http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story...don-lightfoot/
Hamilton Spectator
By Graham Rockingham
Hamilton's Grant Avenue Studio is offering an intimate musical evening with Gordon Lightfoot and a personal recording workshop with Daniel Lanois as part of a crowd-funding campaign to raise money for badly needed renovations to its 100-year-old building.
Grant Avenue owner Bob Doidge, who is launching the Kickstarter campaign Tuesday, said the Edwardian house that is home to the studio in downtown Hamilton requires more than $100,000 worth of renovations.
The campaign has a minimum goal of $20,000 which would cover the cost of a new heating and air conditioning system. That threshold has to be reached within 30 days to make the campaign successful. Money raised beyond that will go toward new floors and ceilings, plumbing upgrades, foundation work and landscaping.
To help achieve the goal, Doidge has enlisted the support of two old friends — Lanois, the Grammy-winning producer of U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan who founded the studio in 1976; and Lightfoot, whose last three albums were produced there.
For a pledge of $2,000, a Lightfoot fan can be one of 12 people with a seat at an in-studio performance by Lightfoot, backed by his guitarist Carter Lancaster and bassist Rick Haynes. The session also includes a meet-and-greet with the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter.
A pledge of $1,000 will give donors a master recording class conducted in the studio by Lanois, considered one of the world's top producers and sound engineers. The session, which includes lunch, is limited to 10 people.
"I sheepishly called Gord's office to see if he would be interested," Doidge said. "He called back shortly after and said 'I'm in, we've got to save this place.' When I called Dan, he said 'Yes' right off the bat."
For $500, Doidge is also offering to personally conduct a workshop on his specialty, recording acoustic instruments such as guitars, harps and grand pianos.
The studio is also offering several smaller pledge packages — $50 will get your name on the studio website, $100 will get your name on a plaque near the studio's front entrance, $250 buys a workshop with a modular synthesizer expert, and $300 will entitle you to a limited number of autographed albums by Lanois and Lightfoot.
Doidge, who has owned or co-owned the studio since 1985, said the building has not undergone major renovations in almost 40 years. Although the studio operation continues to be financially viable, Doidge said he decided to go with a Kickstarter campaign for the renovations rather than raise hourly recording rates.
"What you'll find in this studio is the same equipment you'd find in a studio in New York City or Nashville," Doidge said. "But the rates are substantially lower here. We want to keep it affordable so that local musicians can continue to record here."
Grant Avenue producer and sound engineer Amy King-White said she and Doidge considered moving the studio to a newer building, but felt another location could never match the history of Grant Avenue where U2, Johnny Cash, Bruce Cockburn, Raffi, The Tea Party, Collective Soul, the Cowboy Junkies, Los Lobos and Prairie Oyster have recorded.
"We still have a lot of people who want to come here because of the heritage of this building," King-White said.
A link to the crowd-funding campaign can be found on the Grant Avenue website, grantavenuestudio.com, starting Tuesday, Jan. 27.
grockingham@thespec.com
905-526-3331 | @RockatTheSpec