Making "That's Right!"
Page 3 of 5
When was the studio built?The studio was originally built in 1990. And about three years ago, Dennis McGill bought the studio and brought myself and Dick Hodgin [producer/engineer] on board. I had had my own studio and decided to merge with this one and then we remodeled the entire building. The whole thing. In the A room, every piece of wire in this room is new, including the power. We completely went through the whole room, put in a Studer 2-inch machine along with a Pro Tools Mix Plus system, and a Sony console, updated the mic package, added some nicer pieces of gear.
What Sony console is it?
It’s a 3056, an old analog 56-channel console. I love the way it sounds. I think the mic pres in it are fantastic.
What console was there before?
It was a NeoTek Elite. And actually the NeoTek was a fantastic console. I kind of miss it actually. It had incredible headroom. It’s not the Sony, but it did have some really nice things about it that I miss, like the EQ section on it was really wonderful. I got used to using it before, because I used to do some freelance work before I started here. But since I’ve been over here full time, it’s been the Sony.
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So for the Roomful session, these guys just showed up, took their instruments out and you had already set up mics where you thought you’d want them?
Yes. Well, basically, they came over in the morning and unloaded everything. They have a small road crew, who got them kind of in the building, and got the drums set up. Then I chased them away for four or five hours, and I started setting things up.
That’s dangerous, they could go out and get drunk.
Yes, I know. But it obviously didn’t hurt the recording. Hey, it’s the blues! The main thing was getting the right performances, making sure that what was going down to tape was true to what it was originally and making it sound as good as possible. And trying to make the recording process not interfere with their performances.
So, the band's Chris Vachon was the producer?
Yeah, Chris, the guitar player for Roomful, was the producer of the project, and basically he just said do whatever you think it needs. He’d pop in and check the takes and say, that’s a good take, let’s keep that one. He knows those guys obviously very very well – he plays with them every night. He did a great job of keeping everybody on task. He let me worry about the actual recording and he worried about the players.
Did they have a feeling that they had a hot album to record?
You know, there’s a very funny story about that. Very interesting. They were on Rounder [Records]. And they had an option. And Rounder was due to make another record for them. And I don’t think they were getting the kind of response from Rounder that they wanted, because really Rounder’s been pushing bluegrass a lot. They’ve had a lot of success with Alison Krauss + Union Station, and stuff like that. So what the band decided to do was to make a recording that would be something new and fresh for their fans, something recent that would show the current lineup of the group, that they could sell at shows. So the band came down and paid for the recording themselves. Then they sent it to Rounder, and said hey look, this is great – either you put it out or you let us out of our contract. Rounder let them out of their contract. And they got scooped up by Alligator. It makes Rounder look kind of foolish, especially with a Grammy nomination. Oops!
When we first started it, it was more like, we just want to get this thing done. And when we were tracking it, I was thinking, God, this is amazing. I sure hope it gets released. At the time we didn’t know if it was going to be released. And then we started mixing it. I really thought it was something pretty good. I didn’t have any clue it was going to get nominated, I didn’t know if enough people would actually hear it for that to happen. Because even if it’s a great record, it doesn’t mean enough people are going to hear it that it gets nominated.
Some of the best records ever made have never been heard.
It’s true, unfortunate but true. So, obviously we’re absolutely thrilled that it was recognized, and I think especially considering the circumstances in which the project was gone into, everybody was very very pleased with the results. Considering the small budget and the intensity of it. It achieved its purpose.
Considering it was financed by the band, they probably had an extra incentive during the recording process.
Well, yeah, there was that, and they were also in the middle of a tour. Now, it was fortunate, because we spent less than we needed to, less than they had allotted. Once things were going, the whole process went very smoothly.
What led the band to Osceola Recording Studios?
Dennis McGill, who is the primary owner of the recording studio, played in a jump blues band called Mighty Lester and the Blues Kings. And they were fans of Roomful of Blues, and Dennis had seen them live and they had met a few times, and Dennis told them about the studio. They checked us out, called up, came down to visit. They were basically coming through and had heard about us through Dennis. Chris came down and saw the studio, met with me and we got along really well. And I guess he felt comfortable. He said let’s do it here. You know, it was all about getting what they wanted.
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