The owner of Merrick Music is Neal Merrick Blackwood AKA Neal Merrick. Through the years Film Composer & Musician, Neal Merrick Blackwood, has produced and engineered Grammy award-winning artists ranging from instrumental to alternative rock. Neal is a multi-instrumentalist who was born in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Neal was formerly an Ambient Recording Artist on Space For Music Records. Neal spent most of his early life in the Nashville area studying and performing various musical styles and technical applications that helped to instill a solid foundation. This passion developed into many exciting musical endeavors. Neal produces, composes, arranges and plays many styles of music. For over 35 years in Nashville, Neal has worked with various talent and clients as an engineer, producer, keyboardist, synthesist, programmer, percussionist, drummer, flutist, bassist, guitarist, composer, arranger, songwriter and vocalist in world-renowned studio facilities, as well as in a wide variety of locations and recording environments throughout the world. As a recording artist, producer, composer and musician, Neal prefers to only collaborate with artists and performers in both live shows and in making recordings that are dedicated to helping aid the world.
In 1988, Neal Merrick Blackwood (Scottish and Cherokee ancestry), Tony Gerber (Cherokee and Swiss German ancestry) and Robert N. Smith (Neal’s adoptive grandfather) formed Space for Media, one of Nashville’s first MIDI recording studios and high-tech multimedia production houses utilizing Apple computers. Among the artists associated with the facility were Gerber, Merrick Blackwood, Giles Reaves, Bet Williams, Brad Jones, Kossie Gardner, Felix Cavaliere (of The Rascals), Jan Pulsford, Jay Joyce, Kirby Shelstad, and Aashid Himons. Neal has composed, performed and recorded ambient music for over 25 years. Adding to Gerber’s and Merrick Blackwood’s collaborations over the years, Neal was formerly signed with Gerber’s ambient music record label, Space For Music Records.
Neal Merrick Blackwood comes from a rich musical family heritage. Even though Neal has nothing to do with gospel music, his family is the Blackwood gospel family. The Blackwood family has won 8 Grammy Awards, 27 Dove Awards, 5 American Music Awards, recorded over 200 albums and sold over 50 million records. The Blackwood family has been inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame (Listed under F: FAVORITE GOSPEL SONGS AND SPIRITUALS, The Blackwood Brothers Quartet), GMA Gospel Music Hall Of Fame, SGMA Southern Gospel Music Hall Of Fame, Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. The Blackwood family is heard singing on the radio towards the beginning of the movie “Walk The Line”. The Blackwood family, Johnny Cash and the Cash family established a wonderful friendship that led to appearing together through the years on both recordings and live performances. The Blackwood Brothers and The Blackwood Singers were also among Elvis Presley’s favorite musical groups, which led to the Blackwood family and Elvis forming an enduring friendship that would also last a lifetime. The Blackwood family have a long list of wonderful enduring friendships and have performed with many well-known artists over the years. The Blackwoods have performed with artists such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Porter Wagoner, Bill Gaither, Charlie Pride, Dolly Parton and many others. Neal is the son of Ron Blackwood, nephew of R. W. Blackwood, Jr. and grandson of the late RW Blackwood, Senior. It has been said that the original Blackwood Brothers Quartet came up with the idea to customize the first bus to make travel spacious and comfortable for entertainers and that they therefore invented the customized “Tour Bus” that many entertainers take for granted these days. Elvis went to see their bus and immediately went and had one made for him too. A replica of the original Blackwood Brothers Quartet bus can be seen at the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Neal Merrick Blackwood’s Extended Bio:
In the mid 1970′s, Neal pursued the ongoing experimentation, study and analysis of both recording and composition of experimental, native, ambient, classical and jazz music (all kinds of music).
In 1978, Neal Merrick Blackwood produced a series of experimental ambient recordings and was put in contact with Peter Baumann (of Tangerine Dream) in New York who was the founder of Private Music Records and whom was interested in Neal’s music. However, Neal did not have enough material at the time to commit to pursuing a recording contract.
Neal began touring and playing with various bands and orchestras in the early 1970′s.
Neal has produced compositions of vocal and instrumental music, some of which is distributed worldwide by Universal Music (formerly Zomba/Sony/BMG) and Merrick Music. Neal’s music is used in feature films, TV, commercials and various other forms.
