When you talk to sound man, booking agent, band manager and pro audio guru Rick Spencer, you’re reminded of the stream-of-consciousness badinage that used to be known as rapping, back when rapping was old school rock and roll — before hip hoppers took over the word and the world.

Like a character from a Jack Kerouac novel, Spencer can talk up a tornado, but then he’s got a lot to say. You soon realize he’s laying down an oral history of the music business, Texan style, resplendent with visual displays such as a busted guitar body from rock band Humble Pie, a faded photo of him and Double Trouble bass guitarist Tommy Shannon, or his eclectic collection of backstage passes acquired from countless days on the road.

Touring was always in Spencer’s blood, reinforced by his background as an Air Force brat. He lived in Maine for a while and then Alaska, but when he landed in Austin in 1968 at the age of 15, he dived head first into the bourgeoning music scene of what would eventually become the Live Music Capital of the World.

Upon graduation from McCallum High in Austin in 1972, he played guitar in a power trio called Rickashay (1973-75) and performed cover songs from early hard rockers Deep Purple, Trapeze, Blue Cheer, Grand Funk Railroad and Jimi Hendrix. After the band broke up, he soon found his true calling and talents lay behind the mixing board, and once he started twiddling knobs and pushing faders to the magic of sound he never looked back.

This interview took place at his super secret hideaway (read: office and workshop) in the back woods of the Oak Hill/Cedar Valley area.

Oak Hill Gazette: Let me ask the big question right off the bat — what do you do and how long have you been doing it?

Rick Spencer: I’m an agent, a band manager, and a pro audio sound reinforcement company. I wear multiple hats. I’m also a stage manager and pro audio service and repair guy. And I’ve been doing this for 12 years. (Editor’s note: He has more than 30 years in the business, but he came out of a brief retirement 12 years ago.)

OHG: What famous acts have you worked with?

RS: Well, let’s see. In ’82 and ’83 I worked for Stevie Ray Vaughan as his one-in-everything roadie guy. I was his guitar tech, truck driver, stage manager, sound engineer and all around keep-a-wary-eye-out-and-make-sure-we-got-to-the-gig-got-through-the-gig-and-got-back-to-the-truck-after-the-gig-and-home-safely guy.

Before that, I worked for Black Star Sound & Lighting, a large concert sound reinforcement and lighting company. We did concert tours with just about every national act that was on the radio in the 1970s and ‘80s. Robert Palmer, Moxy, Dire Straits, Judas Priest tours, UFO, The Pretenders, Trapeze, Dave Mason, Glen Frey from The Eagles, and we did the very first Police show in Austin, Texas at the old auditorium at Auditorium Shores. That was on Halloween night, in 1977 I believe.

I’ve worked with the Allman Brothers, heavy hitters like Nazareth, and did the first Van Halen tour with Black Sabbath in 1978. I’ve literally lived on 18-wheelers and touring buses since 1976. I worked for Black Star for 14 years alone, but I also had stints where I worked specifically for one band — Average White Band, Levon Helm, Joe Ely and Stevie Ray Vaughan, as I already mentioned. More acts than my remaining brain cells can remember.

OHG: How did you get your start?

RS: I would say that most guys start playing guitar when they were six, seven, eight years old, but I got my first drum kit when I was six, seven, eight years old — I can’t remember the exact year. Before that, I pounded on all my mom’s kitchen pots and pans and empty five-gallon ice cream containers.

From there, I gravitated over to guitar, I was like 12 or 13 years old in the early ‘60s, and from there I discovered a natural ability to do technical things quite well, such as building electronic kits and homemade radios, radio-controlled robots and the like.

From that, I naturally gravitated to the soundboard, where I was quite prolific at analog mixing back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Back then, mixing consoles were very large and at first sight very complicated, but I was able to discern what each knob does in a very short period of time. I had a lot of hands-on experience and I’m what you’d call an old school, self-taught engineer. We didn’t have recording schools back in those days to teach you sound.

OHG: So did you apprentice with somebody?

