Some time in 1996, I began hauling damp boxes covered in rat droppings out of a small house on a wooded hill above Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

The house belonged to my friend and occasional boss Rick D’agostino. The idea, which seemed far off at the time, was to turn the property into our own private music studio. This was somewhat before the time when you could spend $1000 and have the equivalent on your laptop at home!

It took about 18 months, a lot of swearing, and almost giving up a few times, but we pulled it off. The four core members of the team that completed the work, and thus had stake in the studio, were myself, Rick, and our friends Jimi Faiella and Carl Jagerski.

From its completion in 1997 until we closed shop in 2001, the studio, affectionately named Harmony Hut, served as a sanctuary, a source of creative inspiration, and a place to relax with friends after a long day.

Jimi produced a full-length album of traditional Italian-American music, and I produced a full length album (for posterity’s sake) of my grandmother singing her favorite gospel songs. Numerous other songs and recordings also came out of this time, including partial recordings of a very talented artist named Maria Staving that eventually turned into a fully produced full-length album.

I’m sad to say that after we all drifted apart around 2001, the studio fell into disrepair, sprung leaks in the ceiling, and a few years ago, collapsed dramatically into a pile of rubble:

Here’s the only video recording I’m aware of that exists of Harmony Hut in its heyday:

It really was a pretty magical place, and with its demise, the songs and the memories are all that’s left. To celebrate the good times and provide a retrospective, I’ll be posting some of the work here in the future.