Village Squire, 1978-12, Page 7When it comes to music, country and western music anyway,
there aren't too many faces in Western Ontario more familiar
than Ernie King's.
For 23 years he has been a familiar part of the local music
scene as host of the CKNX television show Circle 8 Ranch. Now
he's getting out of performing and he wants to help other people
with their music. The latest step in that direction came in
November when he opened his new music shop in Wingham
complete with a 16 channel, eight track recording studio in the
basement.
"I've had the idea since I started the store," he says as he sits
on a stool in the basement studio. "I felt that as I was slowing
down myself in music, I would like to devote some time myself to
amateurs. At the time 1 was running the store I got acquainted
with a lot of musicians and saw some of them come in and buy
guitars or whatever and they were really interested in music in
general. writing their own songs and so on. A lot of them used to
come to me, and still do, asking "Where can I get help in this
area, where can I get my songs published, where can I get some
sort of (copyright) protection, this kind of thing so then 1 figured.
well why not tape."
So after five years of dreaming, the studio is now a reality. It
came about after a move by Ernie from his old location of the
Ernie King Music Centre farther south on Josephine Street (the
main street) in Wingham to the old Berean Chapel at the north
end of the main business district. Today the business office of
the Centre is where the minister once stood in the pulpit and
guitars. sheet music, electric amplifiers and other musical
paraphernalia take up the place the parishioners once occupied.
Downstairs is the current pride and joy, however. Even though
there is still work to be done in the studio to finish it off already it
has blossomed into a popular spot. Several _jingles have been
recorded for use on radio and other bookings have been made as
far ahead as the new year. Although the place was planned
originally for semi-professional use, local professionals such as
Richard Knechtel of Hanover have shown a good deal of interest
and recording sessions for complete albums are now scheduled.
When the shop was opened in its original location, Ernie says,
he had full intensions of having a room where recording could be
done but "the studio today has got to be bigger than it started
out to be. 1 think maybe it's just maybe times, like you start out
to buy,a stereo and unless you decide I'm going to spend x
amount of bucks and that's all I'm going to spend' you usually
end up with something better than you intended to buy. What
happened with the studio was that I was going to start with a four
track strictly amateur studio. I started doing some researching,
looking around at prices and so on and I came up with a pretty
good deal with_Teac and that's what made the difference in us
buying an eight -track studio instead of a four. The microphones
would have been the same, all play -back equipment would have
been the same. (he only difference is the eight track versus the
four. So we went for the eight track instead of the four.
"Then speaking to a lot of musicians from the area they said
'well Erne. I've got a four track at home'. a two -track or four
track just for their own benefit at home. So then 1 got thinking
about it a lot more. then 1 got some friends like Ken Ducharme in
on it. Kenny and I discussed it further and he got interested in it
so now he's helping out in the studio. Then I've got Harry Busby.
as well." Mr. Busby is an electronics repairman for a local
television service company and he now works part time as the
engineer in the studio.
The studio is definitely a part-time operation. Ernie depends
on his music shop for his bread and butter and the recording
studio is a part-time effort. Mr. Ducharme is in real estate and
spends his spare time in the studio doing the mixing. All are
musicians as well as having their regular jobs and working in the
studio.
"But the real idea for the studio in the begining was to
promote music in this area because 1 felt if 1 promoted the music
and kept it alive then it would keep my business alive. It will
reward me in kids saving 'well. if 1 learn to play the guitar 1 can
go on further in my o.+n little hone town.' If you don't do that it
1
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December 1918, Village Squire 5
1