Born in a Barn Studio 2025 in Pictures

Well 2025 has been an interesting year but we are almost done although we have bookings still to complete right up to Xmas eve. Life this year has got a bit hectic for a multitude of reasons but nevertheless the show will always go on and the studio has been entertaining, recording and facilitating all sorts of things as always.
So here’s a few fun pics showing some of our clients and events and studio life generally.
If you would like to book a session or party or have a project to discuss just call Roger on 07956 624376 or call the studio landline 024 7662 1033

Ongoing Winter Projects

So recently we had the pleasure of working with Mr Declan Cargill who writes some brilliant strange stuff bringing a lovely challenge to music making but the outcomes have been very rewarding tbh. ‘Fight’ is a song about personal struggle within - we all have ‘em!
Also, introducing Hazza on the studio kit (and making it sound super-great) as guest drummer for DANE-O’s project, borrowed from local rock band Ventura, Harry is a very talented chap and delivered some edgy and moody moments to this time-tickler of a track. Big thanks to O Jacko for laying some bass along the ways and great production input also.

Then we have Phil King, composer extraordinaire cos he does it all in the complete dark, but the most recent project has seen him learn and copy a song written by Andrew Charlett from over 60 years ago and bring it to life, accompanied by his Dad John King who used a fabulous & rare Daion acoustic guitar. Andrew had the most fleeting visit to the studio but we captured his voice and shot footage for the forthcoming video. ‘Please Think of Me’ is a wondrous tale about hopeful feelings during a break up and has a very quirky edge & slight twist - of course.

Lastly featured here is Nash the (almost famous) Sitar player whom I have known for 20 years and will one day soon pop to BB Studio to record some Sitar tunes - just needs to get one of the drones fixed I think and rustle up his tabla players.

Behind the Scenes with Phoenix from the Ashes whilst Recording

I’ve not had chance for updates recently with ‘life’ getting in the way but we had local legends Phoenix from the Ashes ‘reincarnate 3’ back in the studio last weekend in their new slimline-up of just Simon, Bill, Eduardo and Dan topping it all.
2 songs were effortlessly recorded live from their new musings and ongoing development of the live show. ‘Always’ is a classic banger with lots of layered vocals from the Dan giving this song the special edge it needs to lift and slam you with dynamics. ‘Live and be Free’ is also a party monster track and probably designed for quite near the end of the live set. Singalong as hell and uplifting from the entry this is a crowd pleaser all the way. Both featuring some remarkable guitar work from Bill and penned by the highly stylish Simon on bass.
Along the way of course we had fun and the new Daft Punk style wraparound shades were a hit - well how couldn’t they be? We actually found time to visit The Woodshed guitar store which is about 50 yards from our door and hang with Dan for a bit - a remarkable place. Also this was Eduardo’s debut visit to BB Studio which was a pleasant success - great guy and tight drummer.

Autumn Roundup & Console Cleanup

Behind the scenes, in between working with bands and writing songs and running parties and working with choirs and drama groups and recording speech projects and plenty more, there’s a fair bit of general maintenance and refurbishments that are constantly ongoing at the studio; which is one of the things that helps keep everything appealing. Recently it was the the Live Room which which had a little overhaul and rearrangement of some equipment to help with the disco’s that take place when entertaining kids and just last week I decided it was high time to do a deep clean of the main mixing console in our Control Room, so Jack and I dived in and stripped the beast apart. The task took almost 10 hours but there was a lot to get through cleaning the 32 input channels, 8 mix bus channels and master channel.

We have been in operation since Nov 2004 can you believe and still enjoy every client we work with helping them achieve their dreams, occasionally sponsor events and even enjoy the odd bit of downtime ourselves at music festivals. It’s great to be busy.

Send us a message or give us a call to talk about any recording project you have in mind.

Happy New Year 2024

Off we go again with a flying start to the year - saying goodbye to 2023 was easy because it really hadn’t been the best year with some wider family crises; but things have eased now.

Over Christmas I had the surprise pleasure of working with Emily Jane Brooks once again on a very personal song that she had discovered in her family heirlooms. A song titled Christmas Blessing had been written many years ago with a family friend, but got lost over the years so she made it her duty to rekindle the song and bring it back to life - cutting a long story short the song was released just before Christmas and attracted a fair bit of attention locally including a piece in the Coventry Telegraph, so I think we all would consider this a lovely success. Emily made a very slick video to go with the song and help remind us of all the best parts of Christmas which are timeless:
Christmas Blessing by Emily Jane Brooks

Further to the we had a New Year release as well, this time with John King and his son Phil King who is blind. They recorded a cover of Empty Saddles (originally by Billy Hill an American songwriter & violinist) and we made a video as well which is currently on YouTube where the song can be accessed. John & Phil have been working with me at the studio for almost 2 years now and brought heaps of different styled projects to the studio. Phil is currently working on an album of original music for a commission with a Yoga instructor/practitioner. Phil’s mastery of the keyboard is profound and I personally enjoy watching and working with him in mild amazement everytime.
Empty Saddles by John & Phil King

Kicking the New Year off I’ve already had new dedicated singer in, to showcase her voice on the request of her husband who bought her a gift recording present for Christmas - Claudine was a natural and made a superb debut recording of Jolene by Dolly Parton amongst other songs.

Also the band Whiplash (working title) have completed their 1st track title Dream, to a forthcoming debut album, which really has started the year well. The band are all 17-18 and if the first song is anything to go by I think we will have a masterpiece on our hands. Led by Archie the singer/songwriter/guitarist/vocalist the band are a great act to watch with Alex on drums, Rowan on lead guitar and Charlie on bass holding it all together. A multi talented bunch.

And it’s only day 4 so “Welcome 2024” let’s do this!