Hotel honors Pittsburgh's rich musical past with recording studio & shows

PITTSBURGH - Here's a hotel amenity you seldom see: Guests at The Oaklander Hotel now can record a song at an on-site studio.

They'll step into a professional sound booth near the lobby and sing, or maybe play a musical instrument. A pro recording engineer will produce the track that will be presented to the guests in digital form.

"We give them a unique guest experience," said Chuck Kitts, director of operations at The Oaklander, on Bigelow Boulevard, a block from the Cathedral of Learning and the University of Pittsburgh campus.

The recording studio and upcoming open mic nights in the Oaklander's 10th-floor lounge, Spirits & Tales, are efforts by the three-and-a-half-year-old hotel to tie in with the neighborhood's rich musical past.

The empty lot next to The Oaklander formerly housed the Syria Mosque, one of Pittsburgh's premier concert venues where legendary acts from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis to Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, and the Ramones, entertained.

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Once home to the National Negro Opera Company and the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Mosque got torn down in 1991 despite a public effort to save the site for its historical significance.

The Oaklander pays homage to that storied musical history with the debut of the “Rock ‘n’ Oak"program including theon-site recording studiofor hotel guests, who can take home recordings of their music, and a greater emphasis on live performances. in the upstairs lounge with its panoramic views of the Oakland neighborhood.

Upcoming shows there include indie-folk singer Grace Campbell from West Virginia, and Nashville-based Pittsburgh native and singer-songwriter Noa Jordan. Jazzy rockers The Castronauts of Bradford, Pa., will play a Halloween Jazz brunch on Oct. 30 and again on the last Sunday of November.

Campbell made her Oaklander debut Oct. 14, and took the opportunity to record a few original tracks in the hotel's studio.

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"I think it's really awesome," Campbell said. "It really gives artists an opportunity to stay and practice their stuff, especially when there's more artists that are going to be in this building. It's like, 'Oh, are you here for a show? Track some things in the studio and have a good time.' It's late and the middle of the night and you can't sleep and you're excited for a show, come down to the studio and practice for it and track some stuff and have some new ideas developing."

Even non-guests can set up a time to use the studio, built by recording engineer Peter-Michel Nathan, for $75 per hour.

The Oaklander Hotel, is at 5130 Bigelow Blvd., Pittsburgh.

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Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Oaklander Hotel invites Pittsburgh guests to use recording studio