Bear Creek Studio, located 20 miles outside of Seattle in Woodinville, Wash., recently built a treehouse studio, which was featured on the TV show Treehouse Masters on Animal Planet. The first session at the studio was with CeeLo Green (watch the segment at animalplanet.com). The custom-designed studio, which was built from May 2014 to February 2015, was completed by Pete Nelson of Nelson Tree House Supply, with help from Bear Creek Studio’s co-owner/producer/composer/engineer Joe Hadlock. The studio also doubles as a mixing room, and contains API channel strips and a Pro Tools HD native rig, Shure microphones and Ampeg amps.
The studio is operated by the Hadlock family—Manny, Joe and Ryan—along with producer/engineer Jerry Streeter. Built out of a century-old barn in 1978, Bear Creek has hosted many artists, including Heart, Lionel Richie, Eric Clapton, Soundgarden, James Brown and the Foo Fighters.
In artist news at Bear Creek, Vance Joy worked on Dream Your Life Away in the treehouse, with Ryan Hadlock (known for his Grammy-nominated work with The Lumineers) producing and Jerry Streeter engineering (Hadlock also engineered); Brandi Carlile was in the studio recording The Firewatcher’s Daughter, with Hadlock and Trina Shoemaker producing, and Shoemaker and Streeter engineering; Ewert and The Two Dragons were in the studio, with Hadlock producing and engineering, and Streeter also engineering; Ra Ra Riot worked on their forthcoming album, with Hadlock producing and engineering, and Streeter also engineering; Cayucas was with producer/engineer Hadlock, and engineer Streeter; Catherine Britt was with producer/engineer Hadlock, and engineer Streeter; Train was with producer/engineer John Goodmanson; Streeter and Hadlock co-produced The Cerny Brothers latest album, Sleeping Giant; Streeter engineered a project for Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio; Hadlock is currently mixing the new single by All Time Low featuring Mary Lambert; and singer/songwriter Brynn Elliott spent some time at Bear Creek for a few writing sessions before heading out on a nationwide tour with Allen Stone and O.A.R.
Additionally, Hadlock and Streeter both won JUNO awards for producing and engineering The Strumbellas’ album We Still Move on Dance Floors.
