The owner & operator of Song City Studios is Dave Demay, who has many years of experience in the Studio
& Recording Business. If you don't know Dave's background in the music business, please read on...
All in the Family
Dave's Family has a long history steeped in the heart of the Nashville music community. His mother Shirley Webb, his aunt June Webb, and uncle Buddy Killen were all members of the Grand Ole Opry. Dave's mother Shirley was his greatest inspiration. She was his vocal coach from a very young age, and encouraged Dave & his brother Dan to be songwriters early in their lives. Shirley and her sister June Webb were known as the "Harmony Sweethearts" at one point in their Opry career. Sadly Dave's mother Shirley passed away December 30th 2009 after her courageous fight with cance. To the right are some clips for you to enjoy. One is of Shirley Webb on a show in 1958 called " Country Style U.S.A." hosted by Justin Tubb, Earnest Tubbs' son. She is performing a song called "Teardrops in My Heart". Next to that, is a clip of Dave's aunt June Webb being introduced by Ray Price on his television show as she performs a song called "Looking Glass" during the early 50's. June married Buddy Killen in the early stages of their careers and gave birth to their beautiful daughters Robin and Linda Killen. Buddy Killen was playing upright bass for Hank Williams Sr. around that time and toured with Shirley & June, along with the rest of the Opry cast. As you will see immediately in these videos alone, Dave was surrounded and influenced by amazing talent his entire life.
Dave Demay on Star Search
Before Dave actually moved to Nashville he performed on TNN's "You Can Be Star" with Jim Ed Brown. During those trips he got involved with another Nashville-base contest called "Who's Gonna File there Shoes" and won that as well. He started to get the message that he needed to be in Music City and used the prize money to make the jump. Not long after his move to Nashville, he went to Hollywood
and won Ed McMahans'
Star Search
as the season "Male
Vocalist Grand Champion" in 1989. They ran his episodes for
5 consecutive years after he won. Dave is currently a producer, musician,
songwriter, audio engineer, accomplished studio vocalist, as well as an in-studio
vocal coach. Below is a video clip of his winning Star Search Championship performances from 1989.
So What did you do after Star Search Dave?
"I get asked this question all the time. Several years back I diverted from my pursuit of being
a recording artist to pursue my ultimate goal of producing. I've done enough road time to know that I like being
here in Nashville. During my transition from performing on stage, I had good success as a commercial graphics
designer, web programmer and developer. I was a staff developer
for some large, well known companies, such as Lucent, Columbia HCA,
and Blue Star, which, in my private life, financially allowed me
to graduate from 'pretty good' recording equipment to 'very nice'
recording equipment. Then Fred Duggin and I met and things got even
better. Our combined skills and resources made for a great friendship and business
relationship. So please read on about how
Fred Duggin and I got Song City Studios started... " -- Dave Demay
Engineering Experience
Although Dave was pretty steeped in audio engineering before moving to Nashville, his biggest influence afterward was Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dixie Chicks, Dolly Pardon, John Prine, etc.). Gary Paczosa has won several Grammy's. After Dave won Star Search in 1989, before Gary's Grammy's came along, he used Gary on everything he produced. Dave immediately recognized how talented Gary Pacsoza was. Being an engineer himself, Dave had a tendency to turned their sessions into mini-clinics, closely watching and asking how Gary approached eveything. Gary was always glad to share techniques at the time.
Dave credits Gary Pacsoza for speeding up his evolution as a skilled Nashville engineer. After experiencing Gary Pacsoza's innovative genious, Dave was compelled to take his engineering skills to Gary's level of excellence while adding his own flare. Has he made it there yet?.. His customers seem think so. You should let Dave track and mix a session for you so you and find out first hand! Of course you can listen to his demo tracks too.
How Fred Duggin and Dave Demay kick Started "Song City Studios"... In 2002 after Dave bought his house and studio, a friend
named Lonnie Taylor (stage manager for Trick
Pony) introduced him to a very nice and talented gentleman
named Fred Duggin, who was in the process of building a studio close
by. Fred is a legendary Bluegrass flattop guitar player, who is well known among anyone who is anybody in the Bluegrass world. Dave initially started helping Fred finish and spec-out his studio
but ended up spending more time over there than in his own
studio. Fred and Dave got along so well, and their studios were in such close
proximity, that they decided to become partners under Dave's "Song City"
signature name (which is now a DBA of Song City Inc.). From that moment on Song City Studios started cranking-out great tracks,
and it's still going strong. Dave makes it a point to stay in step with the market place and keeping a watchful eye on the changes
in standards.
Studio-A
is the space that Dave now leases from Fred at Fred's location and Studio-B
is at Dave's location, which is about a mile away. Dave credits Fred Duggin, for his great contribution to
pushing the studio into more and more high-end equipment, which he shamelessly
brags about. Although Studio-B is a very nice recording
facility, we're making some changes to use it as an overdub tracking
room and eventually a seperate mastering room, which will help us catch any
overflow in the future. Studio-A has plenty of isolation booths,
and houses most of Song City's Star-worthy gear and is where most of our critical full-band
tracking takes place.
So feel free to call, email,
or come on by and pay us a visit!
624-B Maplewood Lane
Nashville, TN 37216
(615) 228-8387 Contact Us
