Loud As Folk has been making its mark on our musical community since 2011 when it was founded by local singer songwriter Spike McGuire. Originally it was created to be a monthly songwriters showcase here in Reno. It grew in popularity and reputation and eventually joined forces with Art Walk Reno and became involved with raising money for various charities and organizations.
In 2016 Spike, with long time friend, colleague and fellow singer songwriter Greg Gilmore, began working on the idea of building a recording studio. It didn’t take long for their dream to come true and the Loud As Folk Recording Studio was born.
Their approach is to strip it down to its purest form with just the artist and their song recorded all in one take. They’ve set up a real room reverb chamber (just like the old days) in which to do their recordings. Once recorded, it’s mastered on their reel to reel tape machine.
Soon they had an impressive track record of extensive grass roots recordings of local artists. This brings us to the point of this story.
The idea of a Record Club had been rolling around in their minds for some time, but performing and touring took priority, and there was just no time. When the pandemic-generated shutdown of live music became a reality, the time was available to work on their new project, and the Loud As Folk Record Club was born on Oct. 1. The record club makes available the hundreds of recordings that they have been making, plus all their upcoming sessions, and it is the only way to get those recordings.
Memberships come with several options, starting at $1 month for the download of the single of the month, all the way up to the Ultimate Collector option for $65 a month which includes downloads, a CD, a cassette, a lathe cut 12” vinyl record, ticket and merchandise specials, among other offerings. All six membership options also come with access to exclusive artist interview videos.
As a gift to all who are interested, they are offering a download of the first release of the Loud as Folk Record Club for free – LOUD AS FOLK: EARLY RECORDINGS. I have listened to this, and the quality of the recordings and the musicianship of the artists is unbelievable. Artists featured on this are Rachael McElhiney, Josiah Knight, The Sam Chase, Buffalo Moses, Reverend Hylton, Seth Anderson, Yotam Ben Horin, Jelly Bread (feat. Whitney Myer), Tyler Stafford and John Dough Boys.
To hear the recordings go to any major streaming platform and search Loud As Folk: Early Recordings, or click to the Loud As Folk home page at https://www.loudasfolk.com/recordclub. This is a great way to follow some of your local musical heroes, show them your support, and help them in their efforts to entertain.
