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Todd Agnew and Rebecca St James perform at The Provident-Integrity Luncheon
During the 2007 Gospel Music Week in Nashville, Tn, Todd Agnew was joined by surprise guest Rebecca St. James to perform "Our Great God," the first single from his forthcoming new album, Better Questions.
Joy Whitlock performs at the Greg Oliver Booking Agency Luncheon
See more pictures of GMA 2007
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From left: Jimbo Mathus, Larry Nix, King Louie, Kevin Nix
It's been a long and arduous process, but a new project from King Louie Bankston should see the light of day soon. The project is called King Louie and the Loose Diamonds and consists of Bankston along with Jack Yarber on drums, Harlan T. Bobo on guitar, Adam Woodard on keys, with Chad Booth and Jimbo Mathus trading time on rhythm guitar. Although the record is being touted as having been recorded at Jimbo Mathus' Delta Recording Studio in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the history of the project is actually a lot more lengthy.
Recording of the album, titled Memphis Treet, originally began at Easley-McCain Studios. The early recordings survived that studio's tragic fire in March 2005, but then futher recording was postponed due to the Katrina Hurricane after Bankston was uprooted from his home in New Orleans. The tapes ended up in a basement studio in Memphis, made their way down to Mississippi and then ended up at Jim Dickinson's Zebra Ranch Studio to be mixed. The final mastering was done in April by Nix Mastering located inside Ardent Studios.
After being plagued by fires, hurricanes, and makeshift recording sessions, the album will finally be released this summer by Seattle's Empty Records.
But don't expect after four years for there to be a lot of hoopla around the release. Yarber and Bobo, who will be releasing his sophomore album I'm Your Man on July 17th, are both headed back to Europe to tour this summer, while Bankston plans to focus all of his attention on his latest band, "I'm spending all my time with The Black Rose Band right now, I'm just gonna let this record do it's thing."
Tracklisting:
1. Negative Contact
2. Memphis Treet
3. Gypsy Switch
4. Girl in the Holler
5. Heart
6. Wheelbarrow Whiz (Jack's Theme)
7. Fire on the Sun
8. She's Losing Her Hair
9. Lookin' for a Heart
10. Mountain of Lore
11. Untitled Lament
12. Burning Sands
Memphis Treet Fun Fact:
Treet is a canned meat product, similar to SPAM, that is marketed under the brand name Armour Star by the Dial Group in the USA. Treet is made with chicken and pork. SPAM is made with ham and pork. Treet is often less expensive than SPAM.
Treet has a less greasy texture than SPAM, more akin to bologna or vienna sausages. Like SPAM, it is often heated before consumption. This includes frying or baking. Baked Treet with ketchup or steak sauce is often referred to as "Treet loaf" after meat loaf. Although it is officially a "spiced luncheon loaf", Treet is often called "Treet meat". For unknown reasons, possibly ingredient costs, Treet is copied for private label luncheon loaf more often than SPAM. While very popular, Treet does not have SPAM's cult following.
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Cat Power has been nominated as a one fo the finalists up for this year's Shortlist Music Prize.
According to Wikipedia: The Shortlist Music Prize is a music award given annually to an album released in the United States within the last year, as chosen by a panel of musicians, producers and journalists, known as the "Listmakers". Albums are eligible only if they have not been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America by the time of nomination. The Shortlist Music Prize was first given in 2001.
The full list of finalists, whittled down from 61 nominations, is as follows:
The Band of Horses - 'Everything All The Time'
Beirut - 'Gulag Orkestrar'
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 'The Letting Go'
Cat Power - 'The Greatest'
Girl Talk - 'Night Ripper'
Hot Chip - 'The Warning'
Joanna Newsom - 'Ys'
Regina Spektor - 'Begin To Hope'
Spank Rock - 'YoYoYoYoYo'
Tom Waits - 'Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards'
This year's listmakers include Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, The Killers' Ronnie Vannucci, Franz Ferdinand, Panic! At The Disco and The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, Billboard reports.
The Shortlist Prize was first launched in 2001, when it was won by Sigur Ros. Subsequent winners have included NERD and Damien Rice.
Cat Power's nominated album, The Greatest, was recorded at Ardent Studios.
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Memphis, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Ardent Studios) - Al Kapone, one of the originators of the Memphis underground rap explosion and known as a pioneer of the Dirty South Crunk/Buck style of Hip-Hop, has been mixing at Ardent Studios with engineer Jason Latshaw. Kapone, who is a 2006 Critic's Choice Award-winner, previously mixed material at Ardent for the hit film 'Hustle and Flow.'
For his new album, with the working title 'What About the Music?', Kapone has been experimenting with a number of different styles, including Rock, Soul, and R&B. Kapone revealed during sessions at Ardent that he's interested in incorporating the music of Memphis in its earlier days into the album, referring to Stax artists and the unforgettable soul music that came out of the 50's and 60's. His vision includes a new sound that utilizes the legacy of Elvis, B.B. King, Al Green and Isaac Hayes with the crunk energy of the Memphis rap scene developed by Three-6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG, Yo Gotti, and Project Pat. The album is expected for Fall release.
