JON CEARING
Live Sound & Production Professional
Monitor Engineer (ME) • Front of House (FOH) • System Operator (SO) • Head/House Electrician (HE) • IATSE / Stage Production
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
Jon Cearing is a Northwest Indiana live-production professional whose 45-year career, concluding in 2024, took him from local Chicago-area clubs and regional bands to major concert productions, national touring acts, theatrical events, corporate productions, political appearances, and performances by some of the most influential artists in American music.
Based in the Dyer/Highland, Indiana area and a graduate of Lake Central High School, Cearing developed his reputation primarily as a monitor engineer, responsible for creating the individual stage mixes that allow singers and musicians to hear themselves and the rest of their band during live performances.
Unlike a front-of-house engineer, who creates the mix heard by the audience, a monitor engineer may have to create numerous independent mixes simultaneously. Cearing has described handling anywhere from four to 22 monitor mixes, with approximately 30 to 40 microphones on stage, while constantly watching for feedback and changes in the performers’ needs.
Over the course of his career, Cearing also worked as a front-of-house engineer, system operator, head/house electrician, stagehand and production technician, giving him experience across virtually every major component of live entertainment production.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Early Career — Northwest Indiana & Chicago Area
Cearing grew up in Dyer, Indiana, attending Lake Central High School.
His professional live-production career began in the Chicago-area club and concert scene, launching what would become a 45-year career in the live-entertainment business.
In the early 1980s, he was working productions including the Pointe East club in Lynwood, Illinois.
These early years quickly expanded beyond local and regional work. During the 1980s, Cearing worked as a Monitor Engineer (ME) for a number of nationally recognized rock and blues artists, including:
The Guess Who, Rick Derringer, Rare Earth, Joe Perry / Joe Perry Project (of Aerosmith), Black Oak Arkansas, Foghat.
These assignments were among the important early steps in Cearing’s development as a professional monitor engineer. Working with established touring artists during the 1980s gave him valuable experience handling the demands of increasingly large and technically challenging live concert productions.
Mid-1980s — Rooster & Front of House Engineering
During the mid-1980s, Cearing also worked as the Front of House (FOH) Engineer for Rooster, a large and technically demanding band from Bensenville, Illinois.
Rooster featured an unusually large stage setup, including seven keyboards, a 13-piece drum kit, and three guitarists using quad amplifier stacks. Cearing described the band as exceptionally tight and technically demanding, with one of the singers also working as a music teacher.
As Rooster’s FOH engineer, Cearing was responsible for creating the audience mix for this exceptionally large stage production.
He recalls loading a 24-foot U-Haul completely full of equipment for one of their performances, illustrating the size and complexity of the production.
This FOH experience with Rooster was an important part of Cearing’s development and complemented his expanding work as a monitor engineer with nationally recognized touring artists.
NATIONAL TOURING & LIVE PRODUCTION
As his reputation grew, Cearing moved beyond the regional club circuit into major concert and touring productions.
Over the course of his 45-year career, his work included hundreds of performances involving legendary performers in rock, blues, soul, R&B, country, pop and jazz.
Among the artists he worked with were:
Blues, R&B, Soul & Gospel
B.B. King • Bobby “Blue” Bland • Buddy Guy • James Brown • Koko Taylor • Ray Charles • George Benson • The Isley Brothers • The O’Jays • The Four Tops • The Temptations • The Supremes • The Whispers • The Chi-Lites • The Dells • The Drifters • The Commodores • The Spinners • Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes • Martha Reeves • Mavis Staples • Mary Wilson • Maze featuring Frankie Beverly • Tower of Power • Yolanda Adams
Rock & Classic Rock
Alice Cooper • America • Badfinger • Cheap Trick • The Doobie Brothers • Electric Light Orchestra • Foghat • Foreigner • Grand Funk Railroad • Humble Pie • Jefferson Starship • Kansas • Lynyrd Skynyrd • Little Feat • Loverboy • Moody Blues • Motley Crue • Night Ranger • Queen • Queensrÿche • Rare Earth • REO Speedwagon • Raspberries • Santana • Steppenwolf • Styx • Survivor • Tesla • Turtles • War • Wishbone Ash
Country & Western
Alabama • Alan Jackson • Aaron Tippin • Billy Dean • Billy Ray Cyrus • Blake Shelton • Charlie Daniels • Clint Black • Collin Raye • Crystal Gayle • George Jones • Jeff Carson • John Michael Montgomery • Joe Diffie • Kenny Chesney • Kentucky Headhunters • Lee Roy Parnell • Louise Mandrell • Micky Gilley • Neal McCoy • Pam Tillis • Patty Loveless • Randy Travis • Ronnie Milsap • Sammy Kershaw • Tanya Tucker • Tracy Byrd • Travis Tritt • Ty England • Waylon Jennings • Willie Nelson • Wynonna Judd
Pop, Singer-Songwriters & Specialty Acts
Air Supply • Aretha Franklin • Brenda Lee • Carole King • David Cassidy • Dion • Eddie Money • Everly Brothers • Frankie Valli • Gary Lewis • Gary Puckett • George Thorogood • Glen Campbell • Gordon Lightfoot • Huey Lewis & the News • Journey • Kenny Loggins • LeAnn Rimes • Marie Osmond • Martina McBride • Mel Tormé • Michael Bolton • Neil Sedaka • Patti Austin • Peter Noone • Rick Springfield • Richard Marx • Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band • Roberta Flack • Steve Walsh • Stevie Nicks • Taylor Dayne • Taylor Swift • Tony Bennett • Wayne Newton • Weird Al Yankovic
SIGNIFICANT LONG-TERM ASSOCIATIONS
B.B. King
One of the most significant recurring assignments of Cearing’s career was working with B.B. King.
He worked with King every year for approximately 12 years at the Holiday Star Theater.
Cearing remembered King not only as a remarkable performer, but as an unusually gracious person. He recalled that after performances, King would routinely come to the sound position, step over the cables and personally shake the sound crew’s hands.
Cearing described him as one of the best human beings he had ever known.
B.B. King’s name appears among Cearing’s repeated credits, reflecting the importance of the relationship to his career.
ARETHA FRANKLIN & DETROIT SYMPHONY ORASTRA HALL
Another memorable assignment was working as a monitor engineer for Aretha Franklin at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall.
The event included prominent guests, security personnel and a presentation involving Al Gore.
During preparations, Cearing noticed an elderly woman surrounded by security personnel near his work area. Concerned that she might interfere with his concentration during Franklin’s performance, he asked security personnel whether they could move her farther away.
He soon discovered that the woman was Rosa Parks.
Rather than moving her away, the security personnel eventually placed her wheelchair immediately beside the monitor position, where Parks sat and watched Cearing mix Aretha Franklin’s performance.
The experience became one of the most memorable stories of his career.
MULTI-DISCIPLINE LIVE PRODUCTION
Although monitor engineering became Cearing’s primary specialty, his credits demonstrate substantial work in other areas of production.
Front of House — FOH
Audience-facing sound work included productions involving:
Bill Cosby • Herbie Hancock • Jason Isbell • Jamie Foxx • Ray Charles • Radio London • Rooster • Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra
System Operator — SO
System-operation credits included:
38 Special • Alabama • Dokken • Dr. John • Eddie Money • Earth, Wind & Fire • George Clinton & P-Funk • George Jones • Kansas • LeAnn Rimes • Lonestar • Martina McBride • Marty Stuart • Meat Loaf • Michael Bolton • Michael Schenker • Moody Blues • Peter, Paul & Mary • Queensrÿche • Randy Travis • REO Speedwagon • Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band • Rick Derringer • Ronnie Milsap • Santana • Spencer Davis • Steppenwolf • Taylor Dayne • Willie Nelson
Head / House Electrician — HE
Electrical and production assignments included:
Alabama • Alice Cooper • Alan Jackson • Christina Aguilera • Clint Black • David Lee Murphy • Gordon Lightfoot • Huey Lewis & the News • Jackyl • Jo Dee Messina • Kenny Loggins • LeAnn Rimes • Lynyrd Skynyrd • Martina McBride • Marty Stuart • Moody Blues • Motley Crue • REO Speedwagon • Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band • Styx • Tony Bennett • Travis Tritt
IATSE / Stage Production — 2011–2024
From 2011 through 2024, Cearing worked under the IATSE union, continuing his career in professional stage and live-event production.
This period included work involving major touring productions and large-scale events, including credits associated with Def Leppard, Journey and Rascal Flatts, along with other productions requiring specialized stage, sound and production skills.
His IATSE work formed the final chapter of his 45-year career, which concluded in 2024.
SPECIAL EVENTS & NATIONAL FIGURES
Cearing’s career extended well beyond conventional concerts.
His credits include live-production work associated with:
Gerald Ford — former President of the United States
George H. W. Bush — President of the United States
Bill Clinton — President of the United States
Barack Obama — President of the United States
Joe Biden — President of the United States
Additional entertainment and special-event work included:
David Copperfield • Debbie Reynolds • Diahann Carroll • Hal Holbrook • Jerry Springer • Kevin Bacon • Red Buttons • Red Skelton • Soupy Sales • Steve Allen • Victor Borge • Wayne Newton • Weird Al Yankovic
He also worked on productions involving Dick Clark / Avalon Productions, Def Comedy Jam, and the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra.
CAREER SCALE
At the height of his career, Cearing estimates that he was working approximately 120 shows per year.
Over 45 years in the business, that pace represents a theoretical equivalent of approximately 5,400 performances if 120 performances per year had been sustained throughout the entire career.
Because the 120-show figure describes the height of his career rather than every year, the actual lifetime number of performances is not documented here. The 5,400 figure is therefore best understood as a career-scale estimate based on his peak annual workload.
His work took him through clubs, theaters, arenas, concert halls, corporate events, touring productions, political events and large-scale stage productions.
His career combined technical expertise with the fast-paced demands of live performance, where problems had to be solved immediately and there was no opportunity to stop the show and start over.
FINAL CAREER CHAPTER — IATSE, 2011–2024
Beginning in 2011, Cearing worked under IATSE, bringing his experience as a monitor engineer, sound professional and multi-discipline stage-production technician into union stage work.
For the next 13 years, he continued working in professional live production, including concert and touring assignments requiring ME, SO, HE, IATSE and related production responsibilities.
His professional career concluded in 2024, marking the end of a 45-year career in the live-entertainment industry.
SELECTED CAREER CREDITS
Notable repeated or multi-event credits
38 Special — ME / SO
Air Supply — ME
Alabama — HE / SO
Aretha Franklin — ME
B.B. King — ME
Aaron Neville — ME
Blood, Sweat & Tears — ME
Bobby “Blue” Bland — ME
Boyz II Men — ME
The Buchinghams — ME
Charlie Daniels — ME
Cheap Trick — ME
The Chi-Lites — ME
Collin Raye — ME
The Dells — ME
The Doobie Brothers — ME
Eddie Money — ME / SO
Electric Light Orchestra — ME
Foghat — ME
Foreigner — ME
George Clinton & P-Funk — ME / SO
George Thorogood — ME
Grand Funk Railroad — ME
Huey Lewis & the News — HE / SO
James Brown — ME
Kansas — ME / SO
Kenny Loggins — HE / SO
Koko Taylor — ME
LeAnn Rimes — ME / SO
Mary J. Blige — ME
Moody Blues — HE / SO
Neville Brothers — ME
Ohio Players — ME
The O’Jays — ME
Paul Revere & the Raiders — ME
Queensrÿche — ME / SO
Rare Earth — ME
REO Speedwagon — ME / SO / HE
Rick Springfield — ME
Righteous Brothers — ME
Ronnie Milsap — ME / SO
Starship — ME
Steppenwolf — ME / SO
Stevie Nicks — production credit
Supremes — ME
Survivor — ME
The Temptations — ME
The Turtles — ME
Travis Tritt — ME / HE / SO
Whispers — ME
Willie Nelson — ME / SO
Yolanda Adams — ME
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Jon Cearing spent 45 years working behind the scenes with the people who made live entertainment happen, concluding his professional career in 2024.
From the clubs of Northwest Indiana and the Chicago suburbs to major theaters, concert stages, touring productions, corporate events and appearances involving Presidents and internationally recognized performers, his career was built around one fundamental responsibility:
Make the show work — and make the performers able to hear it.
His greatest body of work was as a monitor engineer, where precision, speed, technical knowledge and the ability to remain calm under pressure were essential.
The result is a career that includes an extraordinary cross-section of American entertainment history — from B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Ray Charles to Journey, Queen, Willie Nelson, The Temptations, Stevie Nicks and Taylor Swift, along with hundreds of other performers and productions.
At the peak of his career, he was working approximately 120 shows a year, a pace that would equate to roughly 5,400 performances across 45 years if sustained throughout the entire career.
From 2011 through 2024, he continued that work under IATSE, bringing his decades of live-production experience to the final chapter of his professional career.
This résumé represents only a partial list of the artists and productions Jon Cearing worked with during his 45 years in the live-entertainment business.
