Events
Video Of MSMS on MPBN radio!
Aug 23rd
Drummer Andrew Clifford Performs With Backing Trio Don Knowles (Bass) Rick Dostie (Piano) for Gail Yvon (Vocals). Click Here to view Video!
MSMS JAZZ ON MPBN RADIO!
Aug 11th
DON’T MISS!!
“Gail and The Guys!”
Live on MPBN radio, 90.9fm
Friday Night Jazz with Rich Tozier
Friday, August 20, 2010 9pm.
Enjoy Gail Yvon’s vocals of timeless standards with new arrangements by Waterville pianist, Rick Dostie, and the rhythms of Don Knowles’ 5-string double bass and Bangor’s Andrew Clifford (Of Main Street Music Studios) on percussion.
Hear hi-lites from their CD, GAIL AND THE GUYS: HOT LATINS AND COOL LYRICS, plus favorites (with fun background info!) and special pairs from Arlen to Gershwin.
TUNE IN!!
DOWNLOAD FREE MUSIC PERFORMED BY MSMS STAFF FEAT NIGEL HALL!
Aug 11th
MSMS Teachers Andrew Clifford & Brad O’Brien performed with Nigel Hall (Soul Live, Lettuce). They also recorded a few rehearsals in the studio. Click the link below, then scroll down and click download for a folder full of great music, free! This download will only be available for 1 week so get it quick!
(live music recorded from laptop mic…. Studio recordings were intended to be a recorded rehearsal, not a full representation of this studios quality)
Enjoy!
Click Here To Download Your Free Music!
Nigel Hall: Rhodes,Vocals
Andrew Clifford: Drums
Brad O’Brien: Bass
Bloom 207!
Jul 27th
Come support Bloom 207, July 30th & 31st! Main Street Music Studios is a proud supporter of this event, and msms member Mike Billings is hosting the event. Feel free to contact Mike directly with any questions by clicking Here. 
Green Tank Productions Album On itunes!
May 5th
Andrew of Main Street Music Studios has just release an album entitled, “From The Soul”. This Album includes performances from Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela’ Fleck) Nigel Hall (Soul Live, Lettuce) Najee, Stu Mahan, Brad O’Brien, Amy Briggs, Affiliate, Jim Thorpe, Mr. Blu and many more artists! Andrew Produced these songs, and many of them were created along side fellow Virgo, Nigel Hall. Click Here To Preview/Purchase On itunes!
Newport native now producing music in Bangor studio
(Click Here To View Original Article)
Musician’s career began at Nokomis
BY COLIN HICKEY, Correspondent
The world looms within his reach as Newport native Andrew Clifford sits poised over his mixing board, pushing the console’s levers as he reorders and manipulates sound from his recording studio on Main Street in Bangor.
“From the Soul” is Newport native Andrew Clifford’s new album. He also made his debut as producer on it.
Contributed photo
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That’s the image on the album cover of Clifford’s Green Tank Productions producer’s debut “From the Soul,” a 19-track effort now available on iTunes and other online music stores.
And that image is reality for the 27-year-old Clifford: the 2001 Nokomis Regional High School graduate has achieved success despite operating from the seeming obscurity of central Maine.
He has produced original music for major national TV networks, including ESPN, VH1, TLC, BET and MSG (Madison Square Garden channel).
He also has worked with notable musicians such as saxophonist Jeff Coffin, a longstanding member of the Flecktones, the band led by Grammy Award-winning banjo player Bela Fleck.
Clifford is no stranger to hip-hop either. He has helped produce songs for several national artists, including Najee, Termanology, Hectic, Affiliate and Dre Robinson.
Another collaborator is Maine keyboardist and vocalist Nigel Hall. Hall, who has performed with the funk bands Lettuce and Soulive, is about to put out his second solo album.
Hall and Clifford joined forces recently to produce the song and music video “Anger,” a remake of a Marvin Gaye tune that appears on Clifford’s “From the Soul.”
“We are basically brothers,” Clifford said of he and Hall.
Hall thinks just as highly of Clifford.
“We met about 10 years ago — maybe longer than that,” he said. “Ever since we met, we’ve always been very tight. I think it is important to know somebody at a personal level. It makes the music that more intimate.”
So how does a kid from a small central Maine town make a name for himself in the music industry without leaving his home state?
