Giggs Podcast

For the 20th annual CMA Touring Awards, Giggs went backstage at The Pinnacle in Nashville and talked to over 20 winners, nominees, and industry leaders across one night.
We open with outgoing CMA CEO Sarah Trahern — her 13th and final Touring Awards — and SVP of Industry Relations Tiffany Kerns, on peer recognition, what this event means to the touring community, and what they're building for the next generation.
Winners featured in this episode:
Meg Miller — Tour Manager of the Year | Lainey Wilson
Allison Noah — Stage Manager of the Year | Carly Pearce / Lainey Wilson
Ryan Dell — Front of House Engineer of the Year | Lainey Wilson
Curt Armstead — Monitor Engineer of the Year | Lainey Wilson
Caleb Garrett — Coach/Truck Driver of the Year | Luke Bryan 
Kerri Edwards — Manager of the Year | KP Entertainment (Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell)
Zac Coren — Lighting Director of the Year | Morgan Wallen
Jen Conger — Business Manager of the Year | FBM
Olivia Hanceri — Publicist of the Year | OH Creative
Catherine Powell — Videographer/Photographer of the Year | Kelsea Ballerini
Robert Bull — Support Services Company of the Year | Clair Global
Trent Allison & Mike DuCharme — Venue of the Year | The Pinnacle, Nashville
Diana "Lemonade" McBride — Unsung Hero of the Year | Grand Ole Opry
Also on the red carpet: Chris King, Sam "Sambo" Coats & William Coats (Eric Church), Chris Daniels (Luke Bryan), Brad Baisley (Blake Shelton), Josh Phillips (Hardy), Troy "Tracker" Johnson (Track Management), Evan Sander (ASCOT Travel Services), Aslan Freeman (Lainey Wilson), Megan Truesdell (Chris Stapleton), Margie (Chris Stapleton), Brittany Hitch (Bridgestone Arena), Dane & Lolo Kinser (Post Malone/Kane Brown).
What you'll learn:
Why Caleb Garrett bought Luke Bryan's CD before signing on — and what 17 years of believing in your artist looks like
What Kerri Edwards means when she says it was scarier not to take the leap
Why Allison Noah says stage management is a service role
How Meg Miller went from driving Lainey's van to Tour Manager of the Year twice
What managing 23 mixes at Stagecoach taught Curt Armstead about staying calm
Why Diana "Lemonade" McBride calls herself "whatever needs to be done" — and why that became an award
What outgoing CMA CEO Sarah Trahern wants the next generation to stop doing to themselves
Sponsor: MOC is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer Guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a Musicians On Call volunteer, visit https://www.musiciansoncall.org.
Find your next Gigg and join the #1 community for the live events industry: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Alex McNamara is a technical director, welder, rigger, and Yale School of Drama graduate who installed the turntable for the original Hamilton production, led 600 workers on a $300 million Soundstorm build in Saudi Arabia, and built her career one job site at a time as one of the only women in the room. She's also the founder of Built Pretty — which she started a year ago on a forklift at an LA art fair and has since grown to 350k+ followers.
This episode covers the tools she keeps on her belt at every festival (including the Klein 11-in-1 and a tape measure trick most people don't know), the recovery story that led her to the trades, what it actually looks like to be a woman in carpentry and rigging, and why she left Juilliard and a one-bedroom on the Upper West Side to go back to freelance.
What you'll learn:
The tools worth having on your belt at any live event or job site
How recovery led Alex to the trades — and why working with her hands changed everything
What Hamilton taught her about building simple, effective sets
How she led 600 workers in Saudi Arabia on the $300M Soundstorm build — and learned construction Arabic to do it
The honest reality of being a woman in carpentry and rigging
How a forklift video turned into a 350k-person audience in under a year
Why the trades are dying in America — and what Built Pretty is doing about it
Built Pretty on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/built.pretty/ 
Alex's full tool list: https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-81ff6575
Sponsor:
MOC is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer Guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a Musicians On Call volunteer, visit https://www.musiciansoncall.org.
