Our Work
Rock
Folk/Americana
Classical - Carnatic - World
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Production Journal
Uncommon Crossroads
Uncommon Crossroads is a folk rock band out of Tucson led by the incredibly talented songwriter and vocalist Maree Montagnini. They began playing music in 2022 and over the years have included a diverse range of musicians. I began playing with them in December of 2023 alongside Maree and the skilled and dynamic Michael Tarquin on drums.
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When the band decided to record some songs in my studio, I was incredibly excited. After a lot of practicing and preparation, we all got into the studio for several tracking sessions.
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For each song, the process was pretty similar. We started with Michael bringing his drums to the studio to lay down the rhythms for a couple songs. Wrapping the sound treatment wall around the drums really helped make them clear and punchy for a good heavy and up front tone. Next I laid down the bass and Maree laid down the rhythm guitar, followed by me on lead guitar and rounding it off with Maree's vocals. We thought some of the songs could use some harmonies and backing vocals, so that was the final step in tracking.
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So far we have released two songs, "Jeremiah" - a dark country western murder ballad, and "Muddy River" - a rootsy delta blues-meets country tune, with some more on the way.
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Maree Montagnini
Vocals, Guitar
Michael Tarquin
Drums
Bryan Russell-Lowe
Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Production
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The Steel Sahuaros at The Tucson Folk Festival
Until recently, I played guitar for a folk/country band out of Tucson called The Steel Sahuaros. In 2020, we were invited to play the Tucson Folk Fest, but as everyone knows, plans changed a lot that year. So there was no festival. But a year later, with the world still dealing with a global pandemic, a new format was adopted for the Tucson Folk Fest that involved - among other safety measures - an option to submit a performance video.
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So the band loaded everything into my backyard for some recording and social distancing and we made this video. Our vocalist, Andrea, took charge of the videography and I handled the recording with plenty of help from our bassist Greg Gillilan (Owner and Operator of Hat Trick Audio). And even battling the dirt and the dust and the looming darkness of night and the chickens roaming around and my dog forcing herself into a cameo appearance, we got a successful showcase to submit to the 2021 Tucson Folk Fest.
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Andrea Lithgow
Vocals, Videography
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Daniel Lithgow
Acoustic Guitar
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Bryan Russell-Lowe
Lead Guitar, Recording, Mixing, Mastering
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Greg Gillilian
Bass, Recording
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Harrison Schmitt
Drums
Hues of Fall
I recently had the good fortune of finding an incredibly talented musical duo performing at the Westcott Street Cultural Fair (where I interviewed them as well; hear that below). They were called Beats and Non-Violins and, fittingly, were composed of a violinist and percussionist. We soon ended up in the studio where I recorded several pieces of theirs. This is just one of their compositions. They wanted a bit more texture to the piece, so they requested that I add some of my own instrumentation.
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Rajesh Iyer
Violin, Concept, Arrangement, Editing
Raghuveer Chandrashekhar
Drum Kit, Mridangam, Djembe, Cajon
Bryan Russell-Lowe
Production, Mixing, Bass, Keys
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Recorded at Belfer Audio Lab Syracuse, NY
What Happened Here
One of the strangest requests I've gotten while working on a project was to help create a raucus, avant garde jazz piece for a film project. Also, the main instrument is a turkey baster trumpet! Director Jane Karkover recruited some great local jazz musicians to supply the piano, trumpet, and drums and I filled in the rest by playing some bass and hitting a big metal container with kitchen utensils. The final result added some nice quirky ambience to an odd yet beautiful film about two women's journey of self discovery amidst the eclectic installations of a modern art museum.
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Director
Jane Bella Karkover
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Cinematography and Video Editing
Gianni Renna
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Audio Production and Editing
Bryan Russell-Lowe
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Trumpet
Liam Hines
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Drums
Dave Hanlon
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Piano
Ed Vivenzio
"Unsolved Chicago" Theme
When I was hired to write and produce the theme music to a podcast about unsolved murders in Chicago with a nostalgic 80's vibe à la Stranger Things, my mind was full of ideas. Narrowing down the scope of a project like this can be hard, so I sent the client three drafts of different possibilities for theme music and she chose this one to move forward with. I fleshed it out with some elements of film noir along with a bit of Psycho inspired string stabs and there you have it - the theme to "Unsolved Chicago" coming soon to a podcast platform near you.
