GRAMMY GPS: Exploring the Resurgence of Vinyl

Help us celebrate Record Store Day as we discuss the resurgence of vinyl in today’s marketplace. Topics that will be covered include recording, mixing, and mastering for vinyl as well as using vinyl as a medium to push marketing. Our expert panelists will go through the production process from mastering to self-marketing and selling at the indie retail level.

SUBMIT YOUR VINYL RECORD FOR THE LISTENING SESSION WHEN YOU REGISTER!

Panelists to include:
John Fry – vinyl cutter, owner and founder at Ardent Studios
Larry Nix – mastering engineer and vinyl cutter at L. Nix Mastering
Scott Hull – mastering engineer and vinyl cutter at Masterdisk NYC
Eric Astor – vinyl manufacturing and distribution at Furnace Manufacturing
Jeff Powell – independent producer/engineer and vinyl cutter at Take Out Vinyl

Recording Academy Members: Complimentary admission
Non-members: $20

SPACE IS LIMITED. PLEASE RSVP HERE:
http://www.grammy365.com/events/memphis-grammy-gps-roadmap-todays-music-biz-exploring-resurgence-vinyl

Webb Dalton in Studio A with Keith Sykes, Pete Matthews

Memphis country artist Webb Dalton recently finished tracking his newest endeavor here at Ardent Studios. The CD, entitled (insert tongue firmly in cheek) Mine’s Bigger, will be officially released on April 8th, 2011. Dalton recruited Keith Sykes as co-producer and Ardent Engineer Pete Matthews to round out a thank you list that includes some of Memphis’ finest players: Paul Taylor on bass, Dave Wiggins and Bruce Lester on guitar, Jeff Smith on drums, Chris Stephenson on keys, and Reba Russel, Debbie Jamison and Susanne Jerome Taylor on background vocals.

Co-producer Sykes, a long-time client and friend of Ardent, also co-wrote some of the material on the album. His past credits includes songwriting for the likes of The Judds, Jimmy Buffett, and John Prine, to name a few.

Dalton has had success with past albums and appearances on TNN and CMT. He has had chart success with “At the Drop of a Hat” and a video for the title cut from his last album, “Honk if You Wanna Honky Tonk,” was featured on CMT and GAC. He has opened shows for many artists, including Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, George Strait, George Jones, Charlie Rich, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others.

Mine’s Bigger has been several months in the making, and started with co-writing with Keith Sykes and Jimmy Davis. What we have here is a carefully curated collection of songs that show Dalton’s musical influences and reflect his Montgomery, Alabama upbringing: tinges of Jimmy Rodgers, Merle Haggard, Delbert McClinton, with some Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, and Johnny Cash thrown in for good measure.

Dalton’s style of music has been described as “rockabilly honky tonkin’ rock’n'roll.” Although he’s not one to be labeled, Dalton can’t help but agree. Says the man himself: “One of the first things Keith and I did for this CD is write a song called ‘Rockabilly HonkyTonkin’ RockNRoll.’ It seemed natural that we write a song that describes me and my music.”

After recording his last CD in Nashville, TN, it was like a coming home party for Webb to be able to record his new CD in Memphis. And to be able to work with some of Memphis’ finest musicians and singers is special to Dalton as well. “I’m thrilled beyond belief how this project has come together and the folks that have agreed to contribute to this project. Memphis is known for it’s diversity of music worldwide, but only those that live here can truly witness the Memphis music family that makes Memphis music what it is.”

We couldn’t agree more.

The release of Mine’s Bigger will be accompanied by a performance on WREG’s Live at Nine in Memphis, followed by a CD release party at Wet Willie’s on Beale Street in downtown Memphis.

(In the photo, L to R: Co-producer Keith Sykes, Webb Dalton, and engineer Pete Matthews)

Big Star’s Third Performed Live in NYC

Readers of this blog may remember a story about a very special performance of Big Star‘s Third that ran for two nights at the Cat’s Cradle in Carborro, North Carolina in December of 2010. The same performance was reprised in March of this year  in New York City. The performance featured (as did the first) a string section to recreate Carl Marsh’s arrangements on the original record, and an impressive guest list, to say the least: Michael Stipe & Mike Mills (REM), Matthew Sweet, M. Ward (She & Him), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey (The dB’s), Tift Merritt, and Will Rigby (The dB’s), among others.

Jody Stephens (Big Star’s original and current drummer, and the last surviving original member of the band) had this to say about the conceptualization of the original performance:

Sometime around last December John Fry and I got an email from Chris Stamey (The dBs, and producer of the Big Star Third live production). In the email he talked about producing a live performance of Big Star’s Third LP and was asking if I would participate. He also was hoping Alex would join in. I walked over to John’s office to see if he had read the email… he had. I think we both said “Is he crazy?”

Chris approached Carl Marsh (brilliant Third arranger and player) about recharting the string arrangements. Carl agreed, then John agreed to pull the stings off the multitracks to facilitate the process. The project was moving forward… slowly.

