PERSONNEL BIOGRAPHIES
J.P. Manza has been a member of the AINWM team since August 2004, when he assisted on our first ever session tracking drums with John Robinson. Since then, J.P. has been the tracking engineer on all of John’s sessions at Colorado Sound. In addition, he has engineered or assisted on several of our other sessions including Pam Savage’s incredible lead vocal on “Where Love Stands Alone” as well as numerous sessions tracking guitars with Randy Chavez.
J.P. is a self-described “recording junkie.” He first stepped into a recording studio at the age of 14, and has been working in music production ever since. Along the way, he has earned a degree in Audio Engineering from the University of Colorado at Denver and a degree in Music Production from the Luleå Institute of Technology in Sweden. Over the last five years at Colorado Sound, J.P. has been behind the board for many great national and local artists. He has received a gold record for his work on Matisyahu's album “Youth,” engineered a song for the television show “The Office,” and worked with other notable artists like Natasha Bedingfield and TV On The Radio. He has also engineered and produced songs for many great Colorado bands including The Epilogues, Vonnegut, Sofo, Rob Drabkin, Wendy Woo and Al Hood.
Jesse O'Brien joined AINWM in 2006. Since that time, Jesse’s fingerprints have been found on every master recording in our library as he has assisted on several of our lead and background vocal sessions. His remarkable engineering skills have made him a perfect fit for our production process. When you’re listening to Robbie Wyckoff, Ashlie Harris, Callaway McCord or any of our other vocalists, you are also listening to Jesse’s valuable contribution to our team.
Independently, he has been on staff at Colorado Sound for over four years and in that time he has worked with a number of major artists and projects including Matisyahu, TV On The Radio, Rocco Deluca, Brad Lidge, and Natasha Bedingfield. He also is working for toybox remote recording as Protools op, which has recorded live shows for Nora Jones, Yellow Card, Dierks Bentley, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Blues Traveler, Black Eyed Peas and even work for the Democratic National Convention. In 2008, while Jesse was co-engineering a session for artist Todd Fancy, he sang background vocals on one of the songs that ended up playing on screen for the hit series “The Office.”
Tom Capek has been a valuable member the AINWM team since 1991. Tom’s very unique skills set places him at the very beginning, as well as at the very end, of every recording in our library. Pre-production on all of our masters begins in Studio B at Colorado Sound with Tom engineering. Once we have finished tracking and mixing, every song goes back into Studio B where he carefully guides each one through the mastering process. In addition, Tom’s keyboard expertise, specifically Hammond Organ, is heard on several of our recordings.
As a professional musician for over 30 years, Tom has performed and/or recorded with Dotsero, Nelson Rangell, Chris Daniels, Lannie Garrett, Images, Chuck Pyle, Peter Kater, Colorado Springs Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra and others. He toured nationally with the Henry Paul Band as well.
Tom studied jazz piano with Mike Longo (pianist and arranger for Dizzy Gillespie) in New York City. He attended both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for Computer & Systems engineering, as well as the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
Some of his production credits include music arrangement for numerous Baby Einstein educational videos for children, and original music composition for the documentary, The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg. In 1993, he and Colorado Sound won an ITVA (International Television & Video Association) award for Best Original Music Production.
As a producer, Tom has worked on a variety of projects, including three projects with classical guitarist, Darren Curtis Skanson. Skanson's “Classica” (2000), reached #11 on Billboard's Top Classical chart. Tom also co-produced the jazz group Dotsero's “Jumpin' Through Hoops” album, and has performed with them at numerous jazz festivals including “Genuine Jazz in July” at Breckenridge, Colorado, and the Winter Park Jazz Festival. Tom has also produced several local and regional bands including Exit 232 and Starless.
In addition, Tom has mastered over 200 album projects at Colorado Sound, from jazz to classical and folk to rock, and everything in between.
Ashlie-Amber Harris recorded her first AINWM session in 2009 singing “Every Time It Rains.” Since then, Ashlie has delivered stellar vocal performances on “I’ve Been In Love Before” and “Maybe.” She has also contributed to several background vocal tracks including “Let Me Rain.”
Singing/performing have been a large part of Ashlie’s life since she was a little girl. She started singing at the age of six, co-wrote/recorded her first song at the age of 12, and was signed to an independent label at the age of 18. She is currently a working singer/actress in Colorado. She was recently nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Season for an Actress by the Denver Post for 2010. Her favorite roles include The Wedding Singer (Dance Ensemble/Tina Turner) A Christmas Carol, The Musical (Ghost of Christmas Past), Schoolhouse Rock Live (Whynona), Rent (Joanne), All Shook Up (Ensemble, US Lorraine), Miss Saigon (Yvette, US Ellen), The Fantastick’s (Luisa), Oscar & Felix (Hoolya), Smokey Joe’s Café (Delee), and Anything Goes (Bonnie).
Callaway McCord began recording with the AINWM team in June of 2009 singing opposite Robbie Wyckoff on the duet “What I Wouldn’t Give.” While only 17 at the time, Callaway’s studio professionalism made her an instant fit for our team.
Callaway began writing music and lyrics at age 13. At age 14, she began touring the world as a vocalist with legendary Grammy winner Sam Moore (Sam and Dave). Her notable appearances with Sam Moore include South By Southwest in Austin along with New Orleans Jazz Festival in 2006. By age 15, she had performed on Conan O'Brian, Craig Ferguson (w/Travis Tritt and Sam Moore), Emeril, David Letterman (w/Wynnona and Sam Moore) and with Sting on the Charlie Rose Show. She also was featured on The Today Show with Sam Moore. Callaway’s other credits include work with such notable artists as Sheryl Crow and JoDee Messina. She also performed alongside Sting, Elvis Costello and Sam Moore at President Obama’s inauguration.
Charlie McCormick has been an AINWM mainstay since 1984 when he and Ric penned their first song together, “Takes One To Know One.” As co-founder of ARRIVAL, Charlie’s unique songwriting ability coupled with his incredible guitar work, helped set the bar for excellence in our company’s early years. His contribution to our song catalog includes “Hold On To Me” and “Sign Of Devotion” as well as over thirty titles co-written with Ric has made him a great asset to our team. More recently, Charlie has put signature guitar tones on “Your Love Pulled Me Through,” “When I Dream” and “Cross My Heart.”
Pam Savage became an AINWM team member in 2004 and immediately made an impact with her amazing vocal performance on “Where Love Stands Alone.” Since then, Pam has been a major contributor as a background vocalist on many of our tracks as well as another incredible lead vocal on “Let Me Rain.”
Pam began her professional career at age 15, singing jingles. As her reputation in the recording community grew, she received a musical theater scholarship from Baylor University. During the 1980s, while amassing hundreds of hours as a session vocalist in Nashville, she also performed on several national tours. Her extensive resume includes hundreds of jingles on the national and local levels as well as work with such notable artists as Chicagodrummer Danny Seraphine and jazz piano great Eric Gunnison.
Mark Griffin officially joined AINWM as a songwriter in 2006, bringing over forty personal titles to contribute to our catalog. In his first collaborative effort with Ric, the duo quickly delivered “Holy” and “Vagabond”. Since then, Mark and Ric have also finished “When I Dream” as well as “Maybe” along with Tom Capek for our library of master recordings.
Mark’s experience as a professional musician spans over 25 years, performing nationally with notable Christian recording artists Kim Clement and Mylon Lefevre and as a highly acclaimed worship leader for a variety of non-denominational churches.