey are very talented artists so we had a great lineup. We had such great support from our sponsors and all the surrounding communities this year, which was fantastic to see. Shows like this do not happen without that.”
NMU Communication and Media Studies (CAMS) instructor and alumnus Dan Zini was the monitor engineer for the first two artists, and production stage manager and audio systems engineer for the entire event. CAMS Department Head Mark Shevy provided audio equipment and worked as an audio technician. Three others worked as audio technicians: 2024 multimedia production alumna Madisun Pluszczynski; 2015 Art & Design BFA alumna Traci Zini; and Steve VandenAvond, associate provost for Extended Learning and Community Engagement and dean of the College of Technology and Occupational Sciences.
“In addition to the top-level talent, people at the event were also impressed with the quality of the lighting and audio production,” Shevy said. “One audience member commented that it was the best concert that the U.P. has ever had. Touring professionals who came in for the show said that they were highly impressed with the audio that was designed, provided and engineered.”
Picotte said he recognizes that there is much more to this event than the artists and production on the night of the performance. The Big 3 is a non-profit organization that depends upon the involvement and contributions of many people, businesses and organizations.
“We had such great support from our sponsors and all the surrounding communities this year, which was fantastic to see,” he added. “Shows like this do not happen without that.”
Written by Mark Shevy.
