Brendan Tonra and his legendary fiddle at MPM Studio!

[youtube hd]http://youtu.be/84wW9KZDeeI[/youtube] Renowned Boston-based Sligo fiddler plays one of his recent compositions accompanied by the stellar Helen Kisiel on piano. Some of Brendan’s compositions have become standard repertoire in traditional Irish music, notably Tonra’s Jig (aka Tone Rows). An honor to have these two cornerstones of Boston’s Irish music scene recording at Mill Pond Music! Read […]

The Fireflies: from London to Portsmouth (again!)

Harry and Luca, from London, England, formerly known as The Pilgrims-now the Fireflies, were back at MPM Studio for their third time a few weeks ago. As usual it was an intensely creative week of tracking, vocals, guitar overdubs (ranging from beautiful acoustic to funky electric) and some last-minute songwriting. What to call their style? […]

Ellen Carlson – E.C. and the Moonshiners- Hillbilly Jazz!

It’s been a privilege and a delight to be making music during the past year with the illustrious NH fiddler Ellen Carlson. She’s an expert country player, well-versed in old-timey, New England  and Celtic styles, and a fine bluegrass-er. Her band High Range has wide renown, and her teaching skills legendary. Lately, she, drummer Robbie Kneeland, […]

With Ken Perlman @ Summit School Winter Folk Fest

Melodic clawhammer banjo wizard Ken Perlman and I were happy to be a part of Montpelier Vermont’s Summit School Winter Folk Fest, along with Dirk Powell, Riley Baugus, the amazing Swedish fiddler Anna Lindblad (with RyanDricky), Katie Trautz and others. Tony DeMarco showed up for the after-concert jam, which threw a number of styles into a yummy […]

Tony Giblin’s CD Launch – A Promise Kept

Last night at Rory O’Connor’s Pub in Georgetown, a good number of musical friends gathered to help Tony Giblin launch A Promise Kept.       Tony kindly let me play bouzouki and guitar on this one:      

Summer re-cap: Natalie McMaster, Joan Osborne, Joe Deleault and more…

Finally getting around to a chronicle of some of this summer’s activities, one of which was my adventure into the musical world of Manchester NH’s composer/songwriter/pianist extraordinaire Joe Deleault. NH Screenwriter/director Ernest Thompson (‘On Golden Pond’, etc.) is just finishing a new film (headed for Sundance Film Festival) called Heavenly Angle, for which Joe has […]

The Nashville Years: singers and players

A lot of interesting artists and musicians recorded at my studio in Nashville during its twenty years of operation, giving me ample opportunities to make a lot of mistakes and to learn how to avoid them. Some of their names are well-known, others’ should be. Here are some of the names I remember off the […]

Mill Pond Music Makes Mix Magazine!

Mix Magazine is THE music recording trade journal, and it’s quite an honor to be featured in June 2011’s edition as one of the year’s 20 hottest new studios. Hollywood, New York, LA, Nashville, Rome, Norway and….Portsmouth!