Destiny's Journey Passes Through Soundsmiths

This week it was our pleasure to welcome Destiny DeBerry Stone to our studio. She came to Asheville to record the final two tracks of her album Journey (iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby, Amazon) at nearby Landslide Studio with engineer Andrew Schatzberg, and while she was here she booked Soundsmiths for the mastering.

Yes, this is mostly recorded and entirely performed by student musicians, but it's got passion and soul to spare! Projects like this that come straight from the heart always get to me, usually more than their slicker, more heavily-produced studio counterparts. This album is what I'd call stripped-down contemporary R&B--that rich musical cross-current that draws heavily on gospel, soul, R&B and jazz. There's only one all-out pop tune (a mostly sampled-synth arrangement that captures the feel of a decent-sized pop ensemble) in which Destiny gets to show her diva potential, but the rest has a bare-bones intimacy that really scores big on communication.

If you're not interested in complicated productions, but like to keep things minimal, and if you like this style of music, you can't fail to be impressed, and I dare you not to walk away with one of these melodies stuck in your head!

Destiny, we'll be following your progress. This young lady's got the Power!

Destiny in a mix session at Landslide Studio with owner/engineer Andrew Schatzberg