Bay Area Recording Studio

San Francisco Bay Area Studio Records Alice Walker Reading "The Chicken ...

Berkeley, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) June 21, 2011

Alice Walker, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most beloved writers, recently recorded her new memoirs, "The Chicken Chronicles," at Live Oak Studio in Berkeley. Copies can be purchased on CD from the publisher, Recordedbooks.com, and should be available as an audio download from Audible.com and other sources near the end of July.

Live Oak Studio was selected from five competing studios. The San Francisco-area recording studio offers a warm, comfortable atmosphere to help artists relax. The artsy vibe helps get creative juices flowing.

Walker chose to perform the voiceover work for her memoir so listeners hear the writer tell her personal story in her own words and voice.

"We are honored and grateful that Alice Walker and her publisher, Recorded Books, LLC chose Live Oak Studio to record Ms. Walker reading her Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning novel 'The Color Purple' and now her newest book: 'The Chicken Chronicles,'" said Priscilla Rice, owner of Live Oak Studio. "She has a very beautiful voice, and having these fantastic stories read to you by the author is a real treat."

The back-story to the memoirs involves Walker diligently caring for a flock of chickens over a number of years on her farm north of San Francisco Bay. The relationship with "her girls" became a source of inspiration, strength and spiritual awakening that helped Walker connect more profoundly with her own past as a girl in rural Georgia.

Walker has recorded this journey in "The Chicken Chronicles," an extraordinary document of personal discovery, political commitment, and the joys of relating to animals. Each of Walker's thirty-eight chronicles addresses her "girls" directly, sometimes from the intimate proximity of her yard, other times at a great distance, from her journeys to Bali and Dharamsala as a witness and activist for peace and justice.

Alice Walker is known for her literary fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Color Purple," her many volumes of poetry, and her powerful nonfiction collections. Her advocacy for the dispossessed has spanned the globe.

For more information about recording at the San Francisco-area music studio Live Oak Studio, please call (510) 423-0771 or visit them on the web at www.liveoakstudio.com .

Iconic Bay Area Recording Studio Closes After Nearly 30 Years ...

Iconic Bay Area recording studio to shut its doors after nearly 30 years

The Heretic comment: The Emeryville Recording Company, established in 1983 by industry veteran Randy Rood, has just announced that it will shortly be ceasing operations.  The studio, which counts among its past patrons such Bay Area luminaries as Henry Kaiser, Dave Grisman, the Club Foot Orchestra, Booker T Jones and Bill Spooner, has been forced to close due to a steady falloff in revenue over the last few years, the latest casualty of a new economic reality that is today’s highly fragmented music business.  Owner Randy Rood said the changes in the industry – such as the explosion in recent years of consumer home and project studios – have affected his work, Rood explains:  “I do a lot of ‘fixing’ now.  People will come here when they haven’t been able to achieve what they want at home”.

A few years ago, Teddy Riley famed producer and king of R&B and hip-hop went thru a similar situation where he had to sell his studio because of financial turmoil.  His attorney tried to save this iconic studio for the cultural heritage it represents.  Just last month EMI decided to put Abby Rhodes Studio on the chopping blocks sighting that the recording studio, where the Beatles did the vast majority of their recording in the ’60s just is not a sound financial investment anymore.

The era of big recording is slowly phasing out.  A recent trip to a pawnshop opened my eyes to the reality that the music industry inside and out is going thru a transformation and you as a businessperson must decide how to turn the tide. I saw high-end studio equipment from major studios that had to close their doors. To that end, engineers and producers have to reinvent themselves just as Rood did.  Consulting, fixing botched tracks, and offering mastering services is one way to continue streaming your revenues.  I encourage anyone running any type of business to stay on top of industry trends, watch for changes in the marketplace and make necessary adjustments to ride the tide. For more information on Emeryville Recording Company’s plight, please see the link below.

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