TRR Photo by David Jackman Jim Verdi at the controls of Rivertown Recording Studio’s 24 track analog and digital facility in Cochecton. (Click for larger image)

Rivertown rolls
tape in Cochecton

By DAVID JACKMAN

COCHECTON — Jim Verdi used to be opening for bands like Jefferson Starship, now he has top billing. As founder of three interconnecting independent music companies, Rivertown Recording, VJV Music (song publishing) and Rivertown Records (song promotion), to ensure that the Catskills will be alive with the sound of music—both live and recorded.

“Music has heart,” Verdi said, “and the one [song] that breaks out of the pack is the one that has heart.”

It is this passion for music that inspired Verdi to establish an interconnecting infrastructure of creative energy.

In 1999, Verdi designed and began building Rivertown Recording, a state-of-the-art 24-track analog and digital recording studio that officially opened in June of this year. The studio can accommodate a full rhythm section including bass, drums, piano and guitar, and have up to 10 singers.

“It’s all about the atmosphere in the studio…the light in people’s eyes can tell that. When you play back something there is an emotion, not just the pristine music,” Verdi said.

In addition to the music recording, Verdi can also promote artists, both through Rivertown Records and the VJV Music Songwriters Circle. The Songwriters Circle is a performance series hosting highly acclaimed artists that take place at The Meadows, a resort with 95 guest rooms catering up to 200 people at a musical event, of which Verdi is co-owner.

The purpose of the Songwriters Circle is twofold. First, to “bring in high level of talent to the area, and expose artists people have never heard before, and second, to educate people in the process from the initial development of the song, to all of the recording aspects.” he said.

“Enlighten people where everything originates, and that is the song,” said Verdi. “This is a type of business the county is looking for, it’s a positive situation… artists from the city could be recording in a environment they’re not used to.”

Verdi believes it can enrich the community in other ways, too, saying, “They [artists] could end up buying a house here.”

The Songwriters Circle is “real talent behind the scenes, that’s what it is all about.”

These companies developed from Verdi’s primary career as an accomplished musician, songwriter and music publisher. Verdi, a self-taught drummer, has been playing and writing music for over 20 years. He’s worked in a variety of genres, including blues, country, R&B, dance, pop and rock.

For information about Rivertown Recording, or the VJV Music Songwriters Circle, call 845/887-5568 or visit their website  at www.rivertownrecording.com.