A recording studio built into a former residential building in the historic Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. A big, custom designed live tracking room with reclaimed tongue & groove wood walls, a high, vaulted ceiling, and enough room for a full band. A spacious control room with a full view of the tracking space, as well as a good selection of sonically isolated spaces, including a completely tiled vocal booth. This is not a "house" turned into a recording studio, but an old building that was completely gutted after hurricane Katrina, and then rebuilt specifically as a standalone music recording studio, with angled walls & ceilings, open spaces, purposeful sightlines, and extensive acoustic treatments. A spiral staircase from the second floor takes you from the recording space into a big kitchen / lounge space. A great sounding upright piano, a few vintage organs & synths, a pair of concert tympani, a beautiful vibraphone, a full marimba, a museum's worth of old rhythm boxes, a wide assortment of guitar & bass amps, and a solid Yamaha drum kit, are all here. In this old New Orleans neighborhood, you'll find a great assortment of places to eat, coffee shops, and bars to get lost in. There's a great music store a few blocks away, and of course, the trumpet player you suddenly realize you need on the last chorus of that song, is already sitting at the bar down the street at Vaughn's, and can come join us in 10 minutes...
So, here we are in 2023, having lived through the horrors of Pandemia. We have now ALL had the opportunity to get fully vaccinated. If you want to work in this indoor space, with other people, you NEED to be vaccinated against COVID19. If you have a health condition that prevents you from getting vaccinated, we can also try to work safely with that. I am happy to work, as we have been for the past 3 years, with everybody wearing masks, and keeping very safe distances, in a situation with somebody who is, for a legitimate reason, unable to get vaccinated.
If, for whatever misguided reason, you just do not want to get vaccinated, that is your choice, but we are NOT going to be able to do sessions with you here.
So, if you are an artist with a band, or with the plan of bringing in other musicians or singers to participate in your session, please understand that sessions are very strictly being limited to people who have been vaccinated, so that we can all be responsible with each other and continue to help to bring this pandemic to an end. Please check with anybody that you are thinking of bringing into the studio to make sure that they are vaccinated and that they understand the policy here. One of the goals of this studio is to have a safe and comfortable creative space for people making music. Right now, a big part of the comfort and safety as we work together in these enclosed rooms, is knowing that we are all on the same page in our understanding and need to protect ourselves and each other from this virus. We have been dealing with this horrible reality every day for over 3 years, keeping our distance, keeping our guards up, and our masks on. With the vaccine, we finally have the possibility of making music together while feeling safe. Let's do this!
We recently did a few days of tracking, with a producer & a group of musicians from different parts of the country, and the artist brought rapid antigen tests for us all to take on the first morning of the session. After everyone involved tested negative, we agreed to be extra careful over those few days, and all had a very relaxed, stress free time together in the studio...