The phrase “college music scene” often brings to mind images of basement parties, garage bands, and jam sessions in common rooms with close friends. However, it can also mean high-quality sound systems and connecting with musicians from outside of your community, especially at Studio 9 in North Adams. Last Wednesday, Studio 9 hosted a College Music Night featuring musicians from Williams, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), and Bennington College. 

The night featured a variety of acts, including individual performances from singer-songwriters, duos, trios, and a Bennington band. After receiving a short introduction to the studio, attendees first heard songs from Williams students, with MCLA and Bennington performances following.

Studio 9, located at The Porches Inn in North Adams, acts as both a recording studio and venue, hosting performances, open mics, and residencies. 

Patrick Gray Jr., the studio manager and chief engineer of Studio 9, also runs the high-end audio and video recording facility Studio 275 in Sawyer. In an interview with the Record, he explained that one of the most important capabilities of Studio 9 is its ability to bring musicians together through open mic events. He started hosting open mics in the space about two years ago. For last Wednesday’s music night, however, he hoped to target musicians from colleges in the area and help them connect with one another. “Open mics, I think, are a wonderful [way] to get community together,” he said. “It’s also a way to engage with local musicians that maybe don’t have the experience and want to get out and play a little bit.” 

He added that the space is uniquely fit to showcase musicians because of the high-quality sound it offers. “The sound of the room is amazing … and that’s not something that most open mics can offer,” he said. “It’s usually at a bar where there’s beer and there’s people talking. But everybody’s really there to enjoy music and to support the artist.” 

The Fresh Grass Foundation, a North Adams-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting the arts, transformed the space from a dining venue into its current form in 2019. That year, it installed a high-end acoustics system that matched the quality of the newly-minted space. 

Gray said that the studio’s system, produced by the same company that created the Grateful Dead’s iconic “Wall of Sound” speaker system, contains just under 50 speakers, creating a vast tonal capability in the space. “We can make a completely dead space … [sound like] a cathedral,” he said. 

Michael Ma ’26 and Peter Deegan-Krause ’28, who performed together, said the event helped them realize how disconnected they felt from the greater Berkshire music scene. “We’re only a couple minutes from [other college musicians] driving-wise, but we are kind of in our own respective bubbles,” Ma said. “I’ve been here for four years, and I’ve never met those other musicians who have also been here for four years.” 

Deegan-Krause added that the College’s music scene often feels isolated. “There’s so much [music] culture at Williams, there’s a whole faculty of incredible musicians, and there’s incredible resources, but it’s so confined to our space,” he said. 

The duo performed folk and blues songs, with both on acoustic guitar and Ma on vocals. They also rounded out their set with improvisation, which Ma explained often brings the two together. “To know somebody is to know how they speak in unscripted situations,” he said. “So musically, we can do that.” 

Deegan-Krause also performed with Ronald Deng ’28 and Ian McMahan ’26. The trio’s performance featured a unique combination of instruments, with Deng on the violin, McMahan on the banjo, and Deegan-Krause on a Moroccan bass called the gimbri.

Although the instruments created an uncommon fusion, Deegan-Krause explained that the banjo and gimbri share West African origins. “Both of these instruments really were born out of a trance music culture and tradition, which is why they work together so well,” he said. 

The performances by Williams students were followed by sets from MCLA and Bennington musicians. Ma and Deegan-Krause said they were able to connect with some of the musicians and hope that more events like this can happen in the future. “Something like this will happen again,” Deegan-Krause said. “This definitely isn’t a one time thing.”