"To some, it might seem unlikely — that a sound technician with years of experience in some of New York City and Orlando's top music clubs would find himself opening a studio in Lexington, Ky. But to Wil Freebody, owner of Lexington's ironically titled Long Island Recording Studios (LIRS), it was the natural sequence of events in his life, and things couldn't have turned out much better. While his New York state of mind keeps the studio equipped with the most cutting-edge equipment and technology (they recently upgraded to ProTools HD2), a major goal of his business remains to support homegrown music.
Though the interior of LIRS boasts state-of-the art studio space, the exterior of the inconspicuous, plain-faced building on Palumbo Drive doesn't at all allude to the volume of production that occurs inside. The biggest recording facility in the state at 10,000 square feet, after 15 years, LIRS remains discreet, but busier than ever.
With two studios and three record labels, Long Island obviously focuses on the art of recording first and foremost, but that's not the only matter of business that occurs at 2566 Palumbo Drive. LIRS is also home to Skyoneer Publishing, Mia Rae Photography, and Lexington School for Recording Arts. Additionally, the company finds itself called upon to do commissioned work that it doesn't necessarily promote. Recently, they've recorded a voiceover for a Turner-affiliated cartoon (that being all the information Freebody is disposed to divulge at the time). LIRS has also been known to help recent graduates of the recording school set up their own studios.
With a small staff of 11 people, eight being full time, they stay plenty busy with recording and other projects. "We're a very small indie label, that has fortunately, because of my ties in the music industry, got some major stars that are connected to us," said Freebody. "We're the only record label in Kentucky that's got Keith Richards on a cut, as well as Ron Wood, as well as Mack Rice, as well as Felix Cavalier."
A division of LIRS, the Lexington School for Recording Arts is the only licensed audio engineering school in Kentucky. They take only a handful of students at a time, training them thoroughly in setup, tracking, mixing, and mastering, through live recording sessions.
One of Freebody's newest projects doesn't have the words "Long Island" attached to it at all. ME Music Entertainment, Lexington's new music magazine, is published by Skyoneer Publishing, a division of Freebody's son's company, Skyoneer, Inc.
"Our goal is to help create and enhance the music scene. We're helping all the retailers, we're helping the individual bands, we're helping anybody that wants to be involved in music, by not taking ads," said Freebody.
For a publication — let alone a free publication — to not take advertisements is almost unheard of, but to Freebody, it's a way to drive home the mission of the magazine.
"My goal is to be like Consumer Reports, to be a spokesperson for the music industry. We promote homegrown music. Look at the Web for information, then go to your local music store."
All of the writers for ME are also musicians, many being employees or affiliates of LIRS. The magazine covers local and regional news in country music, rock, Christian, alternative, rap, metal and everything in between. Currently, they distribute in 20 counties, and Freebody's goal is to eventually cover everything east of Lexington.
With over 40 years of experience in the music industry, Freebody acknowledges that it's an industry whose face is changing. But even with the escalation of soft distribution — i.e., online downloads, purchasing singles over the Internet rather than buying entire albums — Freebody is confident that his line of business is safe, at least for a while.
"No matter how many downloads you have, software is a little bit like sports. Kids like playing Nintendo, but nothing excites them more than the swish of the ball going through the net without hitting the rim, or the crack of a bat when you hit it solid and it goes over the fence," he said. "The body of work is real important, because I think that people put a lot into it. I've been making albums for 30 years for people, and the energy flow when they pick this song, what order they put them in on the CD — it's a real big deal to the band. And I don't think the artists want it to disappear."
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