Engineers, Producers, Musicians and Composers Led Panel Discussions and Networking Opportunities Deep in the Heart of Texas, with Stops in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston
Talents Including Joe Chiccarelli, CJ Eiriksson, Chet Himes, David Hough, Andy Murphy, Jay Aaron Podolnick, Chris “Frenchie” Smith and Others Covered Topics Ranging from Music Production and Engineering to Stereo and Surround Mixing, Mastering, Songwriting and Audio for Video
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (August 11, 2009) — As part of its ongoing effort to stimulate dialogue and share experience and expertise throughout the music technology community, The Recording Academy® Texas Chapter and the Producers & Engineers Wing presented “The P&E Texas Tour 2009.” Designed to appeal to both the novice and seasoned pro, this professional development series toured the state during June, July and August, producing events in the
key cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio that presented a wealth of knowledge and experience to the state’s pro audio communities.
The first stop on the 2009 tour was Dallas, on Saturday, June 27, where three-time GRAMMY®-winning producer/engineer Joe Chiccarelli and Deep Blue Something front man Todd Pipes joined Recording Academy members and other music industry professionals at Luminous Sound Studios. That afternoon, Chiccarelli shared his extensive experiences working with artists such as Café Tacuba, the Raconteurs, the White Stripes and more in a one-on-one discussion, with the Q&A moderated by Pipes.
The next stop on the Tour was at the Hard Rock Café in Houston, on Saturday, July 11, where Recording The Beatles authors Brian Kehew (producer/engineer/musician with Fiona Apple, Fleetwood Mac, the Ramones) and Kevin Ryan (producer/arranger/songwriter for Hurts to Purr, Sarah Sharp, Southern Backtones) led an interactive discussion with the assembled guests about their book, which takes readers behind the scenes of some of the Beatles’ most famous recordings. A free music-industry mixer followed the event, offering current and prospective members a chance to interact and share knowledge and skills.
Two weeks later, on July 25, the Tour pulled into Austin, where Recording Academy members and music industry professionals gathered at the Gibson Guitar Showroom to see and hear producer/musician Craig Hillis moderate a wide-ranging discussion by panelists including producer/engineer/mixer CJ Eiriksson; engineer/mixer Chet Himes; “Austin City Limits” audio director David Hough; Chief Recording Engineer for the School of Music Recording Studio at the University of Texas at Austin and the Austin Symphony Andy Murphy; CEO of Villa Muse Jay Aaron Podolnick; and producer/engineer Chris “Frenchie” Smith. Himes, Hough, Murphy and Podolnick were involved in the early recording scene in Austin in the late 1960s and 1970s, and they recalled the recording community then, and the way it has evolved to what it is today, underscoring how Austin producers and engineers still maintain a remarkable and unique camaraderie. Panelists also explained the techniques and equipment that they use in their projects and the processes they apply when working with bands. All of this provoked an enjoyable dialogue between panel and audience.
The final stop on the P&E Tour 2009 was on Saturday, August 1, in San Antonio, at the University of Texas at San Antonio-Downtown, and the theme was mastering. Unity Mastering N.Y.C. sound engineer Dave McNair (Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Terra Nova Digital Audio CEO/Chief Mastering Engineer Jerry Tubb (Norah Jones, John Lennon, Willie Nelson) led a discussion of mastering concepts and trends with a multitude of audio and visual examples.
“This was a great trip across a great state, and the Producers & Engineers Wing is pleased to work with the Texas Chapter to provide this amazing talent for our GRAMMY® Professional Development Series,” said Maureen Droney, Sr. Executive Director of the P&E Wing. “The P&E Texas Tour 2009 assembled an extraordinary amount of talent reflecting the wide range of audio in the music business. And considering that Texas is bigger than many countries, we covered a lot of ground in more ways than one.”
