Jeff Buckley International Newsletter MYSTERY WHITE BOY

The friends and family of Jeff Buckley included some

history of Jeff’s relationship with the Threshold Recording Studios facilities in the latest JBIN (Jeff Buckley International Newsletter). Jeff and his band rehearsed here at our facility on 41st for many years, right up until his trip to Memphis where we lost his physical presence on this earth.

I’ve never really gone too far into the subject in the written history of our studio, missing him more as a fellow musician and friend -and choosing instead to embrace all the new related friends we have made over the years instead.

Jeff, was Jeff… Intensely unique and all so rare…

One of the occasional pleasures i have is relating the history to artists that come in to the studio that cite Jeff as an inspiration in their musical development. Having rehearsed across the hall from him for all those years I have a couple of stories i like to share:)- and it is always a great moment to connect with artists on that level.

What I would share at the moment is that the control room at Threshold was partially tuned to Jeff’s music during the design and construction by Aj, myself and Steve Koontz– and the weekend Threshold Studios partners AJ and I closed the doors to let the paint and floors dry before our grand opening, we spun Jeff’s music on loop for the 4 days we spent at the beach dreaming what the studio would eventually become. The ‘MUSIC AINT NO PRODUCT’ writing on the wall had to be covered when we built the floated control room, and no one can say for sure who was the author, but it was one of those things we knew was a part of Jeff’s time in the space, and couldn’t let it go without a picture. I think this is the first time i have published it. The artwork on the inside of the main studio door also is from Jeff’s era.

Jeff’s legacy continues at our studio through this day, some of them secrets:) including our ongoing mentor, facility and studio relationship with Road Recovery, founded by former Jeff Buckley manager and road manager Jack Bookbinder and Gene Bowen. RR does such great work, and having been conceived while Jeff was on this plain, we know he would have approved:) I also share a special relationship with Jeff’s mom, my close friend and Road Recovery Co- Board Member Mary Guibert. Love you Mary:)

In our daily production and recording projects we also stay in touch and work with many of the musicians that played with Jeff- including Parker Kindred mentioned in the JBIN article. (Parker makes cymbals, and me, cry when he plays…) Special thanks to Jay Matsueda for penning the piece included in the newsletter. All special players and wonderful people. We are humbled to be able to share a small part of the legacy, even more humbled that it continues to translate into the vibe of the studio, staff and productions- and encourage everyone to stay in touch with Jeff’s music through his authorized website JeffBuckley.com. Keep an eye out for the authorized Jeff Buckley biopic movie being developed by Mary. Don’t be confused by imitators!

Rock on,

James Walsh