Magnetic Sound Studios

07/28/2025

We had a sold-out concert this weekend with the amazing Greg Ruby from NYC, Sam Farthing from Baltimore and our own Kenny Phelps-McKeown on upright bass. A couple of shots courtesy Diane Davis and Dan Eason, last shot from my iPhone.

What amazing musicianship and just sheer joy pouring out of these guys’ instruments. Thank you everyone who came out and supported this show and the studio’s concert series in general… this is a good sign that we can keep doing this kinda thing with such great community support from attendees and friends and local radio and media that supported this event! Thank you for supporting live music in crazy, alternative venues!!!

07/28/2025

We had a sold-out, standing room only (in the back) concert this weekend with the amazing Greg Ruby from NYC, Sam Farthing from Baltimore and our own Kenny Phelps-McKeown on upright bass.

06/05/2025

Cajun fiddler Louis Michot returns to Magnetic Sound Studios for a solo concert this Wed June 11th 7:30pm. Tickets on sale now at the studio website. https://www.magneticsoundstudios.com/events

05/20/2025

Our next public concert features Louis Michot, the two-time Grammy award winner, fiddle player and singer for Lost Bayou Ramblers - who is celebrating the release of his second solo album, SEAUXLEAUX. The show will be Wed June 11th at 7:30 here at Magnetic Sound Studios - at Lakewood in Durham.

This show will be Michot's second appearance at Magnetic Sound Studios — If you missed his first, sold-out, standing room only show here back in 2024, this is your chance to see one of the most creative and dynamic musicians in Southern Louisiana perform in an intimate and up-close setting, rich in vibe and with stellar acoustics - right here in Durham.

SEAUXLEAUX is a collection of songs that tells Michot’s stories and those of the Louisiana French experience. The repertoire on this album comes mostly from the traditional Cajun canon, representing a diverse range of obscure but powerful work by Louisiana songwriters. Michot performs them using an unusually full and ambitious sonic palette with separate tracks assigned to vocal, vocal space-echo delay, foot stomp, foot stomp space-echo delay, and fiddle or guitar.

See the Facebook event or check out the studio's website for more details. Tickets are on-sale now for $20 at the studio's website.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2731195723733630

02/27/2025

Our next concert is Saturday March 15th at 8pm with the country-cajun supergroup Allumé!!!

Allumé is a powerhouse collaboration uniting Nashville’s Miss Tess, Lafayette’s K.C. Jones (Feufollet, The Daiquiri Queens), Thomas Bryan Eaton with and Trey Boudreaux (The Revelers). This Cajun-country-cozy supergroup weaves together rich harmonies, pedal steel, fiddle, bass, and stripped-down drums for a sound that’s both rootsy and dynamic. Expect a mix of fresh originals and timeless covers, plus highlights from Cher Rêve, the newly released album by Miss Tess. Don’t miss this chance to catch these acclaimed multi-instrumentalists lighting up the stage together!

This new band—like Miss Tess’s latest album, Cher Rêve (out last week)—is born from a deep admiration for the culturally rich Acadiana region of South Louisiana, particularly the vibrant city of Lafayette. Known as the “Little Easier,” Lafayette is a magnetic hub where community, tradition, and music thrive. Cajun and Creole melodies fill the air, dancers move across hardwood floors, and generations carry on time-honored traditions of language and cuisine. Warm, welcoming, and steeped in culture, it’s a place that has a way of changing those who experience it.

Tickets are on-sale now through the studio's website. Don't miss it!

11/22/2024

The new album "Lakewood Jump" is out today from bandleader, composer/arranger and reed-man Keenan McKenzie and The Riffers! Hot swing, wild solos and sultry vocals - recorded/mixed right here at Magnetic Sound Studios in the Lakewood neighborhood in Durham!! You can purchase an LP, CD or a digital download via Bandcamp - or directly from the band when you catch them live at a swingdance near you!

11/15/2024

Hello friends - I wanted to let you know about the Hurricane Helene Recovery Benefit Concert Featuring the local band "Chillable Red" that we are hosting here at Magnetic Sound Studios on Thurs December 5th. A fun night of whimsical and amusing, but seriously good music celebrating the songwriting of Tom Waits. All proceeds will go to South Toe River Valley Recovery Fund for the benefit of the South Toe and Celo communities in Western North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene.

