Bluegrass Unlimited
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j Patuxent Music By Bob Allen Accordion, Go to Jail. That's the law!" Tom T. Hall, who also co-wrote the song (Mindte, as a kid, actually started out on with his wife Dixie. accordion, but he assures me it was not Patuxent Music had another big fear of imprisonment that inspired him to moment in 2010 when Mindte coaxed switch to mandolin early on.) th'ree members of the legendary Stoneman Jokes and cartoons aside, a lot of family- sisters Donna, Roni, and Patsy serious business and great music has gone back into the studio to record the album, down here within the walls of Patuxent Patsy, Donna and Roni. Studios in recent years. Thus far, the Patuxent's ever-expanding catalogue company's biggest commercial home run also includes, among its many other and its first entry in the bluegrass record titles, a collaboration by Eddie and rom the outside, Patuxent Studios, charts came with the 2010 release of Take Martha Adcock and Tom Gray called Flocated in a drab industrial park across Off, the debut album by Darren Beachley Many A Mile and, a recent CD by some railroad tracks and a few blocks & Legends of the Potomac. The band's Japanese bluegrass banjo maestro Akira away from Rockville, Md. 's, congested first release reached the number 11 spot. Otsuka titled First Tear. Additional titles main drag, looks little different from the Legends of the Potomac (no longer include several releases by veteran Frank surrounding warehouses, car lots, floor active) was one of bluegrass's most recent Wakefield, including A Tribute To Bill care companies, and auto repair centers. super-group configurations. It included Monroe; the solo release Sidecar by But step inside the studio, and you enter a resonator guitar maestro Mike Auldridge Potomac Legends banjoman Mark different world. The dimly lit suite of and bassist Tom Gray (both distinguished Delaney; Lonesome Heavy Heart by the rooms includes a reception area and alumni of the Seldom Scene), along with Baker Boys; Duets, Mindte' s own several separate spaces used for record banjo player Mark Delaney (formerly of collaboration with guitarist Jim Barnett; ing. Throughout, the studio has the the Country Gentlemen), mandolin Gary Ferguson's Live At Podunk, and comfortable atmosphere of an old-time player Norman Wright (who served in the reissues of a trio of classic Buzz Busby music lover's well-appointed club base Bluegrass Cardinals and the Country albums. Others include several albums by ment. Gentlemen), and lead singer/guitarist ace guitarist Jordan Tice and three "People who are not professional Darren Beachley (an alumnus of Doyle releases by Mindte's own band, the musicians are nervous when they record, Lawson's Quicksilver). One track on Take Patuxent Partners. not only about giving a good performance, Off, called "Tall Weeds And Rust," Recently, Danny Paisley recorded his but also because the clock is ticking," said features a guest vocal by country legend first album for Patuxent at Mindte' s Patuxent Music owner and resident ·c"' engineer/producer Tom Mindte, who has ~ recorded his share of professionals and ~ amateurs alike in his state-of-the-art facility. "So you need something that's really comfortable." The walls of Mindte's studio are adorned with vintage musical instruments, bluegrass and country concert posters of yesteryear, and portraits of American musical greats such as Duke Ellington, Bill Monroe, Donna Stoneman, and, of course, Buzz Busby, the man who inspired ~ Mindte as a young mandolin player. Even the bathroom walls are decorated with ~ photos, cartoons, and other quirky l memorabilia. There's a hand-made poster advertising a long-ago appearance by Busby at the Louisiana Hayride, a blow up of an old newspaper article with the headline: "Woman Killed With Banjo," a~d a plaque that sternly warns: " Play an Tom Mindte in the control room 30 www. bluegrassm usic.com BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED s suburban Maryland studio and it will be chance to record my band, another guy in where my family's air conditioning released under the Patuxent imprimatur this area found out 1 had this recorder and business used to be," he recalled. "But l later this year. Also nearing release is a he wanted me to record a demo for him," never did get a satisfactory recording of banjo album featuring Bill Emerson, Mindte recalled. "[ just used the PA my band, that I was happy using that setup." Mark Delaney, Eddie Adcock, Don system I used for my band and recorded The turning