Bear Creek Studio is a residential

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

located in a

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

on a 10 acre farm in

Woodinville, Washington Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 13,069 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is east of Bothell. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, a win ...

. A number of notable artists have recorded at the studio since its establishment in 1977, including:

Brandi Carlile Brandi Marie Carlile (born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Her music spans different genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. Throughout her career, she has received eleven Gramm ...

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

the Lumineers The Lumineers are an American alternative folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The founding members are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion, piano). Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing to ...

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock (musician), Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and ba ...

L.A. Edwards L.A. Edwards is a musical group founded in California in 2015. It is named eponymously for its songwriter and vocalist Luke Edwards. History Luke Andrew Edwards is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and began his career as a solo artist whe ...

Geoff Tate Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate, January 14, 1959; he later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey) (Pp. 11, 48). is an American singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, who had commercial ...

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, was a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassis ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

and

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

History

Musician Joe Hadlock and his wife Manny began their professional music careers producing commercial jingles and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

at Sea-West Studios in Seattle, where they became business partners. When the Hadlocks learned in 1977 that Sea-West would soon be booked for months by

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

to record their next album, Joe and Manny decided to build their own recording studio to maintain their productivity. They converted what was originally a 19th century dairy barn on their 10 acre farm in Woodinville, Washington into a state-of-the-art recording studio, while retaining the rural setting. Working with architect Doug Thompson, a new post and beam structure was created on the footprint of the old 1750 square foot barn. The new studio was outfitted with a Quad-Eight

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

from the

Village Recorder The Village (also known as Village Recorders, or the Village Recorder) is a recording studio located at 1616 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles, California. History The building was built by the Freemasons in 1922 and was originally a Masonic t ...

, which was replaced in the early 1980s by a Trident TSM console purchased from

Cherokee Studios Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band the Robbs. Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan, David Bowie, Journey, Toto, Michael J ...

. While the recording studio was still used for commercials from time to time, the Hadlocks kept those two sides of their business separated, as they felt the music industry considered it "not hip" to be producing jingles. While not initially a residential recording studio, by the late 1980s Bear Creek had expanded to include residential accommodations, and in 1991

spent six weeks at the studio during the recording of ''

Badmotorfinger ''Badmotorfinger'' is the third studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on October 8, 1991, through A&M Records. Soundgarden began the recording sessions for the album with new bassist Ben Shepherd in the spring of 1991. The a ...

''. In the mid-nineties, a new tracking room was constructed which doubled the size of the studio. In 2013, Bear Creek added an additional treehouse-based recording studio, which was featured on the February 21, 2014 episode of ''

Treehouse Masters ''Treehouse Masters'' is an American reality television series that aired on Animal Planet and starred Pete Nelson, a master treehouse builder and owner of Nelson Treehouse and Supply. Each episode, Nelson and his team design and build custom tre ...

'', which featured

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway-Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green or simply Cee-Lo), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial pr ...

. The 300 square foot Pro Tools studio, which is 18 feet above the ground in a

western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific re ...

, was co-designed by the show's host Pete Nelson and original studio co-founder Joe Hadlock. It includes two beds, a balcony, and a loft. Bear Creek is known for its "rural farmhouse" location. James Shaw of

Metric Metric or metrical may refer to: Measuring * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics ...

called it "the oldest family owned studio in America, and is a really special place."

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell ( Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the primary lyricist for the rock music, rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a ...

said: "It was such a pleasant place, we didn't want to leave."

Discography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1977 establishments in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in King County, Washington Recording studios in Washington (state)