Whisperwood Recording Studios came about as a passion for music ministry and audio engineering. Our story is really a story about me and my passion for music and audio.

The First Studio Did Not Open

I had originally planned to open a commercial recording facility back in 1979 in Toronto. I still have the original business plan as well as the equipment list from that time. Suffice it to say that our current base of technology is much superior to the equipment I could afford back then. I'm also not sure that I had the maturity at that time to make a commercial facility thrive and, for that reason, I went on to university where I completed degrees in business and computer science and pursued a professional career that allowed me to fund a professional recording facility.

The Early Years As A Solo Artist

During the 1970's I was very active as a solo artist and guitar player. The picture below was taken at a bible college in Peterborough, Ontario. Brent Cantelon was the piano player and he now leads Christian Life Assembly which is a large church in British Columbia. Brent joined up with another friend of mine named Glen Soderholm to form a band called 11:59 which enjoyed some strong local success in the Toronto area. Glen went on to become a pastor at a Presbyterian church and he still maintains an active music ministry. Both Brent and Glen taught me a great deal about faith and about excellence in music ministry.

Session and Band Work

I began playing with The Lighthouse Gospel Singers somewhere around 1977. Roger and Shirley Pavy put up with a somewhat temperamental guitar player and yet they provided me with two very significant and life changing insights: 1) the importance of ministry and 2) the need to develop and grow musical talent. My first recording session and my first album was with the Lighthouse Gospel Singers. From there I went on to record on literally hundreds of projects.

My first recording session was in Superior Sound Studios in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Fred "Bulldog" Cameron was the recording engineer and Tony Brown was the producer. Both men enjoyed much success in the recording industry.

Passion Discovered

The experience in the studio was absolutely wonderful and I knew that I would have to pursue this passion for music and audio engineering. I spent about five years playing and working in a variety of recording studios as well as traveling with a number of groups. I was fortunate that I could contribute my musical talents in ministry. In addition to Lighthouse, I also played with The Soul Survivors, Breakthrough Band, Stacey Band as well as my own individual work.

Career and Family

I married Lorraine in 1979 and in 1981 I went to the University of Western Ontario. For the next ten years I put music and audio to one side as I prepared for a career which eventually led to senior executive positions with the London Life Insurance Company as well as the Bank of Montreal. In 1990 I renewed my passion for music and audio and we built Whisperwood Recording Studios in our home in London, Ontario. In tandem with our ministry in recording we were also active in music ministry at West Park Baptist Church. When London Life was bought out by the Great West Life Company we moved to Newmarket, Ontario. And it is here that we now focus our ministry work with our recording studio.

Passion Renewed

The years have been very good to me, Lorraine and our three children: Tara, Joshua and Matthew. We love our ministry in music and we have been honored to work with many talented Christian artists over the years. To our friends who read our story: may God's richest blessing be upon you.

Richard