Current And Recent Projects At Custom Recording Studios

August 2008
Leland Lynch, retired CEO of 40 years for Carmichael Lynch Inc., an advertising firm, was in our studio with pianist Mary Louise Knutson. All of the songs were parodies of the popular songs of "Sound of Music." Knutson is in a class by herself and has recorded several outstanding jazz piano albums. She was in our studio 15 years ago. She is an awesome piano player.

August 2008
Loe & The Nastys were in again laying down some tracks and vocals for a new album of original jazz compositions. Loe is moving to San Francisco to check out the music scene there. We wish her the best.

August 2008
Rev. William MacKinney recorded a Christmas album of religious and classical standards. Many of the songs use piano and harp. This album is the second one he has recorded in the last year.

August 2008
Dan Pertile was in again working on his second CD album of acoustic and midi accordion instrumental tracks. Dan's acoustic accordion sound is one of the best I have heard. His new album contains 17 popular and original polka songs.

July 2008
Cactus Willie (Willie Nelson impersonator Chuck Casterline) and Boxcar Bob (Bob Selby) were in again recording their 4th CD project. Whereever they perform they attract large crowds and are fun entertainers. Joining them on standup bass and vocals was Wil Kelly.

June 2008
Tony Andreason, lead guitarist of "Surfin' Bird" (The Trashmen's 1963 hit) fame, is planning to come in and lay down some classic rock tracks with Stu Nankin on bass and Donald Yahnke on drums.

June 2008
Blaker's Dozen, from the Blake Upper School in Hopkins, is an acappella group doing a CD of their vocal favorites.

May 2008
Scott Cooper, songwriter and singer, with producer musician David Swanson, recorded a song with acoustic drums, piano, and guitar. Scott has written dozens of songs and plans to record many more here at the studio in the near future.

May 2008
Touchpoint Consulting were in several times, recording online training tracks for Monster.com and Gartner.com.

April 2008
Ellen Livesay, pop jazz singer, recorded a torch type song about grass fed organic ribeye. Ellen's voice and style of singing makes a great listening experience.

April 2008
Reuben Ristrom, jazz guitarist extraordinaire, was in with his son Dan, a very accomplished jazz and pop singer, and did a CD of some of their favorite songs.

March 2008
Joe Chouinard recorded a CD of beautiful original piano compositions. This CD of solo piano is very relaxing to listen to.

March 2008
The Showed Up Band recorded a CD of instrumental tracks and some tracks with vocals. The band consisted of 7 musicians with the following acoustic instruments: 2 dulcimers, 2 mandolins, and 3 guitars. Because of our superb acoustics, all instruments were tracked at the same time. Joe Kreitzer was the leader of the group.

March 2008
Alan Fine, professor at the University of Minnesota and political candidate, was in again laying down some beautiful piano tracks of originals.

March 2008
On location at the Rhein Art Center in New Ulm, Minnesota, we recorded two nights of music and comedy with Dick Kimmel and Adam Grainger. Dick and Adam were at their best, and the CD should be out soon. Adam has appeared on Prairie Home Companion many times.

February 2008
Robert DeWayne of local Hispanic Pentecostal church Casa de Oracion booked almost an entire week for recording and producing a Spanish language gospel album. Frank Chavira, a producer, flew in from Dallas, Texas, to help with the project.

February 2008
Kathleen Widlund from Denver, Colorado, came in and recorded 11 original songs. Dan Perry from St. Odila helped produce, and various musicians were used. All 11 songs with vocals were tracked at the same time.

February 2008
Rev. William MacKinney, chaplin for the Ramsey County Police, recorded a CD of 16 hymns and love songs. His CD is "It's About Time." Rev. Bill has an awesome voice.

February 2008
Comedian Mark Poolos recorded a comedy CD here.

February 2008
Danny Henchal of classic rock band Vertical recorded 5 songs with vocals in less than 5 hours. Some of the members were in our studio 20 years ago.

January 2008
Lini, a Latvian folk group, was in recording and mixing their new CD.

