Josh McKinney has loved music for as long as he can remember.
“I’ve been into music my whole life,” McKinney said. “It seems like it’s always sort of defined who I am. I mean, I love it.”
Now, with his newly-opened local recording studio Josh McKinney Studios, he’s putting his passion into a business.
McKinney, who has been a musician since the age of seven, said he became fascinated by the studio production process while recording CDs with his former band.
“We recorded three CDs and I was always fascinated by how things work in the studio,” he said. “I decided I wanted to build a studio for myself, but then I thought, I have all of this professional equipment and everything I have is industry standard, so why not open up to the public?”
McKinney, who also works third shift at Sibelco, opened up his studio to the public last month and has already helped a local gospel group, Contenders For Faith, record an album which came out Sept. 22 on all major streaming platforms.
“It’s been great to already have a band in here and I think it turned out really great,” McKinney said. “I actually put a lot of work into soundproofing the room even though most commercial studios don’t require that because I live in a residential neighborhood and I don’t want to pick up a lawn mower or something.”
McKinney’s studio, located in the building behind his home, is packed full of industry-standard equipment and instruments that musicians are welcome to use when recording their music. Musicians are welcome to bring their own gear, too.
With his studio, McKinney said he’s hoping he can bring some excitement to the local music scene.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and there are so many incredible musicians around here,” he said. “But, in my opinion, the music scene here used to be really incredible and seems to have kind of petered out. I really want to bring that back, because there are so many amazing players here.”
McKinney said he plans to upload videos of recording sessions on his YouTube channel, Josh McKinney Studios, to help boost the artists and share the talent this area has to offer.
Josh McKinney Studios is located at 827 Humpback Mountain Road in Spruce Pine. An eight-hour recording session costs $400 and three eight-hour sessions cost $1,000 which can be booked on his website, joshmckinneystudios.com.