Artist Spotlight

The Scruffs’ Conquest Released

Readers of this blog may remember a post from June of last year giving a bit of history on The Scruffs, detailing their iterations and history from their debut record Wanna Meet the Scruffs? (recorded at Ardent in 1977) and leading up through the present day. The Scruffs latest release, entitled Conquest, was flushed out and mixed here at Ardent Studios... [Read more of this review]

Huey Lewis and the News at Ardent Studios

Superstar, R&B aficionado, and all-around nice guy Huey Lewis came to Ardent this month to start work on a new record. And yes – he brought the News. Together they were working on a Stax tribute record – yet to be titled – and felt that Memphis and Ardent were the way to go for just such a project. Says Lewis of the record: “…we’re... [Read more of this review]

John Kilzer Completes Tracking with Jeff Powell, Lucas Peterson

Former Geffen recording artist John Kilzer was in the studio this month, laying down tracks for a new record with producer/engineer Jeff Powell and assistant Lucas Peterson. Here’s what Lucas had to say about the session: “Tracking for John Kilzer’s newest record started on November 21 in Studio A of Ardent. We had the room divided... [Read more of this review]

The Truth According to Ruthie Foster Nominated for Grammy

You may remember our post from some time last year about a great artist that graced us with her presence here at Ardent – Ms. Ruthie Foster. Ruthie, along with producer Chris Goldsmith (Blind Boys of Alabama, Ben Harper, Aaron Neville) engineer Jimmy Hoyson (James Taylor, CSNY, Ozzy Osbourne), assistant Jason Gillespie and a host of great musicians... [Read more of this review]

Jack Dalton Completes “Icarus” at Ardent

Australian rocker and American expatriate Jac Dalton returned to Memphis and Ardent Studios to overdub, edit and mix his new album, “Icarus.”  The project was produced by Gregg Brown and Darren Mullan, with Ardent’s GRAMMY award-winning engineer John Hampton at the console. Gregg Brown and John Hampton have worked together with many top... [Read more of this review]

Paul Mark Returns to Ardent with Jeff Powell

New York native and Ardent regular Paul Mark was back in the studio recently starting work on a new project with engineer Jeff Powell and assistant Lucas Peterson. Along with bassist James Strain, keyboardist Al Gamble (Gamble Brothers Band, City Champs) and drummer Harry Peel (Susan Marshall), they spent 3 days tracking 6 songs for 2 new yet-to-be-titled... [Read more of this review]

Robyn Hitchcock Visits Indie Memphis, Ardent Studios

Famed independent singer songwriter Robyn Hitchcock made his way across the pond from his native England to attend this year’s Indie Memphis Film Festival, which is held every year right down the street from Ardent Studios. Hitchcock had several ties to this year’s festival, not the least of which was an opportunity to record at Ardent. First,... [Read more of this review]

Chris Bell’s I Am The Cosmos Remastered and Re-Released

  “The first time I met Chris, I walked into my office and he was sitting in my chair, with his feet up on my desk, smoking a cigarette,” says Fry, laughing. “I thought: Now, who in the heck is this?”   At the end of a journey that has lasted more than 40 years, from that first moment until now, Rhino Records has announced that it will be... [Read more of this review]

Klaus Voormann’s A Sideman’s Journey Released July 17!

  Readers of this blog may remember that late last year, Ardent was privileged enough to be a part of Klaus Voormann’s new project, called A Sideman’s Journey. Ardent veteran Don Nix brought Klaus to Memphis to work on a part of the record. Nix (a Stax artist, producer and writer) and Voormann’s friendship goes back to the ’70s.... [Read more of this review]

Big Star at Hyde Park, London

  Big Star just returned from London, having performed at Hyde Park on July 1st. John Fry also traveled with the band, and together with Jody Stephens got to tour the famed Abbey Road studios. From Jody’s account of the trip: John Fry, Steve Rhea, Mark Harber (friend and neighbor) and I boarded a plane to London on June 27. The occasion was... [Read more of this review]

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