Sweet sounds of Harmony

Steve Crimmel was disappointed when he had to move his Painted Sky recording studio from Cambria after 15 years. But two years after his previous landlords decided to use their building for storage, Crimmel is happily settled in his current home just south of the pines.

“It’s kind of nice having a recording studio in a town named Harmony,” he said.

Located in the