nashphil

NEWS (June 2008) Just got hired on as Engineer and Technical Consultant for a new WSM-650 radio broadcast called "Bluegrass Underground". The performances will be recorded before a live studio audience 400 feet underground in the Volcano Room of Cumberland Caverns. The artist will perfom completely unamplified and all acoustic. Some of the artist lined up so far are Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Bowman, Infamous Stringdusters, Steeldrivers, etc...... The first show will be broadcast over WSM and streamed online starting in July. I'll be doing all of the mixing and recording, so it better sound fantastic.
The 3rd Annual Hartford Hootenanny was a smash! I have to thank all of those who performed and made it a very special event for all who attended. Bawn In The Mash, Kindling Stone, Kenny Malone, Chris Volpe, Nathan Blake Lynn, Josh Coffey, Brey McCoy, Tyler Grant, Randy Russell, The Carter Brothers, and The Lewis Sisters. The planning for the 4th annual is already underway. Tim O'Brien next year.
I've added two new instruments to the studio in recent weeks. A 1906 Purcell Upright Grand Piano, made from Mahogany and Rosewood. It's in fantastic original condition and sounds spectacular. Also just added a 7 Piece Custom Sonor Drum Kit with Donaho Snare, Zildjian A/K Cymbols, and Slinglerland Chrome Hardware. Kenny Malone set it up with Ambassador coated heads.
The studio has been super busy this spring. I've produced, recorded, and mixed three full length projects in as many months. They are all essentially finished and should see a summertime release.
Kindling Stone, which features the fantastic songwriting of Chris Moore with the expert playing of Mark Wingate. It also features Sarah Siskind (Old Black Kettle) on vocals, Travis Book (Stringdusters) on bass, and the legendary Kenny Malone on percussion. We recorded this over two weeks in Dec/Jan and mixed it one week in May.
Chris Volpe's amazing project features Kenny Malone on Percussion, Jeff Coffin (Flecktones) on Clarinet/Sax, Bryn Davies (Patty Griffin) on Bass/Cello, Donnie Herron (Bob Dylan/BR-549)on Pedal Steel/Fiddle, and Tyler Grant (Drew Emmitt/Billy Nershi) on E.Guitar. We recorded that over two weeks in Feb/March and mixed it over several weeks in April/May.
The latest project is a terrific solo effort by Nathan Blake Lynn. We recorded 18 songs over the Memorial Day weekend and I did the overdubs last week. I'm mixing it this week, so we are moving fast. It features Tyler Grant, Chris Henry, Brey McCoy, Josh Coffey, and Clayton Campbell.
I also recorded and mixed the itunes bonus track for Tim O'Brien's latest masterpiece "Chameleon". You can hear the track if you purchase the record from itunes. The song is a full band version of "Where Love Comes From" with Bryan Sutton, Stuart Duncan, Darrell Scott, Kenny Malone, and Dennis Crouch
I'm doing a live multi-track recording and mix for the "Infamous Stringdusters" at the Station Inn on June 6th. I'm going to run a mix on the fly to be used on air for Sirius Radio as well.
After all this mixing, the studio is needing a vacation.....so I will probably wind up making the Bonna-Ride, which is Bonnaroo and Telluride in back to back weekends. 8 days of music and 3000 miles in 11 days. Feet don't fail me now.
NEWS: (Jan 2008) Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon) and his son Silas made the trek out to Battle Ridge on the 2nd day of 2008. We recorded two of his songs "Jack London" and "One Of These Days", along with the classic "Whiskey Before Breakfast. We also had a blast hanging out all day while Vince made us belly laugh with his improvised jingles. He even did one for Battle Ridge Studios, and the Chicken Shack, of course. That session was part of a larger week-longs session to kick off the new year. It was just for fun, to do a round robin of sorts with some of my favorite friends and songwriters. Everyone sang and rotated instruments. The band I put together was Chris Henry, Tyler Grant, Nathan Blake Lynn and Brey McCoy from Bawn In The Mash, and Clayton Campbell. It had bluegrass and electric guitars, drums, rhodes and the like.....right alongside mandolins, fiddles, and banjos. We had a great time and cut a ton of tunes including the Grateful Dead classic "Easy Wind" to close out the week.
Just wrapped up the recording for Kindling Stone, which consists of Producer, Songwriter, and amazing person, Chris Moore with Mark Wingate, Sarah Siskind (Old Black Kettle), and Travis Book (Stringdusters). It's been a fantastic experience and I can't wait to start the mixing process in March.
Next up is Chris Volpe's 2nd full length record that we are producing at Battle Ridge. The legendary band we have assembled is Kenny Malone (The Yoda of Nashville), Bryn Davies (Pete Rowan, Patty Griffin), Donnie Herron (BR549, Bob Dylan), and Jeff Coffin (Bela). We are tracking live over the next two weeks with all original material Chris has written for this project. I can't wait to have this band in my studio.
Kelsey Waldon has finished 5 songs for her upcoming project, we put the polish on those mixes for now and hope to start recording more tunes later this spring. She cut one of my all time favorite songs "Love Is A Rose" with Chris Volpe in just a fun afterthought one late night.
The Bawn In The Mash record was released October 12th. Another record is planned for March/April 2008 at Battle Ridge Studio.
The Old Black Kettle record was officially released on Jan 11, 2008 at the Station Inn. The entire project was recorded live there during the last 18 months and we mixed it at Battle Ridge this past summer. The record saw a pre-release "debut" at the Newport Folk Festival last summer as well. Sarah Sikind and Julie Lee, the two primpciple forces behind Old Black Kettle (OBK) are absolutely amazing talents, so keep an eye on them and their music.
More new awesome projects in the works, the studio is almost fully booked for the winter. We started tracking a new project for Tavern Grass, a local Nashville jam that features Tyler Grant, Chris Henry, Clayton Campbell, Mike Bub, and Charlie Cushman. Still some recording to go and mixes soon. I've also been doing lots demo work for Chris Henry and having a blast hearing his take on acoustic music.
I've been back doing some recording at the Station Inn in recent months and caught probably the best Infamous Stringdusters show to date on multi-track, so that's currently in the mixing stage and should hopefully be released soon. These guys are just tearing it up right now. Look for their new record on Sugar Hill this summer. Tim O'Brien produced and I got to watch.
NEWS: (July 2007) I just Produced & Recorded the first full length record in my new studio. It's the 2nd record for a terrific band from Paducah, KY called BAWN IN THE MASH. We all stayed in the same house and tracked live for a solid week, getting down 18 songs and finishing all the vocals and overdubs. Donnie Herron from BR549 and Bob Dylan's Band hung out for a few days and played everything to perfection. Tyler Grant came out and layed down some tasty Telecaster licks and then broke out the 46 Martin Herringbone and hit the only one take solo of the entire week, nice work Tyler. We all had an amazing time, and it's truly a fantastic record. We hope to have it mixed and released by August. Keep an eye out for these guys, they have serious talent.
We have now finished recording and preparing the mixes for Old Black Kettle's first record. This is an absolutely phenomenal group led by the songwriter duo of Sarah Siskind & Julie Lee. Everything has been recorded live at the Station Inn and the 3 multitracked performances turned out excellent. We hope to have that finished and released before the summer is over.
EVEN OLDER NEWS: I grew up on the beach in Pensacola, moved to New Orleans for high school, and later to Oklahoma for college. Spent plenty of time bouncing around afterwards in places like Arcata, Santa Cruz, and Boulder. Wandered my way to Nashville one day and decided to stay. Ten years later, I'm home. Most of my family live here now, so the roots run really deep. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"
BR