point, and the birth of Bryant, Mark Schatz, Mike Munford, him and mixed him and his band down to Patuxent Records, came in the mid-1990s Chris Warner, and a host of other banjo two tracks. He made five hundred cassette when Mindte's friend Joe Meadows, the masters. "There's no working title yet," copies and gave 'em away as demos. It had late, great fiddle player who played with Tom Mindte, 55, the Rockville-native my name on it, and it sounded pretty good, both Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and musician who founded and owns Patuxent so a few people started calling me. I the Stanley Brothers, landed a contract Music, said of the banjo opus, also set for with a small record label and hired Mindte release later this year. "But there's an old to engineer and produce a record. By then, Stonemans album that has a picture of the Mindte had moved his studios across the Stonemans standing on Pennsylvania street to its present location, in an Avenue by the Old Post Office Pavilion, industrial building that, at the time, was a ~m , and you can see the Nation's Capital in the storage facility for the family business. "I background. We may try to recreate that started out recording in the room that we er photo for the cover by doing a photo shoot now use for drums, or sometimes for nd at the same location." vocals if the singer is someone like Danny Jed Mindte is also excited by a forthcom Paisley, who has a really powerful voice by ing album that he has been working on that needs to be isolated," Mindte said, as ira with Corey Pyatt, who he describes as an he sat at the studio console and pointed Jes "awesome 16-year-old mandolin player over his shoulder at the small room. "By nk who plays with Kenny and Amanda Smith. then, I had an eight-track digital T A SCAM ill We recorded his album last summer, but D-88 that's still in the rack over there." by I' m still waiting on a couple of tracks that Mindte finished the record for Meadows rk are being recorded in Nashville. We just in time for the little independent label e should have that out pretty soon, too." that had commissioned it to go bust and n Mindte says Patuxent Records has leave Mindte and Meadows holding the managed to grow from its very humble bag. "That's when I decided to put the beginnings by slowly but steadily carving record out myself," Mindte added. a niche in the bluegrass record industry. Mindte insists he more or less learned "l' m working with a lot of up-and-coming the record business by the seat of his artists as well as artists like Frank pants, one step at a time. "Most of it I e Wakefield who have had long, successful learned just by going to lBMA conven careers, but aren' t playing as much these tions and being a fly on the wall at the days, but are still great," said Mindte, IS forums they have for record labels. 1 found 's referring to the celebrated mandolinist out that in bluegrass, a big chunk of record who worked with Jimmy Martin, Ralph sales comes from bands selling their Stanley, and Red Allen. "Frank has done records at their gigs," he added. "That four albums with me. With these artists, I means the bigger companies have to make have a little tighter budget to work with," sure their artists have a busy schedule, he added, "but l still have to get the same with lots of gigs, because those quality in the sound and the graphics and companies are going to spend a lot of everything. Having my own studio helps money making the record and have to with the budget a lot, but [ can't afford the make sure that artists sell a lot of records big ads in the music magazines and all so the label gets its money back." that." ln short, Mindte took another ap Mindte recalls that his label, which in proach: working fast and smart on a the past few years has become an shoestring budget. He says that's usually emerging player in the bluegrass main easy to do when working with studio-savvy stream, was born of necessity; it started veterans like Danny Paisley or Legends of small and grew organically. When he was recorded them, too, and then l finally the Potomac. "The main thing is that those 19 or 20 years old, Mindte was playing recorded my band." guys, like Mike Auldridge, they've mandolin with his first band, the By this time, Mindte, who has long recorded a hundred times," he said. "So Montgomery County Ramblers, and since made the switch to the digital format you just ask them what they normally do in wanted to record them. So he bought a and Pro Tools 10, had graduated to a more the studio; you don 't tell them what to do.