When the COVID pandemic happened I, like all working musicians had every single gig cancelled for over two years.
I found myself with a lot of time on my hands, so I focused on writing and recording original music.
Once the restrictions eased up enough to allow limited travel I was able to work on the project with friends in other cities.
I recorded four new songs in Winnipeg with the Juno Award Winning band The Brothers Landreth and did further recording in Vancouver.
Like most musicians that grew up through the 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s, I was heavily influenced by the Beatles and British bands in general.
In 2007, I was fortunate enough to meet and spend time with Beatles producer Sir George Martin.
He was a truly kind gentleman who loved to talk about The Beatles and his many years at Abbey Road.
For a devoted diehard Beatles fan like me, it was genuinely like meeting one of the Beatles.
Martin is often referred to as the fifth Beatle.
I remember thinking how cool it would be to ever see Abbey Road Studios in person.
Fast forward to a few years ago when I heard that a friend of mine fulfilled his lifelong dream and recorded several songs with his bandmates at Abbey Road.
I realized, hey鈥� this is possible. Until then it hadn鈥檛 occurred to me that Abbey Road was still a fully functioning recording studio and not a museum, although it certainly could be.
Much of the original recording equipment used to record albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Oasis, and others is still in regular use to this day.
So, I booked my first recording session and headed to London.
My first trip to Abbey Road was in April of 2023.
I was booked into Studio 3 where I worked on two of my songs, Love Letters and Verse, Chorus and Bridge.
I also had time to record a very personal version of He Ain鈥檛 Heavy, He鈥檚 My Brother, which I sang to honour my brother who had recently passed away.
I recorded the song in the same studio as The Hollies did in 1969 using a vintage microphone from Abbey Road鈥檚 extensive collection.
While working at Abbey Road, I was also able to explore a bit and wandered into Studio 2, which luckily for me wasn鈥檛 being used at the time. Studio 2 is where the Beatles recorded most of their albums.
Talk about feeling the heaviest vibe imaginable.
I sat and played on two of the pianos that The Beatles would have used including the one and only 鈥淢rs. Mills鈥� a Steinway upright piano (think 鈥淟ady Madonna鈥�). I really cannot find the words to describe what it felt like being in that room.
Lake Country musician and music producer Rann Berry playing the famous 鈥淢rs. Mills鈥� piano used extensively by The Beatles in Abbey Road Studios. Story coming to #Lake Country Calendar Jan. 16. pic.twitter.com/zQ69NRIUC4
鈥� Gary Barnes (@GaryBarnes109) January 15, 2024
Working and recording at Abbey Road was such a fulfilling experience that I decided to go back in September of 2023 to finish what I had started and fully complete the project.
This process is called mastering and is the last step in putting the absolute finishing touches on a song. This second trip to Abbey Road was every bit as magical as the first.
The mixing and mastering engineers that I worked with have become friends and I will be forever grateful for their expertise and genuine care in helping me to produce this first batch of songs.
Editor鈥檚 note: Three of Rann Berry鈥檚 songs are now available to listen to, or purchase on all streaming platforms including Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, and Soundcloud. The rest of the album 鈥淪orry I鈥檓 Late鈥� is coming soon.Rann Berry is a musician and music producer currently living in Lake Country.