January 2008
The Alzen Family band from Roberts, Wisconsin, spent several weeks working on their new bluegrass CD, "Let My Life Be A Light." This Last year, their first album was warmly received, and they also played and sang at the Minnesota State Fair.

January 2008
Glenn Henriksen from Armstrong, Iowa, is working on a new solo piano album. This marks the tenth album he has recorded here since August 2007.

Glenn is an accomplished, versatile musician working in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Glenn plays piano, organ, and keyboards for a variety of events, including concerts, church services, weddings, funerals, receptions, and other social gatherings. Glenn's repertoire includes hundreds of songs and classical works. He plays virtually every style of music including classical, ragtime, blues, and jazz, pop, gospel, and sacred. Glenn has performed as solo musician at the Lakes Art Center in Okoboji, Iowa, and at many churches throughout the midwest. He is a member of the 50s and 60s band "Galaxy."

December 2007
Janet Johnson (widow of the late Mel Johnson of KTIS Radio) did a piano CD of Christmas favorites to give out. She recorded 23 solo piano songs in one hour.

December 2007
Hope Lutheran Church of Richfield did an album of songs for missions. They recorded some new songs with their retired pastor, Rev. Jim Sbertoli, and also used several tracks from a previous album we recorded back in 1983.

November 2007
Grace Hall, horn player extraordinaire, recorded a Christmas CD of favorites. Grace is a dear friend of the Songmasters and plays at many of their public concerts. Grace's previous album recorded here was played nationwide on Bill Pierce's radio program, NightSounds.

October 2007
Jerry and Ginger of the Songmasters recorded their 30th album here. Next year, 2008, marks their 50th year of singing. This album is the tenth they've recorded in our studio.

October 2007
Kelly Clement and The Usual Suspects did a full album of classic jazz standards and instrumentals. John Jensen is one of the most gifted classical and jazz pianists in the Twin Cities. Besides piano, there were drums, standup bass, and vocals by Kelly. Kelly performed at the Ordway in the Patsy Cline Review.

September 2007
Glenn Henricksen did a total of nine piano and organ albums. Many of the albums were solo piano. Some were recorded with piano and then overdubbed with Hammond B-3.

September 2007
Dan Pertile did a CD album with MIDI Accordian of Slovenian polkas, waltzes, and folk songs.

August 2007
We have worked with Touchpoint Consulting (Edina) several times a month for over three years. They are a large group of technical writers and voice talent that record online training manuals for sales reps. Their primary client has been Gartner.com, an IT research company with main offices located in Connecticut and offices all over the world. Several times a month, the script writers and voice talent come in and use our studio to record training manuals for their clients. Touchpoint recently got the very large and impressive Monster.com account. Touchpoint is now recording training modules for Monster.com and continuing with Gartner.com

August 2007
SiriAnna has recorded two albums here in the past and recently moved to Rochester, MN. She has begun a new album project here. SiriAnna is a very accomplished pianist and vocalist and she writes and composes her own songs. She decided to make the long trek here to record her new album, mentioning that she could not find a studio in Rochester with a grand piano.

August 2007
Irish musician Bill Cutler started a new CD album of Irish folk songs.

July 2007
Taylor Grand, friend of the Hearn sisters, did a full CD of songs with soprano vocals and piano accompaniment.

July 2007
Jessica and Mary Anne Hearn, sisters, were in doing full piano and vocal demos.

July 2007
Singer and acoustic guitarist Carl Peters came in and did a small album of gospel standards. Carl has played and sung for many years. His great voice makes him a natural.

July 2007
Glenn Henriksen from Iowa was in laying down tracks for a classical piano album. Glenn is one of the most awesome pianists I've worked with. Glenn also plans to do an album with our Hammond B-3 organ.

July 2007
ABI was in for almost one week continuing work on their new Christmas album.

June 2007
Boxcar Bob (Bob Selby) was in laying down tracks for a new gospel album. Bob sings and plays with Willie Nelson impersonator Cactus Willie (Chuck Casterline).

May 2007
ABI continues to work on their new Christmas album with violinist Tak Kwan and veteran guitarist Lonnie Knight on acoustic and electric guitar.

May 2007
Cactus Willie and Boxcar Bob with standup bass were in doing a new CD of country classics. This is the 4th album Cactus Willie has recorded here.

May 2007
ABI was in again, laying down piano and fourteen-voice choral tracks for their second album this year. Our superb acoustics and highly directional Neumann U-87 microphones allow large choirs to record and stack vocals without the use of headphones.

May 2007
Tim Graham and Gordon Berry and family were in working on a new gospel original that Tim wrote. For thirteen years, Tim and Gordon used to record here for the Medora Musical.

May 2007
Loe & The Nastys were in the studio recording four more songs to add to their album. The four jazz musicians are very talented. They recorded drums, standup bass, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, and vocals.

May 2007
Deb Grebin, music director at Family of Christ Lutheran in Ham Lake, did a full album of gospel favorites with vocals and piano.

April 2007
Many high school and college students recorded piano, vocal, and trombone demos to compete for admission to music school.

April 2007
George Meissner, a retired State Farm agent, recorded a full album of religious songs with vocals and his own guitar accompaniment.

April 2007
Liz Ruhbueg (Middle Child) made a mini CD album of songs and parodies for her high school science students.

March 2007
ABI spent an entire week mixing one of their new albums with concert violinist Tak Kwan, who hails from Toronto, Canada.

March 2007
The Alzen Family recorded and mixed their new gospel bluegrass album. The family hails from Roberts, Wisconsin. All of their four children play instruments.

March 2007
Jim Szana and his trio are camping out here for a week while working on two new albums. This will be the ninth and tenth albums Szana has recorded with us. The trio hails from South Dakota.

February 2007
The Bradley Alzen Family from Wisconsin was in laying down tracks for a new bluegrass album. The whole family plays and sings, including the children. The family will play at the Minnesota Bluegrass Association Rally March 3, 2007

February 2007
Sister was in laying down piano and vocal tracks for a brand new album of patriotic songs and poems.

February 2007
The Apostolic Bible Institute (ABI) was in for several days laying down violin and piano tracks and drums for two new albums.

January 2007
Loe & The Nastys, an exciting and very pleasant group of jazz musicians, are doing a CD album of originals. Loe Lee's vocals are reminiscent of those of Astrud Gilberto. The group is Loe Lee (piano, vocals, and acoustic guitar), Ben Abrahamson (electric and acoustic guitar), Andrew Foreman (bass), and Ben Knurr (drums). Loe & The Nastys were previously in our studio the first part of August 2006.

January 2007
Kathy Zellers from the North Branch area recorded a solo piano album.

January 2007
Neal Topliff from Red Wing was in the studio laying down piano tracks for his new solo piano CD of originals. This mark's Neal's fifth solo piano album recorded here, in addition to three bed and breakfast compilations for Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Neal's albums are in more than 150 gift shops.

January 2007
Apostolic Bible Institute (St. Paul) was in laying down piano and violin tracks for two new CD albums. The albums will feature extraordinary violinist Tak Kwan. Tak is Concertmaster of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra of Ontario, Canada. This makes 8 CD albums ABI had recorded with us since 1995.

December 2006
Duane Jacobson and his garage rock band recorded about 26 cover songs from the 60s and 70s in about three hours' time. The session was recorded and mixed live to 2-track CD.

December 2006
Iron Sharpens Iron, a heavy metal band from the Hudson area, did a four-song demo of originals.

December 2006
Jay Asplin (Cowboy Sneakers) recorded a three-song demo of original contemporary Gospel songs. David Swanson produced the demo.

November 2006
Bruce Jandrey, pianist extraordinaire, started a solo piano album. Bruce worked at Disney World in Orlando for many years as an orchestra leader. Bruce was one of our first clients when we opened our first studio.

November 2006
Sister, three young ladies from the Shakopee area, recorded a Christmas album of favorites. They used some of the Twin Cities' best musicians: Sarah Burk on grand piano, Rich Farris on Hammond B-3, Joel Cooper on bass, and Bob Strength (son of Texas Bill Strength) on drums. One-thousand CDs with booklets and tray cards were replicated in one week's time by Noiseland Industries.

November 2006
Molly Jackson, a young pianist, started on her solo piano album of family favorites.

October 2006
Live recording at Beth El Synagogue (BEMA Presents Harinu): Sing Out With Joy, featuring guest Cantor Benjie Ellen Schiller. We have been working with Beth El Synagogue since the early 80s and have recorded many Jewish teaching albums and live recordings for them.

October 2006
Eric Radloff, a young pianist from the Hutchinson area, did a solo piano album of originals.

October 2006
Imperio Musical, a Mexican group, did a three-song demo in their native language. The instruments were drums, harp, and tuba.

September 2006
Roy Hope from Brookings, South Dakota, recorded and mixed his latest gospel album, The Sweetest Song. Roy has recorded dozens of albums and has been in full-time singing ministry for over 30 years.

September 2006
Chris Atkins from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, recorded three piano tracks to be used on a new album. Chris has done extensive work in Nashville and his albums and videos are distributed around the country.

September 2006
Nancy Lichtenstein did a piano album of light classics for family and friends. She is part of the Regency Trio that recorded a demo here in the early '80s.

August 2006
Retired minister Rev. John Aamot and his daughter Kimberly from Brazil were in the studio laying down piano and vocal tracks for a CD album of gospel music. The pianist and producer was Jeremy Erickson who has used our studio in the past for six albums, including many of the FLY albums. It was a joy to have Jeremy back in the studio producing.

August 2006
Hayley Malone, an outstanding young soprano, recorded her Christmas album, Heavenly Peace, here with piano accompaniment.

July 2006
Stephanie Heiberg, former Miss South Dakota, was in the studio doing an album of secular and gospel songs with soundtracks and our grand piano. She has a lovely voice which at times resembles that of pop and country singer Anne Murray.

July 2006
July was a busy month here at Custom Recording Studios. Most of the month was used finishing up all of the projects from spring and early summer. We finished recording and mixing 38 songs for four children's albums for Bible Study Fellowship.

July 2006
We mixed and finished the CD album for the rock and blues group Watson.

July 2006
We mixed the demo for the rockabilly group D'Liners.

June 2006
Liz Urtell is recording a CD of original piano music. Liz is only fourteen years old and a very accomplished pianist.

June 2006
Cathy Schubilske was recording on-location for three nights at the University of Minnesota's Ferguson Hall. Cathy plays violin full-time for the Minnesota Orchestra. The tracks recorded at Ferguson Hall were violin, pipe organ, harpsichord, and cello. Two nights were recorded multi-track.

June 2006
The D'Liners, a three-piece traditional rockabilly group, has been in a couple of times laying down tracks for their demo. Mark Althans, lead guitar, is one of the very best I have ever heard. They plan to do a full album in the future.

June 2006
GRPM Advertising Inc from Austin Texas has been in the studio several times recording three-minute and one-minute Spanish language announcements for WDGY Radio (630 KC AM). The voice talent is from Colombia.

May 2006
Julianne Schweitz recorded an album of voice meditations accompanied by the soothing harp of Trudy Broshears and the flute of Peggy Dorrie. Trudy's harp playing is the finest I have ever heard. The sound of her harp is very close to that of the famous harpist and composer Robert Maxwell (Ebb Tide).

May 2006
The Reverend Gene Heglund family recorded a CD of Christmas hymns and favorites with biblical narration. Margaret played piano and her daughter Siri played violin. This is the third album the Heglund family has recorded here.

May 2006
Twenty-one-year old Holly Vanden Berg (of Pipestone MN) recorded a solo piano album of beautiful full-length original compositions. Holly has been playing the piano since she was one year old.

May 2006
Contemporary blues band Watson was in laying down tracks for their new eleven-track CD. Jonathan Gotreau is the lead singer and a very fine guitarist.

May 2006
Cactus Willie (Willie Nelson impersonator Charles Casterline) and Boxcar Bob (Boxcar Willie Impersonator Bob Selby) were in the studio working on a new duet album of folk and country songs. Ray Price, country superstar, said, "Cactus Willie sounds more like Willie Nelson than the real Willie Nelson does." This is Cactus Willie's third album recorded here.

May 2006
Scott Hackler (Music Director at the Apostolic Bible Institute) was in the studio laying down piano tracks for a new CD album.

May 2006
Irv Peterson (Sammy Jensen Orchestra) was in the studio remixing 16-track analog masters that were recorded here in the early and late 90's, this time with and without vocals. The Sammy Jensen Orchestra has recorded four albums of big band music here.

April 2006
Cathy Schubilske (violinist for the Minnesota Orchestra) was in laying down violin tracks with musicians from St. Odilia Catholic Church.

April 2006
Christian heavy metal band Masque of Reverie from the Fergus Falls area recorded their entire album with vocals in five hours. Jayden Rhodes (guitarist) said that we matched their sound exactly to the popular heavy metal band As I Lay Dying. These five musicians are very talented and a pleasure to work with.

April 2006
BSF (San Antonio TX) have been working diligently on 38 songs for their four albums for school-age children. We started on this immense project January 2006. The 38 songs include piano accompaniment and also a beautiful pipe organ recorded on-location at Salem Covenant Church. The four albums will also include flute, trumpet, violin, and solo and quartet vocals.

April 2006
Alan Fine was in laying down piano and vocal tracks. Mr. Fine is currently running for Congress. It was good to have him back in the studio. He recorded with us another time four years ago.

March 2006
The Reuben Ristrom Trio was in. We continued to mix all of the tracks that were recorded in February 2006. Mr. Ristrom has enough material for two complete albums. The Trio plans to go on the road to promote their new albums.

March 2006
BSF (San Antonio TX) recorded eight pipe organ tracks to be used on 4 albums for school-age children. The pipe organ at Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton is awesome. It was tuned just the day before we recorded it.

February 2006
Teiksma, a Latvian folk group, was in laying down tracks for their new CD. The group consists of about 13 singers with accordian and various percussion instruments. This is their 3rd album recorded with us. Another Latvian group, LINI, has recorded several albums in the past.

February 2006
The John Schroeder Trio recorded a jazz demo of four songs. The trio consists of John Schroeder (electric guitar), Kevin Bychaosky (standup bass) and Eric Miller (drums). The trio are students from McNally Smith and are very fine musicians.

February 2006
Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) of San Antonio Texas was in laying down vocal tracks (quartet) and adding violin and flute to four children's albums.

January 2006
The Reuben Ristrom Trio was in recording a brand new CD. It features some of the Twin Cities' finest musicians: Jay Epstein (drums), Tom Lewis (standup bass), Dale Mendenhall (of Funky Town fame on sax and clarinet), and Reuben Ristrom (electric guitar). The album showcases the lush guitar sounds of Reuben Ristrom and the occasional vocal of his lovely wife, Diane.

January 2006
BSF (Bible Study Fellowship of San Antonio TX) was in again laying down piano and vocals for their next four children's albums. This time it will not involve 42 singers and musicians like the last eight albums, but will feature a real pipe organ recorded on location in New Brighton.

January 2006
Flamin Seamus tracked and mixed their new Irish album. It features mandolin, violin, acoustic guitar, and bodhran. The album features 15 Irish folk songs, some instrumental and some instrumental and vocal. They tracked their entire album in less than three hours with live vocals. These young teenagers are very talented.

January 2006
Elvis was sighted in the studio. Michael Doshan, an Elvis impersonator, recorded his third album of Elvis tunes. Mr. Doshan performs as Elvis in concerts and donates all proceeds to Habitat For Humanity. His website is www.elvisconcertslive.com.

December 2005
Sam Paul Anderson from Wales, Florida did two complete piano albums to sell where he plays on weekends. He recorded the entire two albums in less than three hours.

December 2005
Agnes Smuda's Irish Album, O, The Days of the Kerry Dancing. This Irish folk album features the outstanding mature voice of Agnes Smuda a cappella on some tracks, and the accompaniment of Mr. Larry David on others. 21 Songs in all.

November 2005
Agnes Smuda and two of her friends just finished a full-length CD (78 minutes) called Song Stories. This album of early childhood stories mingled with songs was a real labor of love. Available soon.

October 2005
The Twin Cities Hot Club recently released their new CD (recorded here February 2005). It is currently being played on KBEM FM. It was recorded live in the studio without any overdubbing. The CD sounds awesome. They perform the music of Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, and others. This is Robert Bell's third CD recorded here.

October 2005
The Songmasters are currently recording their newest CD album here. With more than 30 albums, Jerry and Ginger are a gospel music institution. This marks their 9th album recorded here. Two of our Neumann U-87 microphones are the same ones they sang into in 1971 (in a different studio).

October 2005
We have been working with Touchpoint Consulting for a couple of years. They bring in various professional voice talents. The voices that are recorded here are then edited and offered on their websites for sales people to use. They book our studio several times a month and are great people to work with.

October 2005
Holly Berry, flutist, has just released her new CD, Songs of Joy. This album of flute and piano is very soothing to listen to. It includes the song "My Greatest Delight" featuring the beautiful voice of contemporary Christian artist Sara Renner. Holly's flute playing is impeccable throughout the entire album. Our Yamaha Grand on the first song sounds like a 9' Bosendorfer piano.

September 2005
Piano player and composer Neal Topliff (Red Wing, MN) just recorded his new solo piano album, Waters Edge. This is Neal's 4th album recorded here. His albums sell by the thousands and are featured in over 130 gift shops around the country. His piano playing is awesome and he has one of the most beautiful websites around (see Neal's comments in Customer Comments).

Summer and Fall 2005
Piano artist and composer Thor Polson has just fnished recording mixing his new album, Potion of Solitude, with acoustic bassist Eric Solberg. The album contains jazzy piano compositions with awesome bass playing. Some of the tracks are solo piano and some are solo bass. When Eric is not playing with Thor he is on the road as bass player for Lori Line. This is Thor's 5th album recorded here.

August 2005
Russ Peterson and cousin Linda Peterson recorded and finished a beautiful jazz album of standards and originals. Linda's sultry vocals and piano playing are top-notch. Russ's sax and horns are in a class by themselves. This makes the 10th CD album Russ has recorded here.

July and August 2005
Classically trained Janet Walters recorded her first Christmas piano album, Music of The Season, here. Janet's touch on the piano and her ability to seamlessly change songs in the middle is unreal. She is one of the finest piano players to grace our Yamaha's keys.

Summer 2005
Jazz piano and Hammond B-3 player Gary Peterson recorded an album's worth of 10 songs featuring our Hammond B-3 organ. Gary said he checked out all of the B-3s in the Twin Cities and ours was the best-sounding. Gordy Knutson (drums) and Clay Moore (electric guitar) also played on the tracks.

Summer 2005
Dr. Kou Vang recorded a 9-song demo here of native Hmong music that he has written. Dr. Vang is a chiropractor during the day and a musician and guitar player. His songs recorded here in the studio were produced by David Swanson.

June 2005
Young singer-songwriter Christine Catherine did a 9-song demo. The demo featured country and blues sound tracks and live piano. The vocal tracks were produced by David Swanson. Christine is still in high school and has a very great future. She recorded a CD album in Nashville when she was only 15 years old.

Spring and Summer 2005
Rochford Jazz Trio recorded their 4th (jazz) and 5th (Christmas) albums here. The trio hails from South Dakota. Dr. Jim Szana (dentist) says our Yamaha Grand is the best-sounding piano he has ever played. This marks 7 albums that Dr. Szana has done with us.

Spring 2005
Just finished recording and mixing 69 songs for Bible Study Fellowship (San Antonio, Texas). This was an immense undertaking that took over one year and involved over 42 musicians and singers. Many of the songs used a full orchestra with piano and vocals. The end result was 69 songs and 69 instrumental tracks. These 138 tracks were then used for 8 children's albums distributed around the world. Many thanks to Addy Sarkela (executive producer) and the many professional musicians from Northwestern College.

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