Credit: Kaiser Cunningham
Zakk Bosserman, Chief Designer at Retinal Abuse LX Design, and Touring Lighting Director and Programmer for country artist Nate Smith, manages a demanding year-round schedule with shows almost every weekend.
Zakk first encountered WYSIWYG in 2018 while working on OAR’S 2018 “Just Like Paradise” Tour, designed by Tyler Shapard.
At the time, the crew was lean – just him, one other tech, and a lighting director pulling double duty as tour manager. To manage the paperwork and pre-visualization, he purchased a temporary license of WYSIWYG.
“It put everything under one roof, which was massive. And for the GrandMA2 consoles we were using, WYSIWYG was the only software that didn’t require external hardware. At the time, I was working in a tiny corner of a shared house – I didn’t have space for big consoles and servers. Being able to pre-viz straight from my computer was huge.”
By 2019, Zakk had stepped fully into the role of lighting director and designer, once again relying on WYSIWYG to build the tour from the ground up. When COVID put touring on hold, he doubled down, purchasing a full license, sharpening his skills, and creating online content to share his workflow with the wider lighting community.
Credit: Kaiser Cunningham
Nate Smith Tour Overview & Production Approach
The show design for Nate Smith, originally created by lighting designer Sean Wykoski, emphasizes “big looks” with washes, small beams, and wide audience coverage.
“Our goal is to make the show feel the same every night, even if it can’t look the same. That’s the lighting director’s job, maintaining the feel. WYSIWYG helps set that foundation so when we walk into a venue, we’re ready.”
For the current tour, the production is built around a floor package setup, rather than supplying flown lighting. The team integrates their own supplemental lighting with whatever is available at each venue, adapting the design daily to match the in-house rig. This means building the supplemental package from scratch each day, integrating it with the venue’s overhead system, operating the show, packing it back up, and repeating the process for each performance.
Unlike typical pop tours that follow a set block of dates, country tours often run year-round, performing primarily on weekends. This tour began with a short Canadian run on April 1, extending from the 2024 schedule, which had already carried through February. The 2025 leg then launched in April and is scheduled to run through November, with performances most weekends.
In 2024, the artist completed an impressive 140 shows, an unusually high number for a country performer. For 2025, the schedule is slightly more measured, aiming for between 85 and 95 shows, which allows for a more sustainable pace for the crew while still delivering a robust tour calendar.
Lighting Design Workflow with WYSIWYG
Each venue on the tour presents a different lighting setup, often with its own gear and unique technical constraints. To adapt, Zakk uses CAST’s WYSIWYG to pre-visualize and program each show in advance. The process starts midweek, typically Tuesday or Wednesday, when the tech pack and any available venue or promoter information is received. Using WYSIWYG, a rough sketch of the venue’s lighting is built in under an hour, allowing him to integrate the supplemental touring package with the in-house rig.
This pre-visualization takes place at Zakk’s home office, where he connects his console to WYSIWYG and runs the full show virtually. This ensures that effects trigger correctly, cues execute as intended, and the show is fully ready before arriving on site. The approach is especially valuable because the tour’s schedule involves later load-ins, leaving limited time for on-site programming. By doing the integration work in advance, Zakk avoids taking up stage time that could be used by opening acts for soundcheck or by the venue for its own preparations.
On show days, only final adjustments, such as verifying power and making minor tweaks, are needed. This workflow provides confidence that the lighting will run smoothly in each unique venue, while maximizing efficiency and respecting the time of other tour stakeholders. For Zakk, WYSIWYG’s speed, accuracy, and flexibility are key to making every show work seamlessly.
“WYSIWYG has one thousand percent improved my efficiency and productivity. There’s a ton of software out there, CAD programs, pre-viz tools, rendering software, paperwork software, patching tools, but nothing else does all of it. WYSIWYG lets me handle every piece of the puzzle in one program. I’m not wasting time exporting, importing, troubleshooting file versions, or worrying about compatibility bugs. Everything stays under one roof, and I can work at my absolute best.”
Unlike some users who rely on photorealistic renders, his focus is on speed, accuracy, and reliability.
“I’m not building to make it YouTube-perfect. I’m going to see the show in person. I need to build the venue, patch the show, and know that in three days when we’re live, it’s going to work. And I can do that without spending days building one file.”
Favourite Feature: Paperwork That Works
While many highlight WYSIWYG’s visual tools, Zakk is quick to point out that his most-used feature is far simpler but mission-critical.
“Lately, I’ve been deep into layout views and creating new paperwork for other tours. Good paperwork is everything. If I can’t send an accurate drawing to a venue, they don’t know what I’m bringing. With festivals, especially the smaller ones, sometimes they’ll send me their inventory and ask me to build the rig. It’s a chance to optimize the show for what it does best. With good paperwork, they can build it, I can walk in, and everything is seamless.”
Working with the CAST Team
In recent years, he’s developed a close working relationship with the CAST team.
“The team is very hands-on and that is refreshing. The people I’m talking to are the ones making decisions. They’ve visited our tour, seen the scale we’re working at, and understand that I don’t have a dedicated lighting tech – it’s just me and sometimes a couple of stagehands. That perspective matters.”
He’s particularly excited about cloud licensing, critical for working in remote county fair venues where Wi-Fi is limited and the cable tool, which streamlines communication with vendors.
“It’s not just about neat features – it’s about making the interactions between everyone on the job easier. When I can send exact cable specs, vendors aren’t wasting time pulling extra gear, and I’m not answering constant ‘what do you need’ questions. It saves time, money, and headaches.”
Credit: Kaiser Cunningham