Alex McNamara bio:
Alex McNamara is a technical director, welder, rigger, and construction educator based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a Yale School of Drama graduate and has worked across Broadway, large-scale music festivals, and live entertainment builds around the world.
She is also the founder of Built Pretty, where she teaches the language of the trades through construction storytelling, tool history, and jobsite education to a growing audience across social media.
Find your next Gigg and join the #1 community for the live events industry: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Ryan Maag started as a backup dancer on the Weird Al Yankovic tour in 1998 and figured out fast that the person choreographing makes more than the person performing. Twenty-something years later, he's been creative director for NFL halftime shows on two continents, the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and the D-Day ceremonies in Normandy, France — shaking hands with five-star generals and the President of the United States and quietly asking himself how a kid from Philadelphia got here.
Now he runs TSP Creative in Nashville — an artist development ecosystem he calls "zero to Coldplay." TSP works with emerging artists from before they've released a single song, building identity, brand, staging, performance coaching, and creative direction from the ground up alongside his business partner, Sooner Routhier and her company, The Playground.
This conversation covers the full arc — what a creative director actually does, why the music industry has inverted (brand before music now), how to know if an artist has what it takes, and why AI is a looping machine, not a replacement.
What you'll learn:
Why creative direction comes from the stage up, not the lighting board down
How the music industry has flipped — and why brand identity now comes before music
The scope process TSP uses to evaluate and develop emerging artists
What the end goal question reveals about whether an artist is ready
Why a good creative director works with vulnerability, not around it
How Ryan thinks about AI as a creative tool (input, not output)
What separates a stadium artist from an arena artist — and why it matters
Sponsor:
Musicians On Call is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer Guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a MOC volunteer, visit https://www.musiciansoncall.org.
Ryan Maag bio:
President, Creative Director, & Choreographer — TSP Creative
A born performer with roots in dance, theater, and stage productions, he refined his craft through studies in music, entertainment, and business at Temple University, Drexel University, and New York University.
His career has spanned global stages, performing alongside A-list artists before transitioning into choreography and large-scale production design. As the founder of a choreography and creative production company, his work has ranged from intimate theater performances to international events, including the Olympic ceremonies.
An accomplished dancer, vocalist, and actor, he now leads TSP Creative with a vision shaped by both artistry and experience. His passion lies in empowering artists, building brands, and designing immersive live experiences that captivate audiences and leave a lasting impact.
Find your next Gigg and join the #1 community for the live events industry: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Neville Shende — known on the road as NELVIS — has spent more than 40 years in the concert touring world. He started as a guitarist and guitar tech in Winnipeg, stumbled into bus driving on a 9/11-disrupted Aerosmith run, and spent the next four decades driving for some of the most iconic artists in the world: Prince, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Black Sabbath, Shakira, Ronnie James Dio, Papa Roach, Disturbed, and many more.
This one is full of stories. Prince skipping soundcheck to look at a lake, a secret code system developed for a 975-mile run, the convection oven bought at midnight from a Best Buy, the Elvis plate that became an early test, and the only person on the Musicology Tour who never signed an NDA. But it's also a masterclass in what elite service actually looks like: doing your homework before every city, reading the room, decorating the bus like a five-star hotel, and folding toilet paper with a gold dot.
Neville now serves as Fleet and Driver Operations Manager and Director of Tour Relations, and runs CDL Platinum — a 30-day training program built to bring commercial drivers into concert touring at the right level.
What you'll learn:
How Neville's CDL saved on the side of the road during an Aerosmith tour became a 40-year career
Why Prince rode the bus instead of private planes — and what that meant for the driver
The philosophy of five-star service from behind the wheel
Why Neville hires for character over experience every time
How to read the room at every level — artist, crew, venue, and road family
What the F.U.E.L. and G.R.E.A.T. frameworks actually mean in practice
The off-ramp for experienced commercial drivers who want to get into touring
Book and course: Pick up Neville's book — The Entertainer Bus Driver: An Inside Look: Concert Tour Transportation — and his onboarding courses at https://cdlplatinum.com/
Sponsor: MOC is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer Guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a Musicians On Call volunteer, visit https://www.musiciansoncall.org.

