Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Business North Carolina takes note of Echo Mountain Studio, the largest traditional recording studio in the state, according to the magazine. A snippett:
Echo Mountain is the largest traditional recording studio in North Carolina, but its toughest competitor might be the rise of home recording. The digital age offers software artists can use with any laptop, so someone with a few pieces of gear and a microphone or two can produce a complete, multitrack album. The company has responded by introducing Vintage Mix, which takes recordings made elsewhere and runs them through its equipment, giving them a sound similar to something cut in one of its studios. Such tactics keep Echo Mountain in business, but for Wilmans, it doesn’t match the reward he gets from sitting in on a live recording. For him, this is the culmination of a lifelong obsession. “There’s nothing like hearing a take coming through the speakers as it’s being recorded. You’re hearing it live before it gets played back, and if you hear a take that comes down and it’s really special, it’s kind of a magical moment to hear that recording.”
Making magic requires a space where artists feel inspired. For the Avett brothers, no studio fits that better than Echo Mountain, one of the main reasons they say they’ll record there again. “Some studios don’t have enough vibe, don’t have enough spirit,” Seth says. “That’s definitely not an issue that Echo Mountain has. It’s just a really comfortable place with a lot of great vibe in it. I’m sure that it being in a converted church doesn’t hurt that. There have definitely been people there that have felt a lot of emotion and expressed love. I think that helps with the vibe.”
