Leading Memphis Players Join Gifted Singer/Songwriter

Pictured at Ardent Studios in Memphis are (L-R) Billy Seward, guitar/vocals; Lucas Peterson, assistant engineer; Marc Franklin, trumpet; Jeff Powell, recording engineer; Al Gamble, keyboards; George Sluppick, producer/drummer; Landon Moore, bass; and Joe Restivo, guitar.

Gifted Soul/Blues singer/songwriter Billy Seward is recording his new album at Memphis’ legendary Ardent Studios with producer George Sluppick, who is also drummer on the project. Seward was joined by leading Memphis musicians Marc Franklin on trumpet and flugelhorn: Al Gamble on Hammond organ, Wurlitzer and piano; Landon Moore on bass; and Joe Restivo, guitar.

Producer George Sluppick comments, “I would categorize this as a soul record, but there is definitely a strong blues element thrown in there, too. Billy asked me to produce and put together a group more

Cam Beachley with his Countryman Type 10 DI’s.

Menlo Park, CA – March 2011… As an engineer on tour with a major artist, the ability to (technologically) ensure great sound and glitch-free performances from the audio equipment is assumed. Failure here generally translates to unemployment. Welcome to the world of Cam Beachley, monitor engineer for Country music sensation and five-time Grammy® Award winner Carrie Underwood and French rock ‘n roll icon Johnny Hallyday. Bouncing between Underwood’s ‘Play On Tour’ and Hallyday’s European tour schedule keeps Beachley constantly on the go—with precious little time to be fretting over equipment issues. That’s why, for the best possible sound quality from a number of acoustic stringed instruments, Beachley counts on his collection of Type 10 and Type 10S direct boxes from Countryman Associates. more

Hudson United Methodist Church has 400 active parishioners and, like many of today’s houses of worship, has two services on Sunday, a traditional service with piano and organ and a more contemporary presentation with electric instruments.

As such, they needed a microphone that could effectively accommodate live reinforcement and recording with exceptional reproduction. As Musical Director Leigh Conti explains, “We had done a number of recordings of the choir and organ and other instrumental situations, and we weren’t getting a full spectrum of sound. There was no bass, it was very tinny sounding and give us an accurate portrayal of what was actually going on.�

Fortunately Conti found a solution in the Astatic 1700VP Remote Variable Pattern, boom mounted microphone. As Leigh points out, “I spoke to (Astatic National Sales Manager) Gary Dixon and he suggested the 1700VP Remote Variable Pattern microphone, which was mainly for the purpose more