Brandi Carlile’s guitar technician Jason Crisp reveals how meticulous preparation, split-second problem-solving, and hard-earned trust keep every live performance running smoothly. His path from a childhood fascination with guitars to the pressure of sold-out stages reveals the unlikely journey behind that crucial backstage role.
Long before Jason Crisp found himself backstage at Red Rocks, handing a guitar to Brandi Carlile moments before the house lights dimmed, he was a kid who wanted to be a DJ.
Then his mother came home one day with an old guitar.
“It just changed everything,” he recalls.
That moment launched a career that took unexpected turns — from mechanical engineering to restoring and repairing guitars in a side workshop — before leading to one of the most demanding jobs in live music: guitar technician for one of the most respected touring artists.
Today, Crisp spends his days ensuring every guitar, amplifier, wireless system, pedal and cable performs flawlessly. If he does his job perfectly, most people in the audience will never know he was there.
That’s exactly the point.
A guitar technician’s job goes far beyond tuning instruments.
Before every show, each guitar is restrung, set up to the artist’s exact specifications, and thoroughly tested. Electronics are checked, batteries replaced, wireless systems coordinated, backup guitars readied, and pedalboards programmed for the set. During the show, a tech has only seconds to deliver the right guitar and solve any problem without disrupting the performance.
For Carlile, that preparation is indispensable.
“Jason is an exceptional guitar tech,” she says. “He is essential to me and my ability to put on a show because he’s brilliant under pressure onstage — and he understands my instrument in ways even I don’t.”
Preparation becomes a carefully rehearsed routine.
“Every show we’ll get a set list,” Crisp explains. “I know what songs are coming, where Brandi will be on stage and exactly when every guitar change has to happen.”
His notes cover every song in the set: which guitar is needed, which capo, which tuning, which effects, and where Carlile will be on stage. Everything is mapped out before the audience walks through the doors.
That meticulous attention to detail comes from experience.
“I’ve had guitars just stop working halfway through,” he says. “You learn over time.”
The audience sees the performance; Crisp sees the hundreds of details that make it happen.
“I play long and very live shows,” she says. “There is almost never a part of my show where I play the same guitar two songs in a row. Jason is handing me a new, alternately tuned and specialized guitar at least 20 times throughout an evening — sometimes even twice during the same song.”
It’s a level of pressure that’s difficult to appreciate until you’re standing side stage.
For Crisp, those moments never become routine.
“The butterflies are going. I’m sweating,” he says with a laugh. “Even though I know I’ve checked everything.”
If the first guitar handoff doesn’t go smoothly, it can throw off the entire show. The ability to stay calm in those moments came from years of chasing a craft he never expected would become a career.
His break into the touring world came through an unlikely connection. During one gig with his own band, he struck up a conversation with another guitarist who was working for Imelda May, who was then supporting Pearl Jam.
“I thought it was just a drunken conversation,” he says with a laugh.
Two weeks later, his phone rang.
That chance encounter opened the door to the touring world he had always dreamed about, launching a career that would take him on the road with major artists.
One of the defining highlights of his career came when Brandi Carlile invited him to grab a Les Paul and join her onstage at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
“It was the biggest moment I’ve ever had,” he says.
Trust is a recurring theme throughout Crisp’s career.
“My guitars and amplifiers are old, highly unique and quirky, requiring constant care even when I’m not onstage,” she says. “Jason is a godsend for me as an artist, and I really, truly struggle to meet my own expectations as an artist without him.”
The bond Carlile describes goes both ways. For Crisp, music has always been something more personal; it’s his “life saver.”
Away from touring, Crisp and his wife are raising three children. Their oldest daughter is now building a career in music, following a path that looks familiar in some ways, but is entirely her own.
Even after years on the road, the work itself still holds the same sense of wonder. There are still moments when Carlile begins singing and, for just a second, Crisp forgets he’s working. Those brief moments remind him why all the preparation, long hours and pressure are worth it.
As Carlile tours the US and UK starting August 13 in Portland, Crisp will be beside the stage, doing the work most fans never see – but that makes every show possible.
“Every show is different,” he says. “You meet different people. Different venues. Different festivals. It’s such an exciting life.”
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© Skyler Barberio
© Skyler Barberio
