Trek down the long wooded path to Hippy Hollow Recordings in Greenville and you may think you’ve stepped back in time. There’s a woodstove to heat the two-story, treehouse-like cabin; there isn’t an indoor bathroom.
“It’s like ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ joked Katherine Schimke, who lives at the cabin with Aaron Derman. Together, the pair formed a little recording studio in the woods. And while the cabin may not have all the comforts, it does boast some serious recording equipment (Derman is a product development engineer at Earthworks Audio, and he has no shortage of top-flight gear).
Over the past few years, the pair has been scouring open mics and small festivals in search of talent to record — for free. Now, the artists who’ve recorded music at Hippy Hollow are giving back by performing at the studio’s open house, set for this Saturday.
“It’s kind of like our end of the year shindig. I’ve been trying to pick things that you’d see at festivals and pick things that you’d see here,” Schimke said. “What I’m trying to do is move that festy vibe here but keep it small and intimate.”
That mix means that there will be quite an eclectic group of performers on the freshly built stage, from singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars to psy-trance and firedancers.
Schimke said the concert will appeal to “anybody that gets excited by the local music scene, and getting to know likeminded people.”
The planned lineup includes Heather Hotham, Tom Carlson, Vanessa Hale, Debi Dane Green, Nicholas P. DiCicco, an interpretive sundown dance piece with Summer SkEye, The Homeless Ghosts, Darling Hill, Phileep, Mike Simonelli, Brian Wolverton, Kar’Nam and Phayes8.
For more information or tickets, find Hippy Hollow Recordings on Facebook.