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Music produced, mixed, and mastered at Brick & Porter Studio
You Know You Know
Raghuveer Chandrashekhar and Rajesh Iyer of the carnatic violin and percussion duo Beats and Non Violins came to the studio with a guitarist friend of theirs named Patrick Henkels. They all wanted to jam on "You Know You Know" from the Mahavishnu Orchestra. We rolled the tape (so to speak) and Raghu's mridangam kept the pace as Patrick and Rajesh traded some truly inspired improvised lines. This would come to serve as the basis for what would become our final blissed-out rendition. I added some bass and some distorted guitar and Raghuveer got behind the drumset as we piled on the layers. Finally, I called on a great pianist friend to add some organ and electric piano colors to the piece. And voila! Light up the patchouli and prepare for the dulcet carnatic fusion of "You Know You Know."
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Rajesh Iyer
Violin
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Raghuveer Chandrashekhar
Drum Kit, Mridangam
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Patrick Henkels
Lead Guitar
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Ryan McKeown
Keys
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Bryan Russell-Lowe
Bass, Guitar, Production
Stronger Than That
I met Bruce Helman at a local open mic. I was the bassist for the house band, which meant I got to play bass for a bunch of local musicians, and Bruce was a blast to play with. He played with a lot of passion and was a wonderful songwriter. We began playing music together more regularly and I recorded several songs of his songs from my studio. Bruce loved to collaborate and had been working for awhile writing music with a lyricist friend of his - Roy Eisenstein. This song is the result of his collaborative spirit, as he brought in a fantastic Tucson guitarist named Eddie Lopez to play lead on the song and invited me to sing on it.
I recorded most of the music here at my studio with Bruce on backing vocals and me playing bass, guitar, keys, and drums. Then we had Eddie send us along a searing lead guitar track that he recorded from his home. After putting it all together, we sent it along to another collaborator named Tim Starnes to mix and master. Being part of a talented team of people is always fun. You end up making music that no one person could have come up with alone.
Lyrics
Roy Eisenstein
Music
Bruce Helman and Bryan Russell-Lowe
Lead Vocals
Bryan Russell-Lowe
Lead Guitar
Eddie Lopez
Backing Vocals
Bruce Helman
Mixing and Mastering Engineer
Tim Starnes
Recorded by Bryan Russell-Lowe at Brick & Porter Studio
Presented by EyeZen Media Productions
Horror Music
There's a record company in Syracuse that creates vinyl albums of classical horror literature written by the likes of H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens, read by voice-over professionals, and scored by renowned composers. It is called Cadabra Records and it is amazing. I know this because I did a radio segment with my radio production classmate Matt Mitchell about the company.
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The radio piece needed some of its own backing music, so I went into the studio with the incredible talents of Amanda Zohar on Flute and Kaitlyn DelleDonne on Organ, and we ran the tape (or Pro Tools, more accurately) for three hours while we improvised on a bunch of creepy musical ideas. After it was over, the radio piece had its backing tracks.
I later figured I would try to turn all the various music beds we created into one cohesive audio collage as a separate endeavor. Here is the final product, using only sounds we recorded in that three hour session (although some sounds are edited beyond recognition).
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Atrophy
Just because you are on opposite sides of the country doesn't mean you can't make music together!
I met Matt Cuddy in Boston through a Craigslist ad. He was in a band called Ghost of Vigoda and they were looking for a guitarist. We hit it off, formed a new band, played a bunch of funky psychedelic rock music together, then eventually parted ways. A story as old as time. Since then he has become the guitarist for an amazing rock band out of Connecticut called The Mushroom Cloud.
But after life took us to different sides of the country, we still wanted to play music together. So he sent along some tracks of original music that he recorded from his home studio for me to mix and add a some other instruments to. "Atrophy" is one of the songs that came from that collaboration. I added some backing vocals, a second acoustic, and some slide guitar, and Matt had a friend send in a bass track. And just like that, three people created a song without ever being in the same place.
Matt Cuddy
Lyrics, music, lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Bryan Russell-Lowe
Vocals, acoustic and slide guitar, mixing
Ryan Berry
Bass
Cadabra Records Segment
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Jonathan Dennison of Syracuse, NY has a deep love of classic horror literature - so much so that he created a record company that is solely devoted to producing spoken word versions of classic horror stories set to music. And not only that, but these recordings are available only on vinyl so as to ensure that listeners are providing their utmost attention to the experience. The company is called Cadabra Records and it has become a staple for hardcore horror fans who are looking for a truly unique listening experience.
Hear more about the Syracuse gem in this radio segment where hosts Matt Mitchell and I interview the man behind this fascinating endeavor and experience the haunting power of good old fashioned tales of the macabre for ourselves.
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Written, produced, and edited by
Matt Mitchell and Bryan Russell-Lowe
with original music by
Bryan Russell-Lowe, Kaitlyn DelleDonne, and Amanda Zohar
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