At Tesco Productions our on-going effort is to make our clients’ experience here the most enjoyable and beneficial as possible.  In the past few years we have been implementing an expanded headphone monitoring system.  As a musician you know how critical it is to hear properly – whether performing, jamming or recording.  For some time we have utilized a system that allowed the key parts of a group to be set independently by the individual musicians.  This was a great improvement over simple stereo feeds.

Most recently we expanded this by adding a “me monitor” option.  Each musician is able to set the volume of his/her microphone and/or instrument in their own headphone independent of any other musician or studio settings.  This can be done in addition to still having access to the main elements of the group.  It has proven very popular.  And a side benefit – as an engineer I can spend more time focused on my responsibility – getting you a good recording.  This is much easier to accomplish when everyone is performing at their best.

We were recently contacted by ‘This Side of Sunday‘ to book time for their recording.  Bob Everhart in the 10/04 edition of Tradition Bulletin, in commenting on the Fremont Festival held early October, had this to say.  “[We] had some very nice performances too, and a couple of new acts that really went over well.  ‘This Side of Sunday’ is going to be a band to reckon with I’m thinking.  They’re different, they’re acoustic, they’re Christian oriented, and they’re very good.  The audience liked them a lot.”  Tesco Productions is looking forward to working with them early November.

Maria Petersen was warmly received on stage this month accepting the honor of Traditional Folk Music CD of the Year for Zither Extravaganza, one of three CDs recorded at Tesco Productions.  The USA Rural Roots Music Commission, a subsidiary of the National Traditional Country Music Association presented her the award at the 35th National Convention in LeMars, IA.  Bob Everhart, who presented the award says “This is an incredible accomplishment.  Maria Petersen, perhaps our only zither player left in the upper Midwest, has taken an incredible amount of time, patience, and expense to record her ‘history’ of the zither.  [Maria goes] all the way back to when she was a small girl in Bavaria, learning from her zither-maker father how to play well, to her own growing up with the music, leaving her beloved homeland, traveling to America, becoming a citizen, and adding her own American favorites to the brew.  And what a brew this is.”

Zither Extravaganza (exclusively instrumental), Hausmusik and Fond Memories of My Bavarian Childhood comprise the three recordings by Maria.  Bob adds “Maria is also an accomplished yodeler in the old Bavarian style, as well as a lovely vocalist of the old songs.  This is indeed an incredible journey through time… My suggestion, get all three.”  (Tradition Magazine, Fall 2010 Festival Issue)  To hear a sampling of all her music drop over to our audio clips gallery.  If you would like to contact Maria send us an email on our contact page and we’ll be glad to put you in touch with her.