FOH Engineer Rides Canada’s Country Wave

Vancouver, BC, Canada (August 11, 2025)—As country music continues its rise in popularity across Canada, Jordan Waller, a 31-year-old FOH engineer from British Columbia, has become a go-to guy for many of the country’s artists.

At the center of Waller’s touring setup is Allen & Heath’s dLive C1500. “There’s no other console this small that does what it does,” Waller says. “I can run 128 inputs and mix monitors from FOH with a footprint small enough to squeeze into any festival or opener slot and never sacrifice on quality.”

He continues, “I end up mixing monitors from FOH a lot, and that means I need precise control over every input. The ability to tweak things separately for in-ears versus the PA—no other console does it like this one.”

The onboard tools also caught Waller’s eye: “The built-in FX sound amazing. The Peak Limiter 76 compressor emulation is top-notch, the RackUltra FX Saturator and built-in pitch correction are incomparable—it’s a no-brainer for the kind of midsize touring I’m doing.”

Papadosio Rolls Towards Hiatus

Waller first became acquainted with an Allen & Heath iLive console during his early years working in church productions, and quickly grew into a self-taught producer, musician and live sound tech. After spending years developing his skills in Vancouver’s music scene, he broke into national touring in 2021 with Tyler Joe Miller, eventually mixing FOH for artists such as Jess Moskaluke and Powfu, and has also worked with the Reklaws, Johnny Orlando and Dallas Smith.

Discover more great stories—get a free Mix SmartBrief subscription!

In 2024, during the Calgary Stampede, Waller stepped in and saved the headlining set for country star Josh Ross, earning the trust of the team and securing his current role. He immediately brought the dLive C1500 into the mix. “Once I got Josh and his crew on the C1500, they didn’t look back. We’ve been using it ever since,” he says.