Is everybody in? Good. Keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times and we'll get thru this just fine. For you first timers, Hello, my name is Steve Nall. I am the main engineer/instructor at LIRCo, and I will be your guide for this little audio adventure. Now that the formalities are out of the way, let's jump right in and see what's been happening around the halls of LIRCo!!

Studio A has seen the lion's share of the work lately with house engineer/producer Erin Cheeks deep into the recording of vocal tracks for Lauren Mink's debut country CD. There are also plans to add some additional songs to the CD, so I'll have to wait til the coming months to give ya'll a real update on this project.

The sophomore release for local pop/punk band Partly Cloudy has been shelved temporarily, however some tracks may be released via internet...stay tuned.

Former student turned instructor and resident beatmeister Deshawn "Big Time" Steele has taken over production duties for rapper Jerome "Trouble" Jones and they're continuing production on his upcoming release.

Bandleader/piano player/trumpet player extraordinaire Jim Caudill was in this past month to begin work on his "tribute" to Pikeville College (in Pikeville, KY) entitled "Pikeville College, USA". It's got that old school Big Band swing to it with LOTS of great horn parts (courtesy of Jim, of course!) and session players Eric White (drums) and Mike Cooley (bass) laying' down that swingin' groove. Jim'll be back in soon to complete the track and I can't wait to get going again!

Also in Studio A this past month (I told you it was busy!) was Nashville, TN jazz/rock/fusion band Midnight Rooster. This is the kind of band every Producer/Engineer wants to work with. They knew what they wanted to do and were very accomplished musicians. To quote Mike Myers on SNL, "It was like butta..." Keyboardist Kory Caudill is one of - if not the - best young keyboardist I have ever worked with. He pulls off some amazing work in these songs. Just one listen to the solo on "Catch Me If You Can" and you'll know what I mean. Not that the rest of the band are slouches by any stretch of the imagination! Drummer Greg Dampier impressed me very much with his handling of every time, style and tempo like he'd been playing them forever. He's a well taught player who, although still young, has all the chops of a seasoned session player. Needless to say, he made getting a good drum sound easy. Justin Smith, the bassist, is super tight in that rhythm pocket and his distorted solo on "Tower of Inspiration" is just insane! He's definitely one of the fastest "finger-style" players I've worked with. Of course, a band with a rhythm section like this has to have a simply monstrous guitarist. Matt Reviere is that man. He seems to have a little of a Steve Vai/Frank Zappa influence in his soloing - which is always a good thing. Check out the dueling solos of Matt and Kory at the end of "Tower of Inspiration" and you'll understand. All in all, this was a great session for myself and my assistant on the session, Deshawn. Numerous Recording School students were on hand to help with set-up and tear down, as well as getting to see what a real session with good players is like. Having a group of such talented players made our jobs almost too easy!! It was a great experience and I can't wait to get 'em back in the studio to lay down some more smokin' tracks!

I'd like to stop for a second and congratulate Jaxon Swain and Chris French, who have recently graduated the Recording School. These guys are out and ready to conquer the recording world. Congratulations to you both! Now get out there and record some hits!!

Before we get out of here, I'd like to officially welcome the new additions to the LIRCo family. New students Jeremy Draper, Brandon Stokes, Aaron Gabbard, Anthony Toney and Brock Alexander are beginning their education in the world of sound this month and I know that they'll do great! Welcome guys!

That's it for this time! Feel free to come on down and check out the School and some killer sessions! Just give us a call at 859-335-8440 (if you're local) or TOLL FREE at 877-335-8440 to set it up, so we can give you the ultimate LIRCo experience. Check back next time when I'll continue to give you the inside track all the happenings here at Long Island.

Steve Nall
Head Engineer, LIRS