Alex’s passing away in March added a new sense of purpose to the project and we all started thinking that Chris’s crazy idea was actually a very sincere way for us all to share a fascinating experience.. it became a blue moon in the sky.

We got this email from Chris: “We just had our first reading of the string parts for the Big Star Third concert. just with a quartet of the four first-chair players, all excellent musicians. It was an unforgettable experience to hear that music come back to life in the room. I wish you all could have been here. I guess you will, eventually.

We didn’t get the score for ‘For You’ until 10 minutes before they arrived, at 10 AM this morning. We started with it, and the room filled up with that great beauty. After that it was revelation after revelation.”

When we all came together at Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC on Decembner 8th for the first rehearsal together it was indeed revelation after revelation. Odd how a dark and melancholy record can bring out the best spirits in people. Everyone was so committed to the performances.. players and audience alike. I wish everyone could have been there.

All the crazy ideas are the best ones!

This show precedes another very exciting piece of news for Big Star fans and vinyl enthusiasts: the re-release of Third on vinyl through Omnivore Recordings, set for Record Store Day 2011. From the announcement on Omnivore’s website:

We’ve got a brand new pressing of Big Star’s Third on 180gm vinyl! This is the Test Pressing Edition that commemorates the original 14-song version of this album among albums and comes stuffed with replicas of the studio tracking sheets and lead sheets. This limited edition is being cut from the original assembly reel, on the same lathe at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis and by the very same engineers who cut it the first time, Mr. Larry Nix and Mr. John Fry! Pressed on high quality vinyl at RTI, this should be the definitive version of this album.

Randomly inserted into this limited edition run (1,000 for the US, 1,000 for Europe) will be five copies of the original test pressing from ’75 courtesy of Big Star’s Jody Stephens—signed by Jody, Larry Nix and John Fry of Ardent Records. You KNOW how hard these are to come by! All we ask, is that if you’re one of the lucky five to find an original in your package, please send us a picture of it, or of you and it, or of it and your favorite stuffed animal. We’ll post the photo on our Big Star page so you have bragging rights and we know they’ve all landed in a happy, loving home.

(In the photo: Jody Stephens during Big Star’s Third, live in New York City. Photo by Conni Freestone.)

Big Star Album is Recreated at Baruch College – Review – NYTimes.com

Michael Stipe, Matthew Sweet, and Others Pay Tribute to Big Star in New York – Spinner

Jay Lustig’s article on the performance from nj.com

Omnivore Recording’s Record Store Day announcement

Ticketing information for this performance

       

Billy Seward, Producer George Sluppick, and Engineer Jeff Powell

Billy Seward recently made the long trek from Florida to record at Ardent with producer George Sluppick (The City Champs) and engineer Jeff Powell. George and Billy are long time friends, having met while playing gigs together in California some 10 years ago. They spent 4 days in studio A tracking with some of Memphis’ finest, in what was the first of a two-part session for Billy’s solo record. Says George Sluppick of the experience:

I would categorize Billy’s music as sould and this is a soul record, no question but there is definitely a strong blues element thrown in there too as Billy states Luther Allison, O.V. Wright and Otis Clay as major influences on his playing and songwriting.

…He asked me to produce and put together a group of seasoned Memphis players, which was easy for me to do and I was excited and honored for the opportunity. When discussing studios, we both agreed that Ardent was the best choice for what we wanted to do and Jeff Powell the only engineer for the job. The rest of the story is easy.

I got Marc Franklin to play trumpet and flugelhorn and he also did all of the horn arrangements. Marc is the man. The “Emperor of Sax,” Jim Spake, played tenor saxophone and did an amazing job. Al Gamble (The City Champs, Gamble Brothers) played Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, piano and did some wonderful background vocals. My min man, Joe Restivo (The City Champs) played some killer guitar and Landon Moore (Haven Hill & Jeremy Stanfill) came in with less than 24 hours notice and absolutely saved the day on bass. I played drums and had more fun on this session than just about any other I’ve ever been on.

Jeff Powell is truly a master and along with his assistant, Lucas Peterson, made our job fun and easy. The sounds we got in that room were so good, Billy was actually brought to tears during the listening party. What a fantastic crew of folks and we had a great time. Many thanks to everyone who helped make this recording happen, all of the great staff at Ardent and these wonderful musicians. I will be calling all of these guys again as soon as we can get Billy back up here to Memphis for round #2. Stay tuned.

In the picture, L to R: Billy Seward, assistant Lucas Peterson, Marc Franklin, engineer Jeff Powell, Al Gamble, George Sluppick, Landon Moore and Joe Restivo.

Scott Bartlett, Jeff Powell, Lucas Peterson in Studio A

Saving Abel‘s Scott Bartlett moved into Studio A with producer/engineer Jeff Powell and assistant Lucas Peterson, tracking some new material for a possible music service for film and TV. Bartlett called upon Powell to co-produce and cut the new songs he wrote “ole style” to 24 track 2″ analogue tape.