(Source)
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From left: George Thorogood, Producer Jim Gaines.
George Thorogood and the Destroyers were in the studio this month working on cutting some new songs and re-cutting some classic material for the best-of album they have coming out soon. Jim Gaines was the producer on the sessions, with Sean Burman engineering and Jason Gillespie assisting. The material they were working on included the classic "Bad to the Bone."
George and the Destroyers played in Memphis at the Beale Street Music Festival on May 5, and have returned to Ardent to finish up the work they've started. They've got some guitar and sax overdubs left, and will then mix the material with Ardent engineer John Hampton. Look for the new release on EMI sometime in the future.
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From Left: Studio owner John Fry, Assistant Adam Hill, John and Korey Cooper, engineer Curry Weber, Lori Peters, and Ben Kasica.
Ardent Records artists Skillet were in the studio this month recording an acoustic set for radio station 93X. They stopped by before playing a gig in downtown Memphis as a part of their national tour. Curry Weber was the engineer on the session with Adam Hill assisting. Look for them in the Midwest throughout May and on into the summer.
Skillet's most recent release, Comatose, is being picked up by radio stations all over the country with help from our friends at Atlantic Records. Congrats go out to everyone in the band! For more information, check out www.skillet.com.
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From left: Andrew Day, Pete Matthews, Kevin Day
Tacoma, WA based Top Heavy Crush will finish up recording their debut record with producer Pete Matthews this week. Matthews was passed their demo CD by a friend in Memphis and immediately knew he wanted to work with the band, who describe their sound as stright-forward rock and roll.
Lead by brothers Andrew and Kevin Day, the band was excited to travel to the River City to record their album.
"We're huge fans of soul music and really thought it was essential to record down here because of the vibe" says Kevin Day.
Speaking of soul music, Ardent Studios founder John Fry took the guys on a personal tour of the Stax Museum. What a treat!
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Kevin Nix of L. Nix Mastering began mastering the new Crunchy Black album today. The record was mixed by Ardent Studio's Carter McHann.
According to Rapbasement.com, the former Three 6 Mafia member is set to release a solo album entitled From Me To You on June 12. This album will be released through the Hypnotize Minds/Asylum imprint and will feature new songs as well as "chopped and screwed" cuts from the Memphis rapper.
Crunchy is also finishing up another record with all new material that has been recorded since his split with Three 6. That record is the one Kevin Nix is working on and is rumored to be his first release after signing with Universal Records.
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From left: Engineer Matt Mitchell, Maynard James Keenan, and Jason Gillespie
Singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) came to Ardent's Studio C this week with engineer Matt Mitchell. Jason Gillespie (of Ardent Studios) assisted on the session. The guys were in for two days cutting vocals for Maynard's current solo project, called Puscifer.
Tool has been on the road for a while now, and they had a couple days off before their show tonight (5/15/07) at the Desoto Civic Center in Southaven, MS. Ardent is the first actual studio that's been used for this new material, which has mostly been recorded on the road between shows. According to Maynard's blog on the Puscifer Web site, he may be shooting for a fall release.
For more information on the project, check out http://www.puscifer.com.
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Ardent Studios is proud to announce our sponsorship of The Pink Palace this summer. The museum will be featuring a traveling exhibit called "Access All Areas: Your Backstage Pass to the Music Industry" (opening Saturday, May 26). From the brochure:
"Music is a part of the fabric of life, both an art and a science, and something we all participate in, either as producers, performers, or listeners. Tourwest's Access All Areas explores this universal, mysterious subject from different angles: it's physics, its technology, its history, its artists, and ourselves, the audience."
The "stations" of the exhibit are pretty interesting: Everything from "Where are the harmonics on your guitar?" and "Who 'invented' stereo?" to "How do you mix tracks?" and "How does tape work?"
Ardent is one of the official sponsors of the exhibit, which will also feature monthly live performances from local artists and monthly discussion panels hosted in the luxurious Mansion Theater at The Pink Palace Museum.
Ardent Studios has been selected to be featured as the first panel. John Fry, Jody Stephens, John Hampton, Jason Latshaw, Jeff Powell, and Pete Matthews will speak on behalf of the industry and of course Ardent Studios. The panel will take place on Tuesday, May 29 at 6:00 PM. Admission is free, so please encourage all your friends to come and listen to (as we're calling it) "An Evening with Ardent."
Many thanks!
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John Fry with The Clientele
London-based band The Clientele visited Ardent Studios last week while in town to perform a show at the Hitone Cafe. The band is curently on tour promoting their latest release God Save The Clientele. Lead singer Alasdair MacLean is a huge Big Star fan and was especially excited to discuss the production of their first two albums with John Fry.
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Jet play "All the King's Horses" during their performance at Ardent Studios for 93X Sessions.
