What a great trip we had going back to Nashville in June to our son’s wedding. Right after attending Grass Valley festival, we headed the motorhome eastward. The weather cooperated and we took Highway 40 for a more scenic route, which was beautiful. We caravanned with San Diego friends Kit & Mary Birkett which upped the fun factor. This is such a magnificent country we live in and seeing it through that big motorhome window is like watching an IMAX movie unfold each day. Once in Nashville, which was oh so green, we did get to see many friends and family, but we were also treated to a tour that was particularly enjoyable.
Last May, we were happy to host a banjo workshop taught by Alison Brown at our home in San Diego area. Alison and her husband Garry invited us to stop by when we got to Tennessee for a tour of their business Compass Records. And that’s exactly what we did.
The tour was informative, educational on many levels and such fun! Alison & Garry and the Compass Records “team” were so hospitable, and Alison really gave us an in-depth behind the scenes tour.
The Compass Records building was formerly Glaser Sound Studios which was owned by Tompall Glaser (not to be confused with Tom Glazer). Tompall converted this former apartment building into a sound studio and with some offices. The building today remains much the same as it was back when he owned it. As you walk in at the first floor you notice many LP covers and memorabilia hanging on the walls. You can also see a large safe left by Tompall in the back, and their state of the art recording studio is on the second floor.
One treasured momento to see is the Wanted! The Outlaws platinum album hanging at the foot of the stairway. This is piece of country music history is on loan to Alison & Garry from country music maven Hazel Smith who worked at the studio years ago. Find out more about Hazel by visiting http://www.cmt.com/news/hot_dish/hazel_smith.jhtmlcmt. She’s a treasure and a fountain of music history.
In 1994, Alison & Garry founded Compass Records which has become a new breed independent music label in their own right. They describe themselves as “eclectic, sophisticated, and artist-friendly.” Billboard Magazine has called Compass “one of the greatest independent labels of the last decade.” With the Compass acquisition of Green Linnet and Mulligan Records, it has also become the go to label for Celtic and roots music. They support a total of 42 artists, and just a few of them are Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Larry Stephenson, Todd Phillips, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, John Cowan, and Noam Pikelny.
Up on the second floor, it was a real thrill to tour their sound studio where just the day before a major bluegrass band recorded some tracks. And for you sound engineer types out there, the studio has all the latest state-of-the-art Pro Tools HD system, Custom Formula Cue 8 headphone system, Yamaha C7 grand piano, SPL analog summing mixer, along with miscellaneous gear from names such as API, Neumann, Millennia Media, Shure, Sennheiser, AKG, Tube Tech, Korby, and Microtech Gefell.
We also stood out on “The Smoking Deck,” aka Willie’s Smoking Porch, also on the second floor. Standing on that porch, you couldn’t help but think of all those artists of renown that have used it since the Glaser Sound Studio days. Up to the early 1960s, Nashville was a much smaller music community where artists knew each other and spent lots of time together. The big corporate music offices were not part of the Nashville scene at all.
But that all changed by the mid-1960s, and the big business of music came to Nashville. These larger focused entities left little room for the fringe artists to record their music. “Outlaws and hillbillies” like Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, Jessi Colter, Kris Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein, Jimmy Buffet, John Hartford, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, and others found a home at Glaser Sound Studios. “Hillbilly Central” was found at 916 19th Avenue South. Tompall encouraged creative expression and experimentation at his studio. He also housed the well-known Baron Publishing there.
This bent toward creative expression and experimentation continues today with Compass Records. Compass still encourages today’s outlaws to record there. Here are some current titles/artists that have been recorded in their studio: Stolen Moments – Alison Brown; Cold Spell – Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen; Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute to John Denver – Special Consensus; They Called It Music – The Gibson Brothers; On Down the Line – Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper.
Compass Records is plowing new ground and giving new energy to the independent artists out there. Thanks again to Alison & Garry for the informative tour. It’s gratifying to know that history continues to be made at Compass Records. They are truly continuing a creative legacy in the acoustic music world. If you get to Nashville, stop by the see them. It’s worth the time! Visit their website atwww.compassrecords.com and see what’s new. And while you’re there, download their weekly free mps offered. Sweet.
