A 'Utopia' for musicians, this iconic Woodstock recording studio has been restored

From the 1970s through the 90s, rock music’s A-listers flocked to the tiny Woodstock hamlet of Bearsville to record some of the era’s most iconic albums.

The Band, Ringo Starr, Patti Smith, Todd Rundgren, Steely Dan, R.E.M.,The Pretenders and Dave Matthews are a few of the performers lured to the Catskill music oasis created by legendary impresario Albert Grossman.

Grossman, who managed Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul & Mary and many others, conceived Bearsville, nestled among forests and streams, as a nurturing community for musicians. Three of the original studios had closed by the early 2000s.

The last surviving recording space — Utopia Studios Bearsville, built by Grossman for Rundgren for video production in 1979 — is carrying on that musical tradition, in the hands of drummer and chief engineer Pete Caigan.

“My job is to make it as great as it was,” Caigan said recently. “It’s an historic studio empire that created hundreds of hit records — that’s not an exaggeration — and it hasn’t produced a lot of high-level content in a long time.”

Utopia is 'a gem of a studio'

Caigan, a New York City native who’s been a Woodstock music scene regular for decades, reopened the renovated studio in July, after the building had served as FM radio station WDST’s home for years.

It’s a gem of a studio, designed by John Storyk, visionary architect of some of music’s most revered spaces, including Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios.

Acoustic elements of Storyk’s conception, including a 30-foot-high ceiling and two-foot-thick concrete floors and walls, have survived.

“It’s an incredible structure,” Caigan said. “It would be cost-prohibitive to do that today.”

Caigan renovated the control room, adding a state-of-the-art API AXS Legacy console. The recording booths and equipment were upgraded, and the studio’s 1974 Steinway B grand piano was restored. Acoustic curtains imported from India that, when drawn, give the room a warm sound, were previously installed by the building’s owner.

The 3,000-square-foot facility also serves as a video recording space, and has a separate studio for producing video podcasts.

Who’s recording at Utopia Studios now?

Since July, Utopia has hosted sessions with singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel (Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley’s daughter), the folk-rock/country band the Felice Brothers, Woodstock-based pianist Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer, formerly of the Dresden Dolls.

The studio’s an ideal fit for James and Ian Felice, whose music bears the imprint of the roots-rock sound that sprung up around Woodstock in the 60s and 70s.

“I grew up and still live 20 minutes from Bearsville,” James Felice, who handles vocals, accordion and piano for the band, said in an email. ”I’ve been coming here my whole life. So when I’m at Utopia I’m already home, and I feel my best when I’m home.”

Felice praised the studio’s gear and setup. “And Pete is great to work with,” he said. “Calm and wise and also a hell of a musician. And he’s a certified EMT so if I go down in the live room he’s got my back.”

In addition to Caigan’s work in the control room, he’s been sitting in as the drummer on the studio’s recordings, including the Alexa Ray Joel sessions.

“This is a funny thing in my life, that all of a sudden I’m playing on all these records,” he said. “This was purely not intentional, but I’m so happy about it.” Caigan still gigs with local bands when he’s got time.

Utopia Studios is part of Bearsville Center on Tinker Street, which includes the Bearsville Theater, two restaurants, a bar and an ice cream shop. The complex is owned by Lizzie Vann, who restored and reopened the property several years ago.

“It’s just a beautiful setting, it’s like 30 acres, there’s a stream, there’s a park, there’s a fire pit … You’re in the country but you feel like you’re in a cultural hub,” said Caigan, who’s planning to record live concerts at the theater.

Woodstock ethos survives

Caigan is a 53-year-old Bard College graduate whose 25-year career includes sound mixing at the Newport Folk and Jazz festivals and engineering Sarah McLachlan’s double platinum album, “Afterglow.”

He’s designed recording studios and sound systems for other Hudson Valley venues, and has engineered live recordings at The Barn, the nearby studios founded by The Band’s drummer, Levon Helm.

If a recording artist comes to his studio needing a backing band, “There’s no other town with such a small population with so many professional working musicians,” he said.

“That’s one of the reasons Woodstock is an epicenter of recording, because there’s so much talent here as far as musicians and engineers,” Caigan said.

He added: “If you want to show up in town as a singer-songwriter and ask us to put together a band, we’re gonna put together a band that’s so full of allstars, it’s gonna blow your mind.”

Despite the gentrification that’s occurred since the 1969 music festival put it on the map, the Woodstock ethos survives, he says.

“Behind the scenes there’s still a lot of people living in their homes they’ve been in for 30 years, 50 years, putting wood in the wood stove and playing their instruments, and then getting together and recording,” Caigan said. ‘It’s still what goes on.”

Robert Brum is a freelance journalist who writes about the Hudson Valley. Contact him and read his work at robertbrum.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Woodstock NY music: Utopia Studios is restored and ready to record