A Sunny Afternoon at Juke Joint in the Woods

The studio is called Juke Joint in the Woods and I had arranged to meet producer Kaspar Berry Rapkin. Although Kaspar's first love is playing the guitar live in front of an audience, his music degree included sound engineering training and he has gradually, little by little, found himself working at this traditional studio half an hour or so outside London. It was this detail that brought me to the Juke Joint one Sunday morning, the first properly warm Sunday of the year.

After he made coffee and I admired Kaspar's Kitty Coen trucker cap, I was allowed to wander around the equipment and photograph the neon signage. Whenever I'm in a studio, which is not often at all, I find the darkness and sound-dampening calming and reassuring. There's a Hammond organ that is currently being repaired. Old instruments are very often made of wood and give the feeling of being handmade, crafted items. These things don't just plop off a plastic production line in the far east.

There is an analogue vibe in the studio, partly from the Marshall amps, and those made by less familiar brands like Milkman. We sat not all that far from Marshall's home base. Sure, there is an iMac to tie everything together, but the key theme is tradition. Kaspar is keeping the ideal of a Mississippi bluesman alive. His lifestyle is deeply authentic. He smokes real tobacco cigarettes, and there was a banjo casually left next to me on his picnic table. I immediately felt relaxed and at home, even though navigation had been a little testing. The location remains somewhat vague even in my mind, and I have been there. I am allowed to say that we were near a major A road but it honestly felt like the middle of Texas, with the weather to match.

I asked Kaspar who would be the perfect artist to record at the Juke Joint. Basically, anyone who respects the strengths of the analogue world. His strapline is "rustic sound, today's clarity" which tells you everything that is important. Folk, blues, roots, western... any artists who value authenticity above anything else. Lauren Jennifer, the goth cowgirl, has recorded there. It is also handy as a rehearsal space, and Kitty Coen visited recently for final polish before her debut UK tour. Elizabeth and Jameson have recorded there too. Two Gun Mathilda. The Curse of K. K. Hammond. Anything with a little grit between the toes.

The Juke Joint specialises in "rustic sound, today's clarity"

Juke Joint's producer Kaspar was born close to Slash, the guitarist, in Hampstead's Royal Free Hospital. That is, they were born close together in space but not in time. Kaspar decided that he wanted a career in music, most likely as a guitarist, aged fifteen, and pursued music in college, gaining a music degree in London around the time of the pandemic. He also taught in Lincoln on a course connected to the same Access Creative College that he knew from London.

It turns out there are lots of career options in music beyond the obvious ones. You can teach, you can play with others, play solo, write about it, become a sound engineer. Kaspar tried giving lessons and realised what he really wanted was to play live on a stage, with or without a band. Playing the guitar live was the thing he really loved to do more than anything else.

For a while, Kaspar found himself working with children with Special Educational Needs. Rewarding and draining in equal measure, it gave him a safety net while he pursued his musical dreams on the evenings and weekends. He must have been good at teaching. The school offered him a full teaching job but Kaspar never lost sight of his original dream, and went part-time at the start of one summer holiday, finally leaving the profession completely in January 2025.

There is something quintessentially English about a countryside recording studio. Back in the 1970s Richard Branson's Virgin label had a country studio. Peter Gabriel still has one. Fleetwood Mac always preferred a rented country house with a mobile recording truck to months spent in London. The latest technology makes the notion of a recording truck somewhat anachronistic. Even the best equipment has been miniaturised now which saves on space as well as money.

The Juke Joint is well-equipped. I saw several guitars, a full drum kit, keyboards, organs. There is plenty of room including a smaller iso booth, fully soundproofed and suitable for loud instruments as well as delicate vocals. You could play live as a full band, or track every instrument individually. There is an enormous car park for even the grandest tour bus or limousine. Even as a wordsmith, I felt the peace and tranquility enveloping us. I could have stayed and spent the day writing. The only sound came from the birds and the bees flying around us.

In the last few months I have discovered a thriving Americana community in the home counties. I already knew that the north of England had deep roots in this scene and it has been a genuine thrill finding like-minded souls closer to my adopted home in Buckinghamshire.

You can contact Kaspar on Instagram and the Juke Joint has its own account and website. Book now to avoid disappointment!