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    Music Man on the Move

    Grammy-winning producer and engineer Stuart Sikes says goodbye Dallas, helloAustin

    Teresa Gubbins
    Oct 5, 2012 | 11:07 am
    • Music producer and engineer Stuart Sikes recently moved from Dallas to Austin.
      Photo courtesy of Stuart Sikes
    • Sikes with Baptist Generals.
      Photo courtesy of Stuart Sikes
    • Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose, for which Sikes won a Grammy.

    After 10 years making Dallas a bit cooler than it was before, music producer and engineer Stuart Sikes has packed his bags and headed south, to the town he seemed destined for all along: Austin.

    Sikes is best known for the Grammy he won in 2004 for engineering the album Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn. He relocated to Austin in September, and he will continue to mix, engineer and produce records. He says he is looking forward to working with Austin artists as well as the national artists with whom he's worked over the past 20 years.

    "My wife Diane got a job in Austin," he says. "I'm still processing it, but I'm really excited. I've spent a lot of time here; I have a bunch of friends here. And I've worked here before, with Austin bands like TV Torso, The Great Nostalgic, Collin Herring, Marcus Stripling from Pleasant Grove — hopefully we're going to do some stuff together."

    "The fact that I built Elmwood is pretty amazing," Sikes says. "I never thought I would get to do that."

    Sikes, a Plano native, moved to Dallas in 2001 after having worked at Easley-McCain Studio in Memphis, famous for its connection in the 1960s to Elvis Presley, and then as a recording destination for alt-rock bands such as Pavement, Sonic Youth and the White Stripes. (Easley-McCain suffered a catastrophic fire in 2005 and is currently undergoing restoration.)

    Sikes started as an intern and spent seven years there, mixing and engineering such acts as Jets to Brazil, Modest Mouse, the White Stripes and Cat Power.

    The Loretta Lynn record came about because Sikes had worked with Jack White of the White Stripes.

    "Her manager called and asked if I would do it," he says. "Honestly, I think they wanted the guy who mixed and recorded the White Stripes' Elephant, but he was going to charge an assload of money," says Sikes, modestly. "But I had done [White Stripes'] White Blood Cells, which Loretta's manager liked. I had worked with Jack, and they wanted to keep it in line with that. That was a long time ago, so it's a little hazy."

    As for his 10 years in Dallas, he has something solid to show for it: a studio called Elmwood Recording.

    "The fact that I built Elmwood is pretty amazing. I never thought I would get to do that," he says. "But I was traveling a lot for work, and I wanted to try and not travel as much. I would ask bands I was working with, 'If I had a studio in Dallas, would you come here to work with me?' Whether they were telling me the truth or not, they said yes. So that gave me the confidence to build it."

    The studio was finished in 2007. Sikes shared the studio with musician/producer/Renaissance man John Congleton, who's now using the space full-time. The first act to record there was Cat Power, who came to Dallas to work on her '07 release Jukebox. "I've worked on three Cat Power records," Sikes says. "My atrocious voice is on one of her songs."

    The recording industry has changed dramatically since Sikes began.

    "Instead of traveling to a studio and mixing a record with a band, people send me hard drives," he says. "I mix it and send them a song. If they want changes, they tell me — often via email. That's one thing that's a little weird: I’ve mixed I don't know how many bands where I've never met or talked to them on the phone. It's all through email.

    "What's even crazier is if they sing in a language you're not familiar with. You don't even know what the song's about. It's awesome to be able to do that. I would never have been able to do that seven years ago."

    For those reasons, among others, he has no plans to build a studio in Austin.

    "There's already a lot of good studios in Austin," he says. "The drummer from Spoon has an amazing one, Public Hi Fi, and there's another one called Wire I’ve worked at that I really like. There's a long list. But I am bringing a load of equipment, which will need a place to live. More than likely, I'll set up something when we buy a house — maybe do something in the backyard."

    Some of Stuart Sikes' favorite recent recordings:

    1. Baptist Generals, of Denton, Void Touching Faster Victuals. "They're on Sub Pop. They haven't put out a record in 10 years. We tried to record five or six years ago, but it didn't turn out the way they wanted. We did it again, and everybody is really happy. It's the best thing they've ever done."
    2. RTB2, of Denton, We Are A Strange Man. "For two people, they are more impressive than most full bands."
    3. Riverboat Gamblers, The Wolf You Feed. "They live in Austin now. I had a blast doing that. It showed you can make a really good record in 10 days."
    4. Stomacher, from San Francisco, Clara. "They’re sort of Radiohead-ish, but more on the rock side. They also have spaghetti Western reverbed-out guitars."
    unspecified
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    This week's hot headlines

    Death of Dallas Caramel Company founder leads week's most-read stories

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    Jun 14, 2025 | 10:00 am
    Dallas Caramel Company
    Dallas Caramel Company
    Dallas Caramel Company

    Editor's note: It was a newsy week in Dallas. Sadly, the founder of a Dallas sweets company passed away; there was also news of a new gourmet European market in the works and peach cobbler coming to DFW Airport. Here's a chance to get caught up on the week's most-read stories, and here's help planning a fun weekend.

    1. Dallas Caramel Company founder Rain McDermott dies at 52. Dallas entrepreneur Rain McDermott, who founded artisan caramel maker Dallas Caramel Company when she was only 34 years old, died after a battle with breast cancer; she was 52.

    2. Gourmet European Market to open in north Dallas with pierogi and more. A new food shop with a distinct European flair is coming to Dallas: Called Gourmet European Market, it's opening at 17435 Preston Rd., in a shopping center south of Frankford Road, where it will feature food products from all over Europe but with a special focus on the Eastern European countries of Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Israel, and Bulgaria.

    Gourmet European Market Polish gingerbreadPolish gingerbread at Gourmet European Market.Photo courtesy of GEM

    3. Chef and caterer opens Southern to-go cafe south of Dallas. A chef and caterer has opened an eponymous to-go cafe south of Dallas: Called The Cedric Frazier Experience, it’s an upscale soul food kitchen located at 103 Waller St., in Red Oak, where it opened on June 7.

    4. Dallas cuts slack on senior homeowners with new property tax exemption. Dallas seniors who own a home got cut a break: On June 11, the Dallas City Council approved additional property tax relief for senior and disabled homeowners by increasing the city’s property tax exemption for residents who are 65 or older or disabled.

    5. Peach cobbler concept to open 2 locations at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Southern desserts are coming to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW): The Peach Cobbler Factory, a chain based in North Carolina, will open not one but two locations at the airport. The first DFW location will open in Terminal D in late 2025; a second location will open in the new Terminal C Pier in 2026.

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