On Decemeber 26th, Kevin Vance, long time Bay Area DJ (his program, A Patchwork Quilt, airs Saturdays on 91.7 fm KALW San Francisco), played his choices for best CDs by local folks from the decade 2000-2009 . He included two CDs recorded by Wildplum, Caren Armstrong's Everything and Up & Down by the Palm Wine Boys. Kevin's list included 20 CDs from artists such as Joan Baez, Michael Franti, Houston Jones, and Robin Flower & Libby McLaren. You can find the complete list at www.nodepression.com/profile/KevinVance.
There were a lot of really great CDs released by Bay Area artists this past decade. We at Wildplum are very proud that Kevin selected two from our little group to be among his "best of the decade". Congratulations to Caren and Palm Wine Boys. And a very big thank you to Kevin Vance!

On December 17 Wildplum Remote recorded audio for the Comedy Central video shoot of comedian Bill Burr at the Fillmore in San Fransisco. The special, to be called Let It Go, will air later in 2010. Great fun with a very funny guy.

Jen Spool

The recording studio at Wildplum Recordings is a music production studio located in Oakland, CA (San Fransisco Bay Area). The studio focuses on acoustic music in its many forms: from folk, folk rock, roots, alt. country, blues, and pop, through classical ensembles and solo instrumental. We also do mastering, audio editing and sonic restoration work, as well as voice-overs and narration. Yes, it's a specialist facility- but you wouldn't take your vintage Mustang to a Chevy shop would you?

At Wildplum we recognize that in any recording project, it is the performance that is paramount. Thus our first priority is you, the musician. We offer highly personalized service and a relaxed, intimate, comfortable atmosphere, together with finest in digital and analog equipment - all aimed at helping you reach your creative peak.

Philosophy:
Wildplum is not your typical commercial studio. There is only one engineer here, me (Paul Tumolo), and I produce or co-produce about half of the projects I record. In a very real sense, artists record here because of me. Whatever the layout, gear, or recording media, a studio is only as good as the recordist behind the board.

Recording is an art form based on science. It can't be done paint-by-numbers or by formula. Sure you have to have a good grounding in the technical things, but you absolutely must be in touch with the soul of the music. Music is about conveying emotion. A great recording is one that moves people. To me, a successful project is one which accomplishes three things. It maintains artistic integrity, it fulfills the artist's vision, and people responded to it emotionally. I am not here to put my imprint on your music. I'm here to assist you to realize your vision on record; to help you make a record you can be proud of.

My approach is two fold: make everyone comfortable when recording and capture the best possible sounds. Comfort trumps any technical considerations. Performance is king and musicians need to be comfortable in order to perform at their peak of creativity. They also have to have confidence and trust in the recordist, they need to know that their performance will be captured with integrity.

Comfort. Yes, I know how to get mic pres going and how to plug everything in- but that's not nearly enough. The mood you set in the studio and how you ...