Kelly Wicks walked into a room at Grounds For Thought and turned the music volume up throughout the shop.
“People are surprised that this was recorded in a coffee shop because the sound is live and rich, said Wicks, co-owner of Grounds For Thought. “The sound is shocking.”
The music being played is from a live-recorded version of Texas Blues singer/songwriter Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones’ song “I Need Time,” which was recorded and produced during a live session the artist performed at Grounds For Thought.
The shop has hosted artists from throughout the world once a month to perform live for more than 15 years. It has started to record and produce artists during their live sets once a year since 2010, with Jones being the latest live album to have been recorded.
Wicks said when the recording is finished being produced, the sound is clear because of the environment for each show.
“We’ve got 200 people standing here to absorb the sound and bookshelves where the sound can go into,” Wicks said. “It’s more just about balance and tone. The goal is to try and capture the essence of a live recording.”
Jones is from Texas and performed for the live recording at the end of a tour and said “We don’t typically play at coffee shops.”
“It was intimate and a great audience and I just couldn’t have asked for anything better and I liked it,” Jones said. “It was us live and it sounds great.”
Sound engineer Alex Hann has known Wicks from working with the Black Swamp Arts Festival. He has been working with the sound during the live shows at Grounds For Thought for 10 years.
“It’s a nice venue and the audience is always appreciative,” Hann said. “It’s also a nice place to record because the audience is so great.”
Wicks said Bowling Green is fortunate enough to make many different types of artists on tour be able to stop in town on their way to another venue in a bigger city such as Detroit, Cleveland and Dayton.
“We don’t book seven nights a week and for people to come to these shows, they know once a month they’re going to see a really good live act,” Wicks said. “People know that they can count on the show being good. That’s what helps keep good crowds coming back month after month.”