Neal at Space For Media, Inc. circa 1989. Photo by Spike Giles.
In 1988, Neal Merrick Blackwood, Robert N. Smith and Tony Gerber, started the company “Space For Media, Inc.”, one of Nashville’s first high-tech multimedia facilities that featured MIDI and digital recording utilizing Apple computer systems. The facility was located on “Music Row”. Neal was Co-President of Space For Media, Inc. and was producer, composer, programmer, editor and engineer. Neal’s adoptive grandfather, Robert N. Smith was the chairman, financial officer, sole financial backer and principal stockholder for Space For Media. Tony Gerber was Co-President of Space For Media, Inc. and was producer, composer, programmer and head of the graphics department. Dave “Digital Dave” Turner was in the graphics department and was also head of the video and animation department as Vice-President of the company. Giles Reaves was a composer, programmer, producer and the chief engineer for the company. Rob McClain was head of telecommunications technology and provided all around corporate assistance. Bari Gant provided PR and office management. Brenda Pattat provided PR and office management as well as being the studio manager. Mark Tallent was also a composer, producer, engineer and programmer in the early years of Space For Media. Michelle Myers also helped out as office manager. Space For Media offered music production, graphics, animation and video services. Space For Media was also an Apple Computer Value Added Reseller and Apple Developer. Space For Media also provided Apple certified service and repair through NASCO Advanced Solutions. Tony Gerber, Neal Merrick Blackwood and Rob McClain were the in-house Apple computer systems analysis and service team. Space For Media created a multimedia kit CD-ROM for Apple with NASCO Advanced Solutions. At that time; Space For Media was the city’s only Digidesign (e.g.- ProTools, Sound Designer, etc.) digital audio products dealer. Space For Media also helped to beta test and make suggestions to help in developing products for Digidesign. Artists working out of Space For Media included Neal Merrick Blackwood, Giles Reaves, Tony Gerber, Dave “Digital Dave” Turner, Bet Williams, Brad Jones, Kirby Shelstad, Rob McClain, Dessau, Tony Crow (of Peter Criss band, Bare Jr., Lambchop, etc.), Rick Will, Scotty Turner, Kossie Gardner, Jay Joyce, Jan Pulsford, Felix Cavaliere (of The Rascals), Robb Earls, Aashid Himons, along with many others.
In 1991, Neal formed a business alliance with producer, writer and musician, Jan Pulsford, which led to Neal bringing his entire studio facility to her place of residence to produce various works and endeavors together for quite some time. Neal worked as Producer, Re-mixer, Recording Engineer, Mix Engineer, Editing/Mastering Engineer, Programmer and Reprogrammer with English Valley Music, Madame La Pulse Productions and Collecting Dust Records in conjunction with Merrick Music Productions on many various projects. Rodney Lawson also worked at English Valley as an Artist, Musician, Producer, Engineer and Programmer. Jan Pulsford was co-producer, co-writer and former musical partner with Cyndi Lauper owns musicallmusic.com Records. Neal continued to work with Jan on and off over several years until about 1999. Neal and Jan worked with such clients as the multi-platinum rock band Bush, Cyndi Lauper, Kat Dyson, Nigel Pulsford (of band Bush), Keki Mingus (Charles Mingus’s daughter), Felicia Collins, Universal Music (formerly Sony BMG), Trauma Records, etc. During that time, Neal had formed Merrick Music, Inc. near Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. Neal served as President of Merrick Music, Inc. (Merrick Music Studios) as well as being the company’s primary producer and engineer. Merrick Music, Inc. operated as a music production facility that produced recordings for artists under development, records for major & independent record labels, recording artists, soundtracks and various other music. Merrick Music had a wide variety of clients. Some of the artists that worked out of Merrick Music were: Spacecraft, Alison Krauss, Randy Travis, Mac Gayden, Mandy Barnett, Eugene Chadbourne, Robin Eaton, Ben Folds, Willie Nelson, Demetrius “Sir Jam” Ross, Bryan White, Gwil Owen, Robert Earl Keen, Essra Mohawk, Sonny Landreth, Victoria Shaw, and many more. Neal’s personal responsibilities and services included being Executive Officer, Producer, Artist Development Producer, A&R