Bartlett handled all the guitar work, and called in some old friends to fill in the rest: Harry Peel on drums, Landon Moore on bass, Jeremy Stanfill on lead vocals and Reba Russell/Susan Marshall/Jackie Johnson on background vocals.

The next step for Bartlett and Powell is to master to vinyl, which Powell will cut on the original Stax record lathe here at LNix Mastering in the Ardent building.

In the picture: Scott Bartlett with producer/engineer Jeff Powell.

Star City Meltdown with Jason Latshaw and Paul Crosby

All-star engineer Jason Latshaw was recently back in the studio with Paul Crosby of Saliva, producing and engineering for a band called Star City Meltdown out of Johnson City, TN. They spent three days tracking and mixing in Studio A.

Paul and Jason were co-producers on this project, with Jason also mixing the project. It is the second session that Paul has brought to Ardent and Jason. Paul has been shopping the tracks around to major labels with some great response. Keep an eye out for more of Star City Meltdown!

Star City Meltdown on Facebook

In the photo: Star City Meltdown with engineer/co-producer Jason Latshaw and co-producer Paul Crosby in Studio A Control Room.

Laura Pickett, Taylor Pickett, Ardent’s Jason Latshaw and A-list Memphis Players

Texas singer Laura Pickett and her co-producer Taylor Pickett (who is also her husband, physician, and pilot) traveled from Texas for a little bit of Memphis in her first professional recording. Attracted by co-producer and engineer Jason Latshaw and a city known for its great players, they flew themselves up to Memphis to record a few soulful classics.

Her vocal style, described as a blend of Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, lent itself well to songs that included Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight.” Dave Smith (Cat Power) on bass, Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady, Big Ass Truck) on guitar, and James Robertson on drums rounded out the sound they needed to cut these 10 tracks.

Laura is another great example of what can happen when artist meets producer in a setting like Ardent Studios. From conception to full realization, Ardent is able to help with any and all steps in the recording process.

Stay tuned for further details on this very promising new artist!

In the picture, L to R: Taylor Pickett, Laura Pickett, James Robertson, Dave Smith, engineer Jason Latshaw, Steve Selvidge, and assistant Carter McHann.

Japan’s Chikuzen/Sing Like Talking with John Hampton and Adam Hill

Our long-time client and friend Chikuzen returned to Ardent recently to mix a new project with John Hampton at the helm and Adam Hill assisting. Our previous projects with Chikuzen were solo ventures, but for this project Chikuzen was reuinted with his band, called Sing Like Talking.

Band members include Sato Chikuzen (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Fujita Chiaki (synths, keyboards, BGVs), and Nishimura Tomohiko (guitar).

The band, who took a hiatus between 2003 and 2009, have been playing together in Japan for more than 20 years. Their debut came in 1988, and they have seen the top of the charts many times, producing a body of work spanning twelve full-length albums. This includes the most recent one, mixed here at Ardent by John Hampton. The album is entitled Empowerment, and it will be released on April 6th, 2011.

The band also has a reputation for putting on sensational live shows. They’ve toured many times throughout Japan and have even performed with Hall & Oates in Nippon Budokan. Their much awaited national tour is scheduled to start soon after the release of the album.

Stephen Burns & The Scruffs Return to Work with Adam Hill and Lucas Peterson

Stephen Burns of The Scruffs traveled to Ardent this winter to produce a new record with engineer Adam Hill and assistant Lucas Peterson.

Burns and The Scruffs have a long history with Ardent, having recorded their first two records here in the late 1970′s with John Fry engineering, and have been back twice within the last four years to mix two new ones (2007′s Pop Manifesto and 2010′s Conquest). Adam Hill was the assistant engineer on both those mixes and must have made a good impression as this time around, Burns put him in the engineer’s seat. This project also marks the first time Burns and The Scruffs would be tracking AND mixing at Ardent in more than 30 years.

Burns, the band’s primary creative force, wrote the songs and handled guitar/keys/vocals. Bobby Kildea of Belle & Sebastian provided bass/guitar/percussion and vocals. Mark Rodgers (who’s been a member for 10 years) joined in once again on drums and percussion. Guests included Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Memphis players Jake and Toby Vest (The Third Man, The Bulletproof Vests), John Whittemore (Neighborhood Texture Jam, The 1-4-5′s), and Al Gamble (The City Champs).

They also enlisted the help of some vintage Ardent gear, including the Spectra Sonics rack (channel strips pulled directly from the console that was used at Ardent’s National Street location and re-seated in a custom rack by technical director Chris Jackson), the Fairchild 660 and 670 (vintage tube compression), and Chris Bell’s mid-60′s Gibson ES-330.

All tracks were cut to ProTools, but keeper tracks were bounced to analogue before mixing. Naturally.

The Scruffs Web site

In the picture, L to R: Jody Stephens, Stephen Burns, Bobby Kildea, Mark Rodgers, and enigneer Adam Hill.