When I owned a recording studio in Northampton, I really got to see just how much music is around this valley. I could have stayed open 24/7 and never run out of clients—without taking away business from any other studio! We saw everything from Gobblehoof and New Radiant Storm King to a full-fledged 40 member gospel choir (which, by the way, was the loudest and latest I've ever worked!). I also heard stuff nobody else did—like Lamar Murray, an itinerant blues singer who wore a beret decorated with tooth picks. He looked like a walking hors d'oeuvres tray, but he sang some of the purest music I ever heard. Some sessions stand out for different reasons. Recording Ray Mason and Steve Westfield couldn't be more relaxed and fun. Hair Volume had a schematic diagram showing how they would use up every second of every track, and they were one of my favorites. Mark Schwaber blew me away with his great guitar playing and ability to layer vocal harmonies until it sounded like Bread.
For such a relatively small town, it's got a lot of music going on. I've had a chance to meet some of the greats, like Bo Diddley and Yusef Lateef. I love seeing members of NRBQ, one of my favorite bands ever, in the local record store. Or finding out I'm playing the same gig as Charles Neville. But more than seeing all those people I admire around town, I guess what typifies this area is the fact that there are so many local musicians whom I admire just as much.
It was about 1987 when I first heard that this area was about to be "the next big scene." I think it's now an annual occurrence, the great "we're going to be famous" scare. The great irony is, 99.5 percent of the world loves music, and 95 percent of those people have no ear for music whatsoever. So really, it's always a level playing field, whether you are brand new to your instrument or playing with the BSO.