RS: Nope. Completely self-taught. I started with garage bands and the first soundboard I mastered was a 12-channel Peavey. I grew up on old Crown power amps, heavy Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre speakers. Old school stuff. Every high school had three or four bands, so I either played in the band or did the sound for the band.

OHG: Do you have steady regular gigs to keep you busy?

RS: We work the Pecan Street Festival every year. The Texas Music Magazine’s private party show at Stubb’s a few times, the Bat Fest every year, the Cajun Festival, the Lake Austin Blues Festival, the Austin Rockin’ Blues Festival, the Oak Hill Cruise and Blues Festival and, as you know, we’ll be working the upcoming Oak Hill World’s Fair April 5.

And we’ve worked several miscellaneous festivals all over small town Texas, including the Luling Watermelon Thump a couple of times.

OHG: Now everything you’ve talked about so far has been centered on your sound gigs alone. But you’re also a pro audio dealer as well, right?

RS: Yes, I’m a pro audio dealer, the same as the stores downtown. I don’t have a storefront, but I can order the exact same equipment at wholesale prices. We’re in the process of building a new website, and a lot of the pro audio equipment is mentioned on our myspace page.

I’m a dealer for Electro Voice, Crown, QSC, Peavey, Eminence and Selenium speakers and DBX. I’m a dealer for all pro audio equipment, whether live or studio. We’ve got equalizers, we’ve got mixing boards, we’ve got digital equipment, we’ve got road cases — we’ve got it all.

OHG: What have you been doing on the agent/managing side? And how did you come to get involved in that?

RS: My history in the business gave me the knowledge, skills and confidence to start working as a stage manager, and then to manage bands and oversee the show in general, having worked shows with high-caliber acts for more than 28 years. I tried to retire, but I kept getting dragged back into the music scene on the club level. When I retired from national touring, I ran an electronic repair shop for a while, but consumer electronics have become disposable items these days, so that didn’t work out for long. Even pro audio electronics are becoming disposable, but that’s another story.

Anyway, I got out of that business and gravitated toward what I know — sound engineering. From there, I gravitated into helping some of the really good bands in town that can’t get an even break and pushing their careers up a couple of notches with influences from my past and connecting them with some of the club owners to help them get the best entertainment they can into their venues.

OHG: What clubs are you booking now?

RS: I am the booking agent for The Pier in Lake Travis, and the exclusive agent for Detour Bar & Grill on 620 across from Lakeway. I’m looking at getting concert quality acts there and installing a large PA system there.

I’m also booking a new venue called The Locker Room that used to be the old South 40 boot scoot place at Ben White and South First, and I’m booking a biker bar outside of Dripping Springs called Dally’s Down Under. I’m also working closely with Hanover’s in Pflugerville and some shows at Rock City Ice House, and Red Eyed Fly as well.

Oh, and I can’t forget Friends on Sixth Street. I’m custom installing a couple of subwoofers (speakers) there tomorrow.

OHG: Besides clubs, you’re also working with several bands, right?

RS: Yes, my favorite lineup. First, I’m working with a band out of Temple called Slick Fist. Great old school rock and roll, not that alternative rock stuff. I’m also the booking agent for the Jolly Garogers, your basic pirate rock band. Friday night at Rock City Icehouse — in order of appearance —I’ve got Adrenaline Factor, Slick Fist and Broken Teeth coming to play. I’ll have lasers and fog machines set up at that show. Then Sunday night we’ll be back to the Red Eyed Fly for another Slick Fist show.

I’ve also worked with a band called Anagen, a high energy, straight up rock band that reminds me of Bon Jovi. I’ve been working with them for three years now, and they’re in Tennessee working on a new CD. That reminds me, the Slick Fist CD was produced by Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer and was recorded in Blotzer’s Diamond Studios in Houston.

OHG: You’re a big plugger for your bands.

RS: Damn straight! I keep those puppies working and they love it!

You can find out more about Rick Spencer by visiting his home page, www.rickashay.net or his myspace page at myspace.com/rickashayproductions.

— Oak Hill Gazette