Let’s Get a Place!

Ben Davis, my then 28-year-old son, and I were having a beer during the 2011 Christmas season on our back porch.  We talked about our folk/bluegrass band, his rock band, making guitars and mandolins, and my upcoming retirement from NASA.  We sort of had a “carpe diem” moment: “What in the world can we get into with all this time on my hands?”

The stage was set for something awesome to happen.  Ben and his bandmates in Liquid Caravan had become fabulous musicians and a super tight band.  They had played together for about 12 years at that point and had two albums under their belt.  Their records were recorded and engineered at Fame Studios and the Nuthouse in Muscle Shoals, AL.  The band would write a bunch of songs, save their gig money, and spend a weekend in the recording studio.

Ben’s comment was “wouldn’t it be great to have our own studio.“  Ben had been recording small musical acts in his spare bedroom.  He and his bandmates took the recording seriously and had gotten really good at it.

My thoughts were on building guitars and having more room than my two-car garage.  I had been building instruments, cabinets, and furniture for a while.  Over time I had collected the power tools, jigs, and processes needed to make a pretty good guitar.  I also really enjoy an artistic outlet.

“Let’s Get a Place!”

How cool would it be to have a big space for recording and for guitar making!  That’s crazy talk, right?

We decided to test the water and look for some old warehouse space in Huntsville.  We looked at several places but one day the music gods smiled on us - Lowe Mill!  We had seen all sorts of utility space, somewhat fancy space, but not space dedicated to creators.  It was perfect!  One of Lowe Mill’s large warehouse spaces had been a cotton storage area a hundred years ago and was currently a little disheveled but had great “bones.”

We loved it!  We loved the Lowe Mill community too.  The next step was to flesh out the plan.  We made dozens of CAD model layouts and business spreadsheets.  Half of the 2500 sq ft would be a recording studio and the other half would be a guitar luthier shop.   Mostly it was a guitar shop in the day and recording after hours.

Next, we had to get everyone on board.  Ben’s band was not hard to convince.  They loved the idea of a dedicated rehearsal space and tricking out the room so that it sounded great.

Susan was used to my hair-brained ideas, but she thought this one had potential.  I’m sure she was a little happy to have our dusty and noisy shop out of her garage!  And she loves music and her boys in Liquid Caravan - and me.

I’ll never forget the feeling of getting the door keys to the studio.  It was a big open room of sheer possibility.  We set right to work.  Liquid Caravan (LC) Productions on the left, Danny Davis Guitars on the right. 

I set the shop up immediately.  We needed the equipment to build out the studio.  Many fortunate coincidences happened that made us think our venture was meant to be.  For example, the day we were putting in the new flooring, our buddy Micah Gregg donated a beautiful bar and some awesome pieces of his art that he was moving out of an old studio.  Other friends donated stuff too.  We got a house drum kit, a computer, rugs, old chairs, and all kinds of stuff.  Everyone was super excited to have a place.

Susan scavenged some amazing furniture from thrift stores and made the place look cozy with plants and lamps and stuff.

The LC guys set up an old PA and bought an old mixing board.  We scrounged and combined all our performance equipment, like monitor speakers, mics and stands, and cables.  They performed acoustic tests on the room and based on the data, we made frequency absorbing panels to make the room sound perfect.  Then we made small sound control structures, like a large wooden diffusion wall and amp isolation boxes.

Then the music magic began to happen.  Night after night, the band would run through new songs and slowly start recording snippets.  The recording process was laborious. Drum/bass tracks to scratch guitar and vocal lines.  Overdubs and rewrites were next until the creation was in the can.  Their first album at Tangled String Studios was “Streets of Gold” followed by “Rising High.”

I was making some guitars, some mandolins and a lot of shop and studio furniture.  I probably drank a few too many cold beers (check out my six-pack beer wallpaper when you visit us) but I got the job done.

These were fun times.  We could not have imagined what was to come.  Our musical venture was actually just beginning.  Stay tuned!