Representative for major and independent record labels, Arranger, Audio Engineer and Musical Composer. People employed at Merrick Music included; Jason Stelluto (Producer, Management, Booking, Engineer, A&R, etc.), Eddie Gore (Producer, A&R, Booking, Musician, Management, Engineer, and Programmer, etc.), Carrie Linn (Studio Manager, Artist, etc.), Leslie Hermsdorfer (Office Assistant), Nanette Malher (Artist, Studio Manager, A&R, etc.), Dee Barrett (Studio Manager who was former studio manager for Chick Corea), Dulcy Martinez – White (Studio Manager, A&R, etc.), James Cannon (Attorney and Legal Affairs). Lisa Cotterman (Office Assistant). Bryan Talbot was briefly a partner as well as offering his production, engineering, A&R and programming skills. Merrick Music, Inc. was a state of the art recording facility designed by world renowned studio designer Steve Durr of Steve Durr Designs, which featured a custom made Neve console (which was sold to Walter Sear, owner of Sear Sound Studios in New York, NY), Studer A827, Studer D827, Mitsubishi X850 with Apogee filters along with a combination of cutting edge and vintage audio equipment. Merrick Music also had a pre-production studio with an Amek/TAC Scorpion II console. Neal and Merrick Music also worked in conjunction with Steve Hennig and Steve Durr’s Imagine Sound Studios located in the same building, to include production and engineering services, as well as aid in the daily operation of the Imagine Sound studio facilities. Some of the artists that worked out of Imagine Sound Studios were: David Gates (of Bread), Deana Carter, Pam Tillis, John Gorka, Charlie McCoy, Tanya Tucker, Bryan White, Randy Travis, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks, Take Six, Ivan Neville, Brent Rowan, The Jordanaires, Donna McElroy, David Meece, Ray Benson And Asleep At The Wheel, Doobie Brothers, Peter Cetera, Camille Harrison, Alison Krauss and The Cox Family, Demetrius “Sir Jam” Ross, Mandy Barnett, Aashid Himons, Patty Loveless, Eddie Shaver, Jan Pulsford, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, The Memphis Horns, Trisha Yearwood, Mac Gayden, Corrine Champigny, Nanette Malher, Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd, Suzy Bogguss, Gary Nicholson, The Lynns, Victoria Shaw, Larry Weiss, Stephanie Davis, Martha Carson, Marcus Hummon, Martina McBride, etc.
In 1996, Neal joined Universal Music Group/MCA as the label’s and publishing company’s interim studio manager, engineer and technician for approximately one year. At that time, Neal was also involved with his own production projects with Merrick Music.
Neal was formerly a voting member of NARAS (The Grammy Association) and served as part of the NARAS Producers And Engineers Wing. Neal was also a member of AES (Audio Engineering Society) and was also a member of the AFM (American Federation Of Musicians, Local 257).
Neal has been called “unique” for many of his approaches and ideas in the ways they are applied to music. Neal is one of the first early “MIDI” and digital sampling pioneers. Neal continually tries to introduce new and exciting ideas, such as introducing “rhythmic gating” techniques to recordings. Neal introduced this “rhythmic gating” technique to former “Bush” rock band guitarist, Nigel Pulsford. Nigel went on to utilize this “rhythmic gating” technique with “Bush” on several records. Neal is known for his applications of unique treatments to frequency interrelationships within music and has experimented with 3-D (Three Dimensional) sound and the effects it has when applied and perceived by the individual experiences of listeners. Neal has always been fascinated by sound that seems to jump out of the speakers for you to experience, as it seems to emit from different places around the room and strategically move around you. For example, true 3-D or holographic sound may seem to be right in front of your face or move directly behind your head to whisper in your right ear. Neal explains, “That true ’3-D’ sound is a much more realistic experience than a typical plain multichannel ‘surround sound’, mono or stereo experience. However, it is more common today in the film industry for films to be mixed in ‘surround sound’ utilizing 3-D effects and 3-D technology to enhance the over-all realism of the film’s experience”. Many people ridiculed Neal when he openly predicted that computers would soon be commonly used to make music and that 3-D sound would also be commonly used in the future.