The answer is as multidimensional as Clifford himself. His winning formula is a combination of talent, versatility, business acumen, daring, digital-age savvy and a relentless drive.
‘Slash of Sound’
Clifford’s appearance is pure hip-hop. He favors sunglasses, oversized shirts and sports jackets, baggy jeans and typically wears a black beaded necklace and a large analog watch with wristband so loose the timepiece dangles precariously. Appearance in this case, though, is deceiving.
Clifford is a hometown boy in most every way. He married a girl from Brewer, and he is close to family and friends, including his father, Jack, a fellow musician who started Clifford on his musical path.
Clifford as an artist can best be described as the slash of sound.
He started with the drums. As a student at Nokomis, Clifford became a percussion powerhouse for the school’s jazz band and jazz combo, which are perennially among the top scholastic music groups in the state.
M. Stanley Buchanan, the band director at Nokomis for more than four decades, said Clifford’s talent was apparent at an early age.
“You could tell from the very get-go, from middle school on up,” Buchanan said of Clifford’s ability on the drums. “I had my eye on him. He was destined to be a drummer and nothing else mattered (to him).”
Clifford remains passionate about the drums. He performs with some of the best jazz musicians in the state and his versatility on the instrument is apparent given that he is comfortable with a palette of musical genres.
Yet Clifford also thrives on developing, embellishing and building on the work of other musicians. He does this through his roles as a deejay, sound engineer and music producer. His Main Street studio is his laboratory, the place where he dissects sounds and songs and then refines or rebuilds them through a process in which he considers every component of musical creation, from speed and tempo to rhythm and soul.
“I feel like the best engineers are musicians,” Clifford said, “because they have ears.”
Clifford as an engineer works to ensure that the recording is as true to the artist’s sound as possible.
Clifford as a producer then evaluates that sound and tries to determine what might enhance what the artist has so far created. This is an editing process, and one in which Clifford’s biggest concern is the trust and comfort of the artist.
“They are people first,” he said, “and that is what I like about them. You realize they are people first.”
Clifford’s work as a teacher and entrepreneur is a natural extension of his passion for music. He wants to spread the word; he wants to reach as many people as possible, to make them realize the wonders and the value of musical expression.
Daring and driven
Investing in any kind of business these days is daring considering the poor economy. Most entrepreneurs start small. Not Clifford.
His Main Street Music Studios offers instruction in more than 10 instruments from instructors who also are accomplished performers. Along with individual music lessons, the business features classes on engineering, production, improvisation and composition.
Main Street Music Studios, which celebrated its first year last month, also offers High Definition and Blu-Ray video production services.
Clifford plays his iPad like he plays his drums, with a natural grace and flow of an artist in full control of his medium. But more important than mastery of digital devices is a work ethic and endurance.
This is a man who leaves his studio at 3 a.m. and often returns before the first school bus is on the road.
Jack Clifford said a strong work ethic runs in the family. The elder Clifford said he used to balance being a full-time college student with teaching guitar and performing in a band six or seven times a week.
Andrew Clifford is definitely his father’s son in this quality. He said his love of music never fails to give him the energy he needs.
Jack Clifford put it best: “This is what he does,” he said of his son, “This is his life. He would never be happy doing anything other that what he is doing.”
View Edge Article On “From The Soul”
Listed Below Are A Few 30 Second Clips Of The Album. Enjoy! (keep in mind, you tube audio quality isn’t as hi-def as itunes)
Come Celebrate Our 1 Yr Anniversary!
Apr 28th
Main Street Music Studios Open House!
Date: May 14th 2010
Time: 5:00-8:00pm
Location: 49 Main St. Bangor, ME 04401
Main Street Music Studios is proud to announce their one year anniversary!
Bring the entire family to celebrate with us on this special evening at no
expense! We appreciate everyone’s support. We are proud to have such an
influence in musical education, performance and recording in Bangor.
-Free Admission
-Live Music
-Catering by Montes
-Raffle Prizes
(Raffle prizes including recording time, music lessons, and cd giveaways!)
www.mainstreetmusicstudios.com
MSMS TV!
Mar 24th
We will be airing an online channel of content you can view to see our staff perform, teach, record, film and produce. This is just a visual cut of whats to come. Audio will be available soon.
Enjoy,
-Staff