Along the Eastern edge of Canada where it kisses the Atlantic Ocean lies the rocky shores of Unama’ki (the Mi’kmaw word for Cape Breton Island), a picturesque slice of the Maritimes rooted deep in music and coal mining history, and home to Kitchen Songbirds – a small, independent studio founded by Kenn Crawford.
Utilizing the comforts and intimacy of a one-room studio while implementing the power of digital technology, Kitchen Songbirds is building its roster of artists by offering budget-friendly recording, songwriting, and production services to help artists new to recording navigate the turbulent and often murky waters of the music business.
Crawford cut his recording and production teeth with a 4-Track cassette recorder and a stereo reel-to-reel tape deck in the mid-80s using a method known as “Ping-Pong Recording” – he would ‘bounce’ the original four tracks while performing in real-time to the reel-to-reel, then bouncing that back to the 4-track (with another real-time performance) to allow for more for overdubbing.
Back in the days of using tape with a limited set of tracks it was this type of back-and-forth recording that allowed musicians to have more overdubbed tracks without too much tape degradation. Wanting to learn more about recording Crawford booked time in multitrack studios to record a few demos but spent the bulk of his time studying what the engineer was doing and asking questions.
HOME (THE CAPE BRETON SONG), written and performed by Kenn, was selected by Allister MacGillivray (Song for the Mira, Sea People) to be featured in The Cape Bretoner magazine. A song he wrote for a young singer out of Tennessee Over the years Kenn was the lead singer in Country Duet, a Blues band, and performed solo in bars around Ontario before returning to Cape Breton, all while continuing to study music production.
Kenn founded the Home_Recording mailing list, the largest online group of its time, where musicians and engineers from around the world discussed all things recording. He quickly built his reputation as someone who embraced the digital age without losing sight of his “downhome” analog roots.
In 2022 Crawford made his return to music when he was asked to produce a local songwriter, Sheldon O’Neill, then Alec Lee in 2023.
In many cultures the humble kitchen is the heart of the home, while in Cape Bretoner they raised it to new levels with their infamous “Kitchen Parties.” Known in Gaelic as a Céilidh (pronounced kay-lee, which means ‘visit’) these gatherings were originally traditional music with Gaelic singing, step dancing, and storytelling.
Once dominated by the fiddle music and Gaelic songs, kitchen parties around the island grew to included a variety of musical styles and original songs, but traditional Céilidhs and Celtic music are still very much alive on the island such as the world-famous Celtic Colours International Festival, Cape Breton’s living traditional culture that marries her rich, musical heritage during her most spectacular season, autumn – when the leaves turn colour to vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges, bringing the breathtaking scenery to life as music fills the air.
To this day Kenn is usually found sitting at his kitchen table with a guitar and laptop working on music and enjoying a cup of tea (another Cape Breton tradition). Thinking back to all the music he’s heard over the years while sitting around the kitchen table, naming his modest studio “Kitchen Songbirds” just made sense.
You can find Kenn online moderating his Facebook group, At Home Music Producers. He is currently writing a home recording book and creating an online course.