I owe a big "thank you" to Marc in helping me make some wonderful music that folks enjoy bringing home with them from my festival or concert appearances. If you scroll through the Guestbook on my webpage, you will find MANY comments from folks all over the East Coast and beyond who love these albums.

When they speak of the studio quality and arrangement, they are speaking in large part to what Marc Moss can do. For me, it usually starts with a click track, and a scratch vocal and scratch guitar track. Then I add final vocal and final guitar parts. Then we add other musicians, including my friends Tad Marks (fiddle), John Southard (keyboards), Steve Hobson (guitar), Jim Allison (harmonica) and others. Marc also is great on guitar, fretted and fretless bass and all percussion, and he is often the one to add these parts. These are the fellows I feel most comfortable with, and they have worked with me for years. They know what I look for and they always deliver---true professionals. I'll also generally add some harmony vocals and some other instruments myself, such as flute, penny whistle, and 5-string banjo. I don't want to stray too far from a folk-music sound, yet I greatly enjoy working with Marc and the musicians to have a full sound, in some cases orchestral.

My recent Christmas album, "The White Snows of Winter," has a big orchestral sound like what I grew up with on my parents' Christmas albums. That’s the feel I wanted on this latest CD---like that of a timeless classic. The title song, for example, has only been recorded by the Kingston Trio to my knowledge, yet many folks have told me our production makes it seem like the song has been around forever. That is just what I wanted people to think and feel with this latest project. For studio recording I usually use my Taylor W-15, L'arrivee J-10 or Martin D-45 guitars. All of these have different qualities, and I try to use what is best for the song.

When singing, I usually sing in the engineering studio actually in front of the speakers so I can hear myself "live"; I have a terrible time wearing headphones---I just can't get that on-stage energy while wearing them. I use 2-inch 499 audio tape, the most expensive Marc offers, because it best reproduces the fat sound you want people to hear. (My last project required 4 reels.) Your CDs will be around a long time, and the up-front investment is very important. Sure, you can use ADAT, but the sound quality is nowhere near as good when recording wooden acoustic instruments and vocals.

The mic I use is a Neumann U-87, because it best captures the warm low end of my range, as I am a baritone. While many studios boast of lots of high-end gear, most engineers don't know how to use that gear very well. Marc has the best gear and knows how to use it to optimize the performance. Plus, he is a great and genuine guy, who goes out of his way to make a good product.

His name is on that CD too, and each project coming out of his studio is, in a way, an advertisement for what his studio can do with that musical style. His work has paid off because his studio is now the busiest in the area, generally booked solid for a couple of months. I have learned to book time for my projects well in advance. I hope this helps give you some insight concerning Target Studios.

Good luck with your recording!

Charlie