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Trevor Drawdy creates deep woods vibe on Hardy tour with Chauvet

To convey a special mood on his 40-city “Country! Country!” tour - which concludes on August 21, 2026, at the Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Texas - American singer Hardy discussed this vision with production/lighting designer Trevor Drawdy.

“Everything in this production lives inside the world of the Mississippi loblolly pines; that was Hardy’s vision from day one”, says Drawdy. “He wanted the audience to feel like the entire show exists in the woods, and once he said that, it became the creative foundation for every decision we made.”

Drawdy and his collaborators - video content creators Dave Pawsey, Simon “Rusty” Rouhier, and Steve Lalonde from Lüz Studio and the scenic team at Tait - tried created a world on stage that breathes with the vitality and evocative power of a piney southern forest. Even the stage’s trim evokes a deep woods image with its staggered configuration that reaches 50-feet at its highest downstage point and descends to 31.6-feet at its nadir on the upstage truss with nine other truss heights in between.

“The layering is what gives the rig its asymmetrical, almost architectural quality”, explains Drawdy. “It keeps the stage from ever feeling flat or predictable, and it lets the system read as something immersive rather than just a lighting rig hanging overhead.” Contributing to this effect are 133 Chauvet Professional motorized PXL batten fixtures, which, like the rest of the rig are supplied by Bandit Lites.

Positioned throughout the rig , the PXL fixtures include 95 Colorado PXL Bar 16, four PXL Bar 8, and 34 Colorado PXL Curve 12 units. Together, the three groups of PXL battens define the lines and shapes of the asymmetrical structure on stage. “They outline things and give the system a strong visual identity even before a single other fixture is fired”, says Drawdy. “They’re across all of the overhead trusses, with the exception of the downstage truss.”

“They’re also on the side light positions, and beyond that they’re integrated into the scenic elements along the downstage edge, and they wrap around portions of the thrust”, he continues. “We wanted the lighting system to feel architecturally connected, not isolated to a few specific positions, so that the visual language carries across the whole stage. It reinforces that ‘in the woods’ feeling from every angle in the room rather than just from the sweet spot out front.”

“The goal with the overall plot was to make the rig feel organic, almost like you’re looking up through a canopy of trees”, he adds. “At the same time, our plot is still practical enough to tour efficiently, while also accommodating things like the kabuki drops, and all the other production demands on the road. Our PXL plays a big role in helping us achieve that.”

“What’s interesting about this show is how much emotional range it covers”, Drawdy concludes. “We move through seasons, weather, time of day, intimacy, aggression. It’s a lot of ground to cover visually. That’s really where the blend of country and rock music Hardy performs plays out in the lighting. The countryside feels rooted and natural, tied to the environment. The rock side comes through in the scale and intensity when the show opens up. Finding the balance between those two worlds has been one of the more rewarding challenges of the design.”

At times, Drawdy’s design, which also features 41 Color Strike V motorized tilting strobe-washes and eighteen Strike Array 4C fixtures, plays off the evocative scenic pieces, such as a deer stand and a physical model of a loblolly’s pine, created by the Tait team. Working closely with Tait and Lüz Studio, he has been able to ensure that the physical scenic and the digital content of the show match as closely as possible, so the set extension effect feels believable, rather than like two separate entities existing next to each other.

(Photos: Tanner Gallagher)

www.chauvetprofessional.com

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