Making a record is never easy. This workshop dissects the elements, processes, layers, and a behind-the-scenes knowledge base of what a day in the studio looks like.
Confluence panel discussions have no cost to attend, but have limited space. Please reserve your seat here.
Making a record is never easy. This workshop dissects the elements, processes, layers, and a behind-the-scenes knowledge base of what a day in the studio looks like.
Confluence panel discussions have no cost to attend, but have limited space. Please reserve your seat here.
Moderator
Wayne Martin has served the North Carolina Arts Council since 1981. He became executive director of the agency in 2012, where he oversees a $6.7 million grants program serving all 100 counties and raises private funds for statewide arts initiatives. Martin’s career contributions in the areas of community arts development, arts education, and cultural and heritage tourism have made North Carolina a leader in creative placemaking and arts-based economic development at the national level.
Martin has played a critical role in creating cultural tourism projects in Tier 3 counties through is work with the Blue Ridge Music Trails and Cherokee Heritage Trail projects and the creation of African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina and the Historic Happy Valley cultural trail. Martin set the stage for the Congressional designation of western North Carolina as the Blue Ridge Heritage Area and received the first Preserve America Presidential Award on behalf of the Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative. He has also helped guide planning and implementation of the Arts Council’s SmART Initiative that spurs arts-driven economic development across the state. In addition, Martin is an accomplished musician having recorded and produced several albums of traditional music for Smithsonian Folkways, Global Music and MusicMaker labels.
Panelist
A native Charlottean, Chris Garges is a drummer and the Owner and Chief Recording Engineer at Old House Studio. Garges has worked with Fred Wesley, Don Dixon, George Hamilton IV, Arthur Smith, General Johnson, Si Kahn, Ryan Martine, Frank Kimbrough, Kai Eckhart, and Oteil and Kofi Burbidge, among others. In addition, Chris has played drums for Mitch Easter since 2006 and is currently a member of the bands Bunky Moon and The Spongetones, as well as a contributing writer for TapeOp magazine.
As the manager of Echo Mountain Studios, Jessica Tomasin is a cornerstone in the Asheville music community. Jessica co-founded the non-profit Asheville Music Professionals committed to providing education, advocacy, connection, and collaboration in the music community. She is also the Co-Owner of ACME, the 2013 recipient for Entrepreneur of the Year by the City of Asheville/Chamber of Commerce and owns Jet Up Production and is Founder of Connect Beyond Festival.
Jason Bieler is a highly successful label and studio owner as well as producer and singer-songwriter. On the artist side, Jason has achieved Gold and Platinum albums and singles as an artist and producer with song placement in both the cinema and video game arenas. Bieler has toured with Ozzy, Soundgarden, The Ramones, and Cheap Trick while his work as a producer has landed him studio clientele including Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, Butch Walker, Chris Carraba, New Found Glory, Don Gilmore, and Ron Nevison. Nicknamed Baron Von Bielski, Jason’s production experience extends to labels such as Atlantic, Universal, Warner and Sony and collaborations with other producers/mixers like Bob Clearmountain, Tom Lord Alge, Jack Joseph, Puig, Michael Wagner, and Toby Wright.
Evan Brice is a member of a songwriting and production group turned funk/soul group called The XMen. Born out of Charlotte, the group has toured globally with artists ranging from Pastor John P. Kee to Usher. The XMen has continued to produce and program live shows while still performing shows, perhaps most notably when they headlined the Soul Junction festival with Derrick Hodge, a Grammy Award winning jazz bassist. Brice’s most recent work was in producing “Did It for Love” with Leela James.
Local songwriters and producers discuss the process of creating and refining their musical ideas, in effort to pre-establish the instrumentation, arrangement, tempo, key signature, and other aspects of crafting a song. This effort reduces time spent, expenses, and enables entering the recording phase of production with the basic and most promising ideas having been already established.
Confluence panel discussions have no cost to attend, but have limited space. Please reserve your seat here.
Moderator
Joni Deutsch is happy to call Charlotte home as WFAE’s manager for on-demand content and audience engagement, where she helps produce podcasts FAQ City, SouthBound, and She Says. In addition to being an NPR Music contributor, Joni is also the creator and host of WFAE’s Charlotte music podcast Amplifier, named “Best Podcast” by Charlotte Magazine and honored for excellence in arts and music podcasting by the local Edward R. Murrow Awards and The Webby Awards (called “The Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times).
Deutsch has been working in public radio and podcasting for nearly a decade, starting with her work as music director and assistant general manager of WLUR 91.5FM in Lexington, Virginia, and continuing at West Virginia Public Broadcasting (West Virginia’s NPR station) as the creator and host of the weekly music program A Change of Tune and the critically-acclaimed 30 Days of #WVmusic interview series. While in West Virginia, Deutsch became assistant producer for NPR Music’s legacy public radio music program Mountain Stage, as well as the program’s youngest (and first female) guest host in the show’s 32 years, making her the youngest host of a nationally-syndicated public radio program (heard on more than 270 radio stations) at the age of 24.
This has led to national features by NPR, Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Poynter, and local spotlights from CharlotteFive, the Charlotte Agenda, Creative Mornings Charlotte, The Gantt Center, The Blumenthal Performing Arts, and the Carolina School of Broadcasting.
A supporter of innovative media and a mentor to digital women leaders, Deutsch has been recognized as an Emerging Voice Scholar by the Alliance for Women in Media, the West Virginia State Journal’s “40 under 40,” the Online News Association’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator, the Charlotte Agenda’s “30 under 30,” The United Way of Central Carolina’s Young Leader Awards, Duke University TiP’s Early Achievement Award, and receiving the Alliance for Women in Media’s Gracie Awards.
Deutsch earned her Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia University and Master of Arts in Strategic Communication from American University.
Panelists
Dane Page is a singer-songwriter living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dane has toured throughout the southeast and mid-Atlantic with his independently produced EP City to City. Dane’s music pulls from the contemporary folk genre and weaves his listeners through stories of Greek mythology, 20th Century literature, and American history.
Leonardo (Leo) Solis is an American producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, label owner, studio owner and multi-instrumentalist based out of Charlotte. As a producer, Solis has worked with several indie label bands, Charlotte local bands and his own band SOLIS. He continues to tour globally as a tour manager and front of house/monitor engineer and musician. Leo co-founded the indie label Four Finger Records in 2017. Solis works from his studio, “Spaceland” in Charlotte working on producing and mixing records.
Jason Jet, Iceland native and current Charlottean, has rooted himself in the niche musical style of indie-soul with a sound that transcends a sensual, trance-like and captivating hold over listeners. Gifted with an impressive tenor voice and lyricism skill, and equipped with advanced production prowess, Jason Jet is well on his way to carving out a name in the industry. Jet has already won numerous awards including a NY Urban Music Award, a Carolina Music Award, and has shared stages with the likes of Anthony Hamilton, Dwele, Eric Roberson, Sunshine Anderson, and Dj 9th Wonder. Jason’s upcoming sophomore release is on the horizon, a project centered around Self-Realization and titled ‘The Great Escape’. Be on the lookout for Jet and The Kru.
Jim Avett (musician and father of The Avett Brothers) and David Childers (prolific local musician), will talk about what goes into songwriting and producing a song. From creating bridges to constructing chords, Jim and David will draw from their experience to illuminate topics of lyrical prose, word choice, and how to navigate the production process.
Confluence panel discussions have no cost to attend, but have limited space. Please reserve your seat here.
Location: Conference Room C