Reflecting on Winning "Live Audio Engineer of the Year" (Again!)

It’s amazing how quickly time flies in the pro-audio world. Looking back at my archives, 2012 was a massive milestone for one specific reason: I was awarded the Audio Pro International Live Sound Engineer of the Year award for the second year in a row. Winning the inaugural award was an honor, but receiving it again in 2012 was something I genuinely couldn't believe.

Balancing the Console and the Keyboard

What made that time period so special was that I was spending just as much time writing about the live sound industry as I was mixing it. Between putting together my book (Live Audio: The Art of Mixing a Show) and writing various articles about industry shifts and touring culture, I was deeply immersed in the "why" and "how" of what we do.

I have to give a massive shout-out to Andrew Low, who was a fantastic editor and gave me a platform for my early writing. I also owe a huge thanks to Daniel Gumble, who was editing Audio Pro at the time of the 2012 award. Both of them provided incredible support for the live sound community and helped elevate the voices of the people working behind the scenes.

Looking Forward

In the fast-paced world of live events, we rarely stop to celebrate the wins. Republishing this is a great reminder of the dedication it takes to stay engaged with this craft—both behind the desk and within the wider audio community.