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ListenUp Audiobooks

Above: Brendan McGeehan and Alex Barrett record the audiobook Deck the Hallways. 

ListenUp Audiobooks chose Forge Recording to record two audiobooks for the New York Times best-selling Fixer-Upper Mystery series. ListenUp Audiobooks is an award-winning spoken word production company and audiobook publisher with hundreds of published titles.

Alex Barrett narrated author Kate Carlisle’s fourth and fifth novels in the Fixer-Upper Mystery series—Deck the Hallways and Eaves of Destruction—in The Academy Studio with audio engineers Brendan McGeehan and Robbie Simmons. The series follows contractor Shannon Hammer who also solves murder mysteries in her coastal California town. You can purchase the highly-rated Deck the Hallways audiobook here, and Eaves of Destruction here.

Alex Barrett, also known by the pseudonym Angela Starling, has recorded numerous audiobooks. “Alex is very talented, very professional and very easy and fun to work with. Her experience shows in both her reading and her interaction with me as the engineer,” says Simmons.  Click here to find other audiobooks narrated by Barrett.

Forge Recording’s Academy studio is well-suited for voiceovers. The recording booth is comfortable and acoustically tuned for a clean, dry, spoken-word sound; it also allows for a TV hook up which eliminates distracting page-turning noises, and makes a perfect set-up for re-recorded dialogue (known as ADR) for video. Simmons recorded Victoria Laurie’s audiobook A Grave Prediction with Elizabeth Michaels here in 2016, and wrestling aficionado Bill Apter recorded the audiobook for his memoir Is Wrestling Fixed? in the Academy Studio.

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Lee J. Harold Releases “Memory Lane”

Lee J. Harold released Memory Lane, a 5-song EP of jazz standards. The tracks were arranged by Jim Holton and recorded, mixed and mastered by Forge Recording Lead Engineer, Ron DiSilvestro. Forge Recording also designed and manufactured the CDs which are available on CDBaby.

Memory Lane is, well, a trip down Memory Lane with familiar songs like Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Favorite Things, with delightlful and original twists and turns. A little less familiar are Oscar Brown, Jr.’s Memory Lane, Eddie Jefferson’s and James Moody’s Moody’s Mood for Love and Dizzy Gillespie’s Night in Tunisia.

Performing on the tracks are Jim Holton on keyboards and cello, Nimrod Speaks on bass, Anwar M. Marshall on drums, Josh Robinson on percussion, Diane Monroe on violin, Alberta Douglas and Ramona Douglas on strings, and Lee J. Harold and Rhenda Fearrington on vocals.

Here is a video on the making of Memory Lane, produced by Brendan McGeehan. We hope you enjoy it.

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In Memory of Jerry Ross

Trivia Question:

Which Philadelphia native discovered Kenny Gamble, produced I’m Your Venus (The Shocking Blue) and Sunny (Bobby Hebb), co-wrote I’m Gonna Make You Love Me (Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations), and was an announcer for American Bandstand?

Answer: Jerry Ross

Jerry Ross (1933-2017) was a true Philadelphia music pioneer. He did the news, sports, morning wake-up shows and DJ’d for Armed Forces Radio; attended Temple University’s communications program; DJ’d on WFIL-TV with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Music; DJ’d for WFIL radio; and was the announcer for Dick Clark’s American Bandstand—the first national TV show totally dedicated to playing pop music.  He then founded Heritage Records and signed Kenny (Gamble) and Tommy (Bell) to his label. The rest, as they say, is history. Read the interview in Spectropop.

Forge Recording has had the privilege of manufacturing CDs for Jerry’s company, and will miss him deeply. We look forward to working with Jerry’s daughter, Cheri, as she continues his legacy. Titles include: The Best of the Sapphires, The Best of Bill Deal & the Rhondels, The Cherry People Suddenly, and The Mob.

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Jamie Knight “Lift Him Up”

Gospel and R&B singer Minister Jamie Knight recently released her third album Lift Me Up which was recorded, mixed and manufactured at Forge Recording.

The album was produced by Seth “Digital Crates” Barmash and executive produced by Karl “Dice Raw” Jenkins (The Roots, Henry Box Brown). Knight is signed to RawLife Records, an independent label based at Forge Recording and owned by Jenkins.

Knight returned to Forge Recording to throw her CD release party. Check out some photos from the event below.

You can purchase Lift Him Up on iTunes. Listen below to one of the album’s singles, “I Need You.”

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Gina Zo “Free Your Soul”

Gina Zo is releasing her second album with Raw Life Records. Free Your Soul was recorded and produced at Forge Recording by Seth “Digital Crates” Barmash and executive produced by Karl “Dice Raw” Jenkins and Christopher Wood.

Gina was selected by Blake Shelton on The Voice in 2016. When not performing she spends time collaborating in the studio with producer Digital Crates.

 

Working with Digital Crates has always been incredible for me. He understands how I record and it is easy to play off him as he plays off me in a session. He is that person I can finish his sentence to as he can do the same for me.– Gina Zo

Gina held her CD release party in Studio A at Forge Recording and is performing on Tuesday, August 1st at Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia.

 

I really enjoyed getting to utilize Forge to allow my visions come true. The grand piano that is here holds a lot of my secrets so to speak because I have gotten to write a few of my songs using it. This album holds a lot of truth to it. It is very much a fun and loving album but shows the side of me I do not think people always get to see because I am so driven and focused. It shows my passion for life and the arts and how love plays into all of these things. — Gina Zo

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“Do Better” at Forge Recording

The title track from Dejure Hest’s album Do Better has been released as both a single and a video. The song I Can Do Better was recorded and mixed at Forge Recording by Dejure Hest and Mike Harmon, and is performed by Philadelphia artist Troi Lauren.

The Album Do Better is a collection of songs that inspire us to live a purposeful life with determination to succeed. The single I Can Do Better reflects one person’s journey to overcome adversity.

Dejure Hest is a resident producer at Forge Recording. He can be reached at dejurephil@gmail.com.

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