The Story

In the summer of 2005, after over 20 years in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Scott Lehrer combined resources with his producing partner, composer Dick Connette, and moved their recording studio to 161 Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side. The studio was gut-rehabbed out of an old lighting warehouse to what it is today. Philip Glass, Rufus Wainwright, Marc Shaiman, Anohni, yMusic, Linda Thompson, Bob Neuwirth, Meredith Monk, Marc Ribot, Gabriel Kahane, Loudon Wainwright III, Judy Kuhn, Michael Daves, Nico Muhly, Hazmat Modine, John Scofield, Suzzy Roche, Duncan Sheik, Geoff Muldaur, Chis Thile, Aoife O'Donovan, Dave Douglas, and Julian Lage have all worked and recorded here.

Scott Lehrer

Scott’s work as a music engineer and producer crosses many genres from contemporary classical to jazz, singer-songwriters, folk, blues and world music. He engineered Loudon Wainwright’s Grammy-winning High, Wide and Handsome, recorded and produced Last Forever’s Last Forever and Trainfare Home for Nonesuch Records, the Broadway cast recording of An American in Paris (Grammy nom), Celia Berk’s Now That I Have Everything, Manhattan Serenade and You Can’t Rush Spring, Judy Kuhn’s All This Happiness, Bebe Neuwirth’s Porcelain, BD Wong’s solo musical Herringbone, Criara for Metro Blue/Blue Note, Bach in Brazil for EMI Classics, Geoff Muldaur’s Private Astronomy for EDGE/DG, Meredith Monk’s mercy for ECM, Hazmat Modine’s Bahamut, Extra Deluxe Supreme and Cicada on Barbes, Joe Daley’s Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues, Lucia Pulido’s Por Esos Caminos, Jason Danieley’s Frontier Heroes and Louis Rosen and Capathia Jenkins’ Ache of Possibility and One Ounce of Truth for PS Classics as well as many other releases by Rosen and dozens of other artists.

He worked on numerous projects with the late film composer Richard Robbins for Merchant Ivory Productions, including Mr. and Mrs. Bridge and The Ballad of the Sad Café and his Point Records CD release, Via Crucis. He has produced six recordings for pianist/composer Paul Sullivan and has served as recording engineer for the theatrical music of Robert Waldman, William Finn, Mark Bennett, John Gromada, Kim Sherman, Ricky Ian Gordon, J. Michael Friedman and other composers.

Dick Connette

Dick Connette is a composer, musician, and producer whose work spans American folk and popular music. After graduating from Harvard University, he moved to New York City, where he studied percussion with James Preiss. In the 1970s, Dick became involved in New York City's downtown performance scene, composing for modern dance and collaborating with artists such as Charles Moulton, Michael Smith and Peggy Baker. He performed under the pseudonym A. Leroy, operating his studio Leroy Sound under Fanelli’s Cafe in Soho.

Dick’s musical project, Last Forever, released two albums under Nonesuch Records: Last Forever (1997) and Trainfare Home (2000). Dick founded his label, StorySound Records, in 2009. The first release was The Charlie Poole Project with Loudon Wainwright III, High Wide & Handsome, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. The label became a vehicle for Dick to support music that he loves, and he has put out over 50 albums of roots, singer/songwriter, and new classical music. The artists include Margaret Glaspy, Gabriel Kahane, Rayna Gellert, Ana Egge, Suzzy Roche and Lucy Wainwright Roche, Dan Tepfer, and yMusic.

After the passing of his Last Forever creative partner Sonya Cohen in 2015, Connette formed the project Too Sad for the Public, continuing his exploration of American folk music. The project's first album, Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade, was released in 2017, with a second album, Yet and Still, released in July 2023.