Neville Shende bio:
Neville Drew Shende, born May 10, 1961, in Winnipeg, is a 40+ year transportation veteran and respected figure in the concert touring industry. After moving to the United States in 1998 to pursue his music career, he built a unique path from guitarist and guitar technician to elite entertainer coach driver and industry leader.
Known as "NELVIS," Neville has worked with some of the world's most iconic artists, including Prince, Alicia Keys, Madonna, Black Sabbath, Papa Roach, Shakira, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Disturbed, and the list goes on.
His professionalism, discretion, and commitment to excellence have made him a trusted presence in the music industry.
Neville has advanced into leadership roles including Fleet and Driver Operations Manager and Director of Tour Relations for a leading Nashville-based entertainer transportation company.
He is also the founder of CDL Platinum, a 30-day commercial driver lifestyle transformation program built on his F.U.E.L. principles: Focus, Uplift, Energy, and Leverage — designed to help drivers become G.R.E.A.T.: Good, Reliable, Energetic, Accountable, and Trustworthy. Driven by passion and powered by purpose, Neville elevates and educates drivers to their highest level.
He is also the author of a published book titled The Entertainer Bus Driver: An Inside Look: Concert Tour Transportation, available on Amazon and Audible.
With a deep passion for music, service, and personal growth (Kaizen), Neville continues to inspire drivers and industry professionals to elevate their performance and live with purpose both on and off the road.
Find your next Gigg and join the #1 community for the live events industry: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Mandi Naylor has spent over a decade running food and beverage at some of the biggest events in the country — the NFL Draft, the Super Bowl, Bonnaroo, ACL, Lollapalooza, CMA Fest, KAABOO, and the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. She's managed catering for commissioners, artists, and crews of thousands. Now she leads events for the Robertson County Chamber of Commerce in Tennessee.
This conversation gets into what catering actually looks like at scale: feeding thousands of people three to four meals a day for a month at the NFL Draft, donating thousands of pounds of leftover food, and running the ice and water operation that nourishes every department on site. Mandi — better known as Festy Mom (#festymom) to anyone who's worked with her — also gets honest about coming off the road after a health scare, raising two kids while traveling, and why catering is one of the best places in this industry to start a career.
What you'll learn:
Why the NFL Draft is harder than the Super Bowl
How to spot a catering hire who's actually going to make it
What it really costs to feed thousands of people across a month-long build
Why decor, A/C, and music in the catering tent aren't extras — they're the job
The mental load of catering: small talk, performance, and being the only place crew can decompress
How to advance F&B numbers when half the departments forget to send theirs in
Mom guilt, the road, and knowing when it's time to come home
Sponsor:
MOC is looking for new volunteers to help share the joys of live music. Volunteer Guides are the friendly faces who host the programs as volunteer musicians perform hopeful songs to put a smile on the faces of hospital patients, families, and caregivers. To learn more about becoming a Musicians On Call volunteer, visit https://www.musiciansoncall.org.
Mandi Naylor bio:
Mandi Naylor is an experienced event professional with more than a decade of leadership in large-scale festivals, national sporting events, and community-driven productions. She currently serves as Event Manager for the Robertson County Chamber of Commerce, where she leads the planning and execution of events that support local business growth, community engagement, and regional visibility.
Mandi's background spans some of the country's most high-profile events, including the NFL Draft, Super Bowl, NASCAR Chicago Street Race, and major music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, CMA and Austin City Limits. Her expertise includes food and beverage management, credentialing, site operations, logistics coordination, and vendor management—often overseeing complex, multi-layered event environments with thousands of attendees.
Throughout her career, she has held key leadership roles including Catering Manager, Beverage Manager, Credential Manager, and Accreditation Inventory Manager. She is known for her ability to manage large teams, streamline operations, and deliver exceptional guest experiences under high-pressure conditions.
Mandi holds a degree in Organizational Communication from Middle Tennessee State University, where she focused on employee communication, special events, and fundraising. She combines her strong organizational skills with a passion for creating memorable, impactful events that bring people together.
Find your next Gigg and join the #1 community for the live events industry: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz