Moon Grove, the Band: Reaching first album status

Moon Grove, an independent rock band started in 2019, began with a few guys who worked together as mental health professionals. The lead singer/songwriter is Kirk Harrison, who is a therapist who mostly works with youth. Pete Brickey and Tyson Barlow, also therapists, were previously in a band together. When it came time to move on from the previous band, Tyson spoke with Kirk about starting a new band. They convinced Pete to come along, and Moon Grove was formed. Check out their music here.

A Path Towards Recording

When starting any band, one of the questions that always comes up is how to record the music. Sure, you can use Garage Band on your cell phone (awesome app, by the way), but if you really want to create a decent album, you want to find a professional to do the recording for you. 

So when you first start a band, there is no money. In fact, there usually isn’t any real money for years. So how do you find that professional to do your recording? In the case of Moon Grove, a little luck played in, and they were able to find an amazing music professional named Tim Whipple. Tim is an instructor of music at a youth arts academy. It just so happened that Tim wanted to expand his music career further by owning a music studio. Of course, in order to be a proper owner of a studio, you need experience. Tim needed a project, a first band he could record. The stars aligned, and he decided to take on Moon Grove as a project, initially at no charge, since he wanted to have experience under his belt of bringing a band to the point publishing an album. 

Moon Grove’s Need for a Lead Guitarist

After recording with the band for some time, Tim noticed that Moon Grove would benefit from having a lead guitarist (Pete is a bass player, Tyson is a drummer). After having a conversation with Kirk, Tim became the lead guitarist. 

So, lesson learned, if you want to find someone to do your recording, find someone who needs your band as much as the band needs someone to do recording. Make a mutually beneficial agreement with someone, and you’ll have a professional who can do your recording. 

Getting a Piano/Effects Guy

Another element was added to the band, the piano/effects guy. Ryan Newbold joined the band, having also previously been in the same former band that Tyson and Pete had been in.

After recording for about a year, the band was nearing its first completion of an album. Now how to publish an album? Moon Grove looked at different options, and discovered DittoMusic.com. DittoMusic seemed like an affordable and convenient way to go, since it does most of the leg work for the bands. It’s a small yearly fee, and they push your music to all the major digital stores.

So, of course, when you make an album, you need artwork. Ryan found a font that everyone agreed with, a free to use font called Monoton. It was agreed that Pete would do most of the artwork, using Ryan’s found font as the basis for the Moon Grove brand. 

On December 1st, 2020, their album was released. Included above are samples of the art that was used by Moon Grove to put on their singles and album.