Chillable Red comes together to celebrate the sublimely diverse and eccentric songwriting of Tom Waits. Led by singer/guitarist Cary Moskovitz, who has been reveling in the musical and lyrical genius of Waits’ songs for over thirty years, this group of unorthodox minstrels reinterprets the music of Waits into a blend all their own. Cary’s vocal renderings are accompanied by the distinctive sonic textures of amaranthine accordionist David DiGiuseppe, Cubanesque cajonist Jim Roberts, and multi-string minder Rob Sharer.

The performance will showcase Waits' songwriting over a forty-year period--from his first release “Closing Time” to his most recent studio album, “Bad as Me.”

Cary Moskovitz: guitar and vocals
David DiGiuseppe: accordion
Jim Roberts: percussion and vocals
Rob Sharer: banjo, mandolin, guitar, and vocals
FJ Ventre: upright bass

Magnetic Sound Studios is donating the use of its space and staff and is covering all production costs so that 100% of your donation is going directly to help Western NC.

Tickets for this show are going fast… get them online-only through the studio's website: https://www.magneticsoundstudios.com/events

10/31/2024

There are about a dozen tickets left for this Friday's concert November 1st with Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms at Magnetic Sound Studios. Caleb and Reeb will bring hot mandolin playing and acoustic guitar with great harmony singing and backed up by fiddle and upright bass. You can expect to hear some classic h***y tonk tunes as well as some of Caleb's originals and some hot string band music as well. For this performance, they will appear as a quartet. You may have heard Caleb and Reeb before, as they are in the much-loved Foghorn String Band from the Pacific Northwest. I'm delighted to have them here for a show in the Bull City and hope you can make it out if you're a fan of string band music, h***y tonk or tight harmony singing. Tickets are available online only - through the studio's website: https://www.magneticsoundstudios.com/events Hope to see you there!

10/27/2024

This Friday November 1st, we'll have a concert here with the Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms band, playing great h***y tonk, bluegrass and hot string band tunes. You can expect to hear some stellar harmony singing as well as hot mandolin, guitar, fiddle and upright bass playing from this amazing quartet. Tickets and concert details are available on the studio's website: https://www.magneticsoundstudios.com/events

So dust off your boots and gather around for some true and original modern h***y tonk music. An all-star cast of master musicians backs these two soul singers of country music, Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms. These two are known to roots music fans across the globe for their soulful harmonies, driving dance tunes, classic original songs, and commitment to the raw truth of rural American music. They live in the San Juan Islands of Washington, though until recently, home was Portland, OR. They are foundational to the exceptional old-time and country music scene in the Pacific NW with the Caleb Klauder Reeb Willms Country Band and their membership in the Foghorn Stringband, of which Caleb was a founding member. Charismatic performers, they bring their unique set of talents to the stage with an eye towards good times and an ear towards the deepest songs and tunes.

Their new record "Gold in your Pocket" will be released on Free Dirt Records in just a couple of weeks - but you can hear them play some of these songs live here at Magnetic Sound Studios - Fri Nov 1st 7:30pm. Don't miss it!

Check out these videos to get a taste of what they're about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xiuUNB_YM&t=121s

https://vimeo.com/379915752

02/22/2024

Incredible show tonight from the insanely talented Missy Raines and her band Allegheny! So much amazing talent in this group!

02/19/2024

Hey, don't take my word for it that Missy Raines is gonna raise the roof this Wed night at Magnetic Sound Studios for a concert. You can take Alice Gerrard's word for it.. she might know a thing or two about Bluegrass music! Tickets are going fast, but still available as of Monday afternoon.

Events and ConcertsIn addition to making records, we have a monthly concert series that takes place in our live room, where we can comfortably seat up to 100 audience members.Our Spring/Summer/Fall ‘23 concert series was great fun and much-enjoyed by all who attended. Below you will find the shows...

02/11/2024

Don’t miss seeing Missy Raines and her band Allegheny play live at Magnetic Sound Studios on Wed Feb 21st at 7:30. Tickets are on sale now. See the studio website or the Facebook event for details/tickets for this show.