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From left: Jeff Powell, Joy Whitlock, Rabbi Greenstein, John Fry
Ardent Record's artist Joy Whitlock, who is currently working on her first full-length album with producer Jeff Powell at Ardent Studios, invited Rabbi Micah D. Greenstein to play his shofar (ram's horn) on her song "The Day of the Lord."
From Wikipedia: A shofar is a horn that is used as a musical instrument for Jewish religious purposes. It is intimately connected with both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar originated in Israel for Jewish callings.
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From left: Jason Gillespie, Bryan Hartley, Kevin Nix
Bryan Hartley, lead singer for Halfacre Gunroom, finished up songs for an upcoming solo record at Ardent Studios this week. The session produced 7 new songs and was engineered by Jason Gillespie. These songs will be packaged with 6 songs he recorded at Ardent in December of 2005 and are tentatively set to be released on Soul is Cheap.
Hartley, a recent Nashville transplant, bypassed his new friends on Music Row to return to Memphis to finish recording. I always knew Hartley was a smart guy.
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 Last week the folks at Ardent Studios were able to preview an exciting new exhibit at The Pink Palace Museum. Access All Areas: Your Backstage to the Music Industry answers all the question about the business that you were afraid to ask. The exhibition includes...
*Thirty three hands-on interactive exhibits, including Keep the Beat, Invisible Harp, Favourite Number One, Magnetic Recording, Mixing Desk, Cover Versions, Invisible Harp
* Four high-profile visitor attractions: DIY Disco, Karaoke Shower, Mark Fisher Stage Architecture, Star in your own Video
*Twenty three freestanding graphic panels
* Original car designed by Brian Eno for U2
* Props created by Aardman Animations for Tina Turner music video
* Letter of encouragement from George Harrison to young fan
* Exhibition of photographs
It also delves in the following:
REHEARSAL
Explore the science of sound through a variety of exhibits that
demonstrate the physics of sound waves and harmonics. Test yourself
to see whether you can sing in tune or recognise whether musical notes
are going up or down - it’s harder than you think!
COMPOSING
Could you put a band together? Here visitors can practise keeping a
drum beat or try out as a DJ, or they can play an invisible harp and
dance on a giant piano. The more energetic can compete for the best
score at keeping the music going on the music wall.
THE STUDIO
All kinds of recording technologies are demonstrated in the studio, from
recording horns of the late 19th century to modern CDs. Visitors can try
mixing their own 4-track tape, or exploring a virtual Abbey Road Studios,
where the Beatles made some of their greatest recordings.
LISTENING
The flip side of the musical coin is hearing, and in the listening area you
can find out how well your ears work and whether you can hear through
other parts of your body. Nostalgia fans can choose their favourite
record of the past fifty years or decide if they prefer the cover version or
the original.
ON STAGE
In real life not every hopeful can make it on stage, but here everyone can
have a go at singing in the karaoke shower or dancing in their own video,
and you can see how a professional stage designer puts on a rock show.
AND NOW FOR THE PHOTOS:
More Photos
Tonight you can experience it for yourself - For Free!!
Ardent Studios is proud to announce our sponsorship of The Pink Palace this summer. The museum will be featuring a traveling exhibit called "Access All Areas: Your Backstage Pass to the Music Industry" (opening Saturday, May 26). From the brochure:
"Music is a part of the fabric of life, both an art and a science, and something we all participate in, either as producers, performers, or listeners. Tourwest's Access All Areas explores this universal, mysterious subject from different angles: it's physics, its technology, its history, its artists, and ourselves, the audience."
The "stations" of the exhibit are pretty interesting: Everything from "Where are the harmonics on your guitar?" and "Who 'invented' stereo?" to "How do you mix tracks?" and "How does tape work?"
Ardent is one of the official sponsors of the exhibit, which will also feature monthly live performances from local artists and monthly discussion panels hosted in the luxurious Mansion Theater at The Pink Palace Museum.
Ardent Studios has been selected to be featured as the first panel. John Fry, Jody Stephens, John Hampton, Jason Latshaw, Jeff Powell, and Pete Matthews will speak on behalf of the industry and of course Ardent Studios. The panel will take place on Tuesday, May 29 at 6:00 PM. Admission is free, so please encourage all your friends to come and listen to (as we're calling it) "An Evening with Ardent."
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That's right guys, we're sponsoring The Pink Palace for the whole summer, so this show is officially sponsored by Ardent Studios! From the Pink Palace's announcement:
"Don't miss this one!!!!!!
It's the kickoff to our Rock the Palace: Summer Tour 2007
Sponsored by: 93X, Ardent Studios, Lane Music, Memphis Music, ProShow Systems, the Electric Room, the Memphis Flyer, Comcast & Grand Events....
Only $8!!!
Cash Bar . FREE Food . FREE Parking . 3 AMAZING BANDS . 93X Traveling Twisted Thursdays onsite . FREE exhibit admission to our new Music Exhibit . Doors open @ 6pm
Get with the program... it's all about Memphis Music and the Summer of Rock-n-Roll!!!!
Hit that switch and turn it up!!!!!
THANK YOU ALL!"
It'd be great to see you ALL there.
Thanks!
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