Lighting the way with BOBBY GREY by J.T. Crawford

He’s been around the world, mastering a trade that is making his dreams come true. And he never forgets that it all started in Paducah.

It’s that spine-tingling moment you’ve been waiting for. The venue lights finally dim, and a roar goes up from thousands of fans who, for months, have been anticipating this concert. The artist takes the stage, and the air bursts forth in song and light. For the next few hours, you are treated to a dazzling display of sound and color. Anticipation and preparation are married together, crafting moments of emotion that will live in memory forever. At the center of the swirl is the maestro of luminosity, Bobby Grey. He puts the shine on the sound, creating and controlling the symphony of sight.

As a lighting designer, Bobby plies his trade internationally, traveling the world, working with multiple clients to transform spaces with dazzling displays. When he’s not on the road, he calls the countryside near Paducah home. It’s where he likes to come back to. It’s where he got his start.

“When I was in high school, me and my friends had our guitars and our little band, and we played music on the weekends,” says Bobby. “My hobby was an endless pursuit to try and record us with whatever gear I could get together. I really got into it. I went down the rabbit hole of doing audio. I’d go to concerts, and I’d look around at all these guys working, and I thought they had it made.”

Bobby, who possesses an infectious energy and curiosity, never held back from asking questions. “I talked to some of the roadies. I watched them all load up on a bus at the end of the night and head off to the next city. That was cool.”

Not long after, Bobby met Joe Searcy, Production Manager at The Carson Center. “I brought a resume to Joe,” says Bobby, “and he let me unload trucks one week. By that summer, I was working regularly. Joe always took the time to explain how to be a good employee and all about stagecraft. Mike Brewer, the Stage Manager, taught me a lot. He’s a do-all there. And Jennifer Thompson, the House Lighting Designer, really took me in. It wouldn’t take long to set up audio, but there was a lot to do with lighting. She taught me all the basics and how everything works. Everyone was very long-suffering to a kid like me.”

Bobby cherished his time at The Carson Center, but he had a growing dream of traveling and taking a show on the road. After The Carson Center, he toured with two acts from America’s Got Talent. “While I was doing that, I met someone who worked at Disney in LA,” he says. “She told me how great it was to work for them as a stagehand. I cold-called their operator and got ahold of their head of technical services who was perplexed at how I’d gotten through to him.” He invited Bobby to apply, and Bobby got the job. “I worked there about a year-and-a-half, doing special events and three new shows while I was there.”

While at Disney, Bobby connected with Joe Paradise, lighting designer for the band Incubus. “He’d just picked up 311,” recalls Bobby, “who was a big band in the 90s, and they are still going. I had read articles about Joe and watched his work on DVDs. I’d even met him back when I was about 18 at a show and asked him if he had any life advice. He had gotten this grim look on his face and said, ‘Yeah, if you want some advice, go into debt and become a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant or something like that.’ He was serious!” But Bobby was not deterred. He contacted Joe after that, and they met occasionally over the next few years.

“While I was at Disney, he called me and asked if I wanted to go on tour.” Joe mentored Bobby and taught him the art of programming a rock show. When the tour was over, Bobby built a freelance career in LA. “I did everything,” he laughs. “I designed a stage at Coachella all the way down to lighting a bar mitzvah.” He also started working with Sightline Design Group and, most recently, formed his own company.

After realizing that he didn’t have to live in one particular place to do his job, he moved closer to home near Paducah. “It’s great being back here. There are two flights a day out of Paducah,” he says. “I can go anywhere. The folks at Barkley know me very well!”

Nick Hexum and Aaron “P-Nut Wills, of the band 311, are framed by the lighting work of Bobby Grey.

When it comes to concert lighting, Bobby knows the importance of his craft to both artists and fans. “The artists are trying to tell a story,” he says. “There’s an arc to a show. The story is told in music and lighting. You are able to set the mood and set the context for the story. The mood of a space is set by color, amount of light, and where it is coming from. And there’s a new generation of concert-goer now who expect a high-level of production.” Bobby is now known internationally, and his work has taken him to places like China. He’s worked with some big names (really big names) and big companies (many of which we cannot mention due to contractual obligations). When we spoke, Bobby was on his way to oversee a lighting installation for Hyatt Hotels in Dubai, and he was working on a production design for the band 311’s 30th-anniversary show in Las Vegas.

But no matter where he’s been or who he has met, he never forgets the basics he learned in Paducah. “I have to stress how important regional theaters are—places like The Carson Center and Market House Theatre,” Bobby says. “They are so important to a community. I never thought I could find a career doing something like this. It’s amazing. The practical applications you can learn are priceless. I can take what I’ve learned in Paducah and apply it to just about anything. To have this here on the local level is incredibly important. It’s invaluable to a community. I found this group of people who were willing to take me in and teach me. Working at The Carson Center for that couple of years taught me all the ins and outs. Joe, Mike, and Jen were so great to teach me. And it’s taken me around the world.”

HIS NAME IN LIGHTS

Bobby Grey

In 2018, Live Design, a creative and technical resource for live entertainment professionals, named Bobby one of their 30 Under 30, a recognition instituted as part of their 30th anniversary celebration. The list recognized “thirty young movers and shakers who are changing paradigms, looking at things from new angles, and rapidly rising to the forefront of their field.”