Unfortunately, stealing from music groups in St. Louis is pretty common. It’s an issue that has been going on for years, and ultimately is hurting the music scene in the city. Robberies of tour vans have become so common, in fact, that many artists refuse to play in St. Louis anymore.
One musician who suffered from the robberies, a hip-hop artist that goes by Spose, went as far to say, “If you wanna see me perform in the future come to Chicago or something, cuz St. Louis is dead to me.” Obviously, there is a real need for something to solve this issue, so Jesse Caron, St. Louis native and owner of Gigbox, decided to take matters into his own hands.
Caron is working on developing a tuner peddle with GPS tracking abilities, called the Smrt Roadie. It’s your basic tracking concept, sort of like a find my phone app. If needed, you are able to track your tuning peddle via Google Maps—a pin drops within meters of it. You can also set up notifications for if your tuning peddle is moved from a designated location.
The device charges when it’s on a pedal board, and when fully charged lasts 10 days. The Smrt Roadie will sell for about $150, which I think is a small price to pay in order to protect thousands of dollars of equipment. Ultimately, Caron hopes to help people be able to find equipment before its too late and help detour crime as thieves become aware of this technology.
The device is not available yet, but you can sign up on the Smrt Roadie website to be notified when it does go on sale. Caron plans to begin testing with local St. Louis bands, but hopes this device will benefit the entire nation.
