Evergroove Studio marks 20 years and leans deeper into Dolby Atmos

Evergroove Studio celebrated its 20th anniversary on Aug. 29 in the Colorado foothills, honoring two decades of work with independent artists and a growing national client base. The milestone also underscores the studio’s shift from analog roots to immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos projects and new expansion plans.

Why it matters: - Evergroove Studio’s 20-year run shows how a small, artist-centered recording space can survive major shifts in the music business. - The studio’s move into Dolby Atmos positions it for demand in immersive audio while keeping its focus on independent musicians. - The anniversary also highlights a broader Colorado music hub that has grown from local word of mouth into national work.

What happened: - Evergroove Studio marked its 20th anniversary on Aug. 29 with its annual studio party in the Colorado foothills near Evergreen. - Artists, clients, friends and members of the regional music community attended. - Brad and Jenny Smalling founded the studio, which opened in 2006. - The celebration also welcomed artists and collaborators from across the studio’s history.

The details: - Brad Smalling, a guitarist from North Texas, first became interested in recording as a teenager. - He studied guitar performance, later built a career in information technology and taught himself recording on a modest home setup. - Brad and Jenny Smalling bought the foothills property in 2001, and construction on Evergroove began in 2003. - Studio designer Wes Lachot designed the original room and traveled to Colorado to develop it on-site. - Brad worked as a commercial electrical apprentice while building the studio at night. - Evergroove opened with a mission to create a professional recording environment that independent musicians could afford and where artists would be treated as creative partners. - The first paying session came from Americana band Switchgrass, and that relationship continued across multiple projects. - The studio grew largely through word of mouth and Brad’s ties to Denver’s live music scene. - Evergroove later became a multi-year sponsor of Denver’s Underground Music Showcase and operated an Evergroove-branded stage. - The studio expanded beyond Evergreen to attract musicians from across Colorado and later from around the country. - Evergroove weathered the 2008–2009 recession, shrinking recording budgets, affordable home-recording tools, streaming and major changes in how music is made and released. - Jenny Smalling urged Brad not to leave the studio for a more predictable job during one of its hardest periods. - Evergroove started with a 32-channel analog console and outboard gear, then moved to digital workflow and later immersive audio. - The COVID-19 shutdown became the turning point for the studio’s Dolby Atmos upgrade. - Brad first experienced Dolby Atmos at NAMM in 2020 and began seriously considering immersive sound. - The studio’s immersive monitoring system was built around Focal Trio11 main speakers. - Evergroove entered an endorsing artist relationship with Focal, and that partnership continues. - Dolby approved the room for Atmos, making Evergroove a Colorado immersive-audio facility. - After the installation, Brad was introduced to Larry Ciancia, manager of Carly Simon. - Ciancia needed an Atmos-capable room to review the immersive mixes of Simon’s album No Secrets, mixed in Atmos by Frank Filipetti. - That review work led to Brad serving as the album’s Atmos mastering engineer. - Evergroove has continued working on immersive projects across genres, including Atmos work with Buju Banton. - The studio has also recorded artists including J Balvin, helping open doors to major-label and GRAMMY-connected projects. - Independent artists remain central to the business. - Athena Wilkinson joined as an intern in 2017 and developed her engineering skills under Brad’s mentorship. - Wilkinson later became a full-time team member, serving as Evergroove’s primary tracking engineer and mixing in stereo and Atmos. - Wilkinson also teaches Atmos through MixHer.

Between the lines: - Evergroove’s story is less about a single technical upgrade than a long-term business model built on relationships, flexibility and reinvestment. - The studio’s Atmos pivot signals that smaller facilities can compete in immersive audio if they pair equipment upgrades with trusted engineering talent. - Wilkinson’s rise from intern to educator suggests Evergroove is building continuity, not just renting out rooms.

What's next: - Brad and Jenny Smalling are considering an additional room, deeper Dolby Atmos work, more film and post-production projects and immersive formats including audiobooks. - Evergroove wants to become a stronger resource for independent artists navigating immersive audio without losing accessibility. - The studio plans to keep evolving while staying centered on artist collaboration.

The bottom line: - After 20 years, Evergroove is using immersive audio to grow without abandoning the independent-music values that built the studio.