In the studio with The Jive Aces and Rebecca Grant

left to right: Ian Clarkson, yours truly and Vince Hurley 

Hi All,

I was very happy, recently, to welcome world-famous jive and swing specialists ‘The Jive Aces’ to Garage Studio. They are working on two projects simultaneously at the moment, as well as touring extensively in the USA, UK and Europe. While most of the recording is being done at ‘Mad Hatter Studios’ in L.A., I’m helping them out with a few bits here.

One project is a tribute to swing era giant Louis Prima entitled “King of the Swingers”, and the other, a fun and nostalgic view of the Skiffle era by their alter ego “The Jive Aces Skiffle Combo” entitled “It’s Skiffle Time” which, although compared to swing, had a relatively short life, was one of the musical bridges to what became the amazing British music scene of the sixties and beyond.

Rebecca Grant

Earlier this month, I recorded a track with them and well known actress and singer, Rebecca Grant, for the film ‘Chakara’ which she also stars in .The track is a real high energy version of ‘Wild Wild Woman’ with a terrific vocal performance from Rebecca.

These guys are dedicated to their music, but also manage to be an absolute hoot to work with. Check out their website at www.jiveaces.com and YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/jiveaces.

Martin Smith

Vinesong Hit the No 1 Spot on NCM

Hi all. 

Long-time clients and good friends Vinesong have just achieved a number 1 position in the Christian music charts [NCM]. Both the song ‘Psalm 103’ and the album 'Our God Reigns’ were recorded and mixed at Garage Studio in July of this year, with the music tracks recorded by Keith Hutchinson in South Africa. 


We are all totally delighted for them!


Martin Smith

 Charlene Kok checks the lyrics before she starts singing

 Charlene Kok doing some admin in the studio

 Daniel Kok singing

 Martin Smith and Charlene Kok discussing the finer points

 John Watson checking the performance

 John Watson reading and singing

 Rachel Gray really enjoying herself

Martin Smith of Garage Studios with Vinesong: Pastor John Watson, Daniel Kok, Charlene Kok, Rachael Gray

We've arrived! A big hello to the Blogerati and beyond!

Martin Smith - former bassist of the Electric Light Orchestra

Yes, as well as our new Twitter account: @GarageStudioLtd, we also now have a blog!

So what is Garage Studio?

Garage Studio is a professional Recording Studio catering for bands, solo artists, songwriters and composers.

It is the home of Producer/Composer/Musician Martin Smith who has over thirty years experience working with bands, solo artists, songwriters and composers and supplying music for film and T.V.

The studio is a ‘state of the art’ Pro Tools facility and is competitively priced.

Martin started the studio in late 1987 after a term in the Electric Light Orchestra, following a career as a producer, musician and writer spanning the previous two decades.

Although this was still the early days of computer based recording, it became apparent to him that it was going to be the future.

Our studio is available for hire, so please contact us for more information on:

01342 776130