TEMA Depends on Touring Pros to Get PPE Delivered

If you work in a school, hospital or nursing home, you may have received a mask, gloves, hospital gowns or COVID-19 test kits from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. If so, there’s a good chance your supplies were packaged and shipped by someone who, before the pandemic, was responsible for you being able to enjoy a concert.

Out-of-work production managers, merchandising experts and other touring professionals have found work shipping out personal protective equipment, and the gig is a win-win: It gets vital supplies where they need to go, and helps some of the hardest-hit music industry folk pay their bills while the coronavirus keeps live music in suspended animation.

Early in the state’s COVID response effort, TEMA began working with Memphis-based F&W Transport to run their PPE and testing kit distribution center. The move was part of ramping up from a 60,000-square-foot space in the back of a warehouse used by footwear chain Journey’s to a dedicated facility with more than 250,000 square feet. This upgrade came with a need for F&W to take on more local staff. As TEMA logistics manager Jason Arbogast tells the Scene, quite a few touring pros came on board — about two-thirds of the 30-person team.

“Our inventory guy was in charge of merch for artists like Chris Stapleton and Foo Fighters,” says Arbogast. “We have enough industry staff here that we could pull our own festival. These people have worked their asses off since last spring making sure things are done quickly and correctly. They have brought their professionalism from the road to work here supplying millions of Tennesseans. They have worked long hours under some of the strangest conditions ever. They adjusted to having their lives upended and created a new normal in this environment.”

The work has kept Nashville music industry professionals from losing their homes, and at least a little, it plugged the hole left by unemployment and a lack of government support. Three staffers took a few minutes to get on a call with the Scene.

Craig Porter, a recent addition to the F&W team, was a touring and production manager working for artists like Tanya Tucker and Ice-T. His last paycheck before getting hired on at F&W was in March, and Porter says he lost his six-figure salary for nearly eight months before securing his current position in November. Losing his income was incredibly hard for his family.

“You go from all to nothing in a quick second, like a car wreck,” Porter says. “If my wife [wasn’t] able to work, we would have lost everything. I went through my savings in about seven months.”

Porter says he found out about his F&W position through Brian Stitt, who came off managing the merch for a tennis tournament in March to find himself unemployed. Stitt was hired by F&W in April and says he’s grateful he wasn’t unemployed long, especially since he knows road crews sidelined by the pandemic are hurting now. He says when he posted about job opportunities at F&W, the emails from out-of-work touring professionals poured in within minutes.

Stitt says working closely with PPE is a constant reminder of how and why to stay safe, and he prevents COVID risks as much as possible. Daniel Wharton, F&W’s territory manager in Nashville, tells the Scene that staff members work in small groups that stay separate from each other, and they have their temperatures checked daily. If one person in a pod gets sick, that group can go into quarantine without affecting the rest. Wharton also says staff wear masks and sanitize the warehouse regularly. Stitt says the workers are all attuned to the importance of the products they’re shipping.

“The last thing that we need here is for somebody to get sick, and it spreads and it jeopardizes the mission,” Stitt says.

Stitt also connected with Lexi Johnson, who’d lost her job as a traveling tech working big conventions and other corporate events. She saw Stitt’s Facebook post about an opening. Johnson says that, while she doesn’t have a family or house payments like Porter, the work has kept food on the table. Her new job is a little different than being on the road, but the adjustment hasn’t been all that bad. Johnson says the schedule, like waking up early and going to bed earlier, is the biggest day-to-day change. That said, her long-term plans, which included going to grad school around her tours, might have to change.

“I chose this industry because I love it so much,” says Johnson. “I might have to change career paths, because we’re still not sure when it’s coming back, or how different it’s going to be.”

She’s concerned about other touring folks who’ve had their entire careers upended too, noting many seasoned pros who chose to retire. Porter, Stitt and Johnson agree the music industry will never be the same. They worry that smaller venues and artists won’t be able to stay in business, leaving only the biggest players in the field. 

Right now, the impact each member of the team is making can’t be overstated. Dean Flener, spokesperson for Tennessee’s Unified Command Group, says TEMA’s efforts — including the F&W logistics team we spoke with — have delivered more than 23,000 individual shipments of PPE. The packages included more than 90 million masks, gowns, face shields, wipes and bottles of hand sanitizer delivered to teachers and students in Tennessee’s K-12 schools.

“If I can help some little kid receive a mask, that’s huge to me,” Porter says. “That’s another child that could possibly be saved.”

While nobody is sure what kind of music industry these crews will be returning to when the pandemic is over, they’ve worked their hardest to keep as many people safe as possible.