Bigtone Records offers vintage studio opportunities for students

Jon Atkinson always listened to old records as a kid, and as a rhythm and blues singer and musician himself, the decision to open his own recording studio came naturally.

“I was always into all kinds of roots music growing up, so I always had that music in my ear and in my head,” Atkinson said. “So, recording – it is just a part of the music; just the other side of the artist. Being an artist myself, it was an easy thing to have a studio because you can relate to the musicians, and you speak the same language as them; and you know you’re just all kind of in it for the same reason.”

Atkinson’s studio, Bigtone Records in Bristol, Virginia, is different from most as they use completely vintage equipment from the late 1930s through the late 1950s. Many studios use older gear such as vintage pre-amplifiers or microphones, but most still use a digital recording set-up. Atkinson said only a few studios in the U.S. and Europe are full analog studios, and Bigtone Records is one of them.

Beginning to tinker around with old guitars, amps and electronics when he was about 16 years old, Atkinson always had an eye for finding and working with old equipment. When he started wanting to record his own records, he could never find studios that produced the old school sound he always heard on the records – thus sparking the desire to open his own studio.

Atkinson originally opened Bigtone Records as a blues label and studio in 2012 in the traditional blues scene in California. In 2018, his family left California to take care of his grandmother in Abingdon, Virginia, bringing the studio with them. Atkinson’s grandmother passed away about six months later, which initiated the studio’s move to Bristol in 2019 – a location they have been in for the past nine to 10 months.

The studio now records all types of roots music, which includes jug band, blues, ragtime, jazz, country, hillbilly, old-time, bluegrass and folk music.

The two recording consoles they use were originally made by Radio Corporation of America for broadcast, television, news and radio in the early to mid-1900s. Their Ampex tape machines from the 1950s are the same type of tape machines used to record artists like Jimmie Rodgers, Foggy Mountain Boys, Ray Charles and Muddy Waters. Other equipment includes audio gear from the 1940s like compressors and limiters, as well as mixers, amplifiers and microphones.

When recording, an artist can choose whether they want to download their audio digitally, get it on a CD or on a vinyl record. As the tape is being recorded it automatically dumps audio from the playback head to the computer, so a digital file is produced. This allows Atkinson to play music back for bands instantly.

Atkinson said they also do projects in which the audio never touches a computer. These full analog projects go straight from tape to a vinyl record using Scotch recording tape from the 1950s and 1960s.

Along with in-studio recordings, Bigtone also takes equipment to other locations to do on-site, live tape recordings of music festivals such as the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival and Oldtone Music Festival in New York. In October, they recorded the Johnson City Sessions live to tape.

The studio has recorded blues artists such as Henry Gray and James Harman, as well as Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds – who Atkinson occasionally plays and tours with in a separate band. They have also recorded for local artists such as Bill and the Belles, Martha Spencer, the ETSU recording program, ETSU Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country Music Studies Lecturer Kalia Yeagle and other ETSU bands.

ETSU Senior and Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country Music major Lincoln Hensley has recorded with Bigtone Records three times. Having recorded at 10 to 15 other studios in places like Nashville and on-campus at ETSU, Hensley said he has decided he will not record anywhere else but Bigtone from now on if he can help it.

“Here it’s great because everyone records in the same room,” Hensley said. “It’s all live. No headphones. Everyone’s looking at each other and playing together. It’s not like tracks are built like they are in Nashville and stuff now, and at the end of the day, if you get your finished product, it sounds just like those old records.”

For people like Hensley who love roots music, the sound of those old records is an important part of the music, Atkinson said. The old-school style of recording at Bigtone Records makes Hensley feel a different way than he feels when listening to modern music. He said it sounds like he is actually there, standing between all the instruments; whereas modern music sounds more robotic.

“It’s just the way that the music makes you feel,” Atkinson said. “And that’s really what it’s all about – is keeping that music alive, and the heritage alive. It’s just part of it.”

Bigtone Records currently offers discounts to all ETSU students, including ETSU Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies students, alumni and friends. This discount includes an extended play recording, which is about four to six songs for $250, and a full album recording, which is about eight to 12 songs for $500.

As a young musician, Hensley finds this type of recording experience invaluable.

“The first time you go into the studio is a huge learning experience,” Hensley said. “You learn a lot about just the recording technique, but also about yourself; about your playing, because it’s a lot different than playing in a band on stage or playing at home by yourself.”

Atkinson said he wants to give students a possibility to get recording experience in a “cool, unique way,” without having to spend too much money. For this reason, he also accepts payments and trades from students.

“I don’t own a studio to get rich or show off,” Atkinson said. “It’s all just about the music and loving the music, and I want to share that with everybody that I can.”

For more information about Bigtone Records recording sessions, visit https://www.facebook.com/Bigtonerecordsanalog/ or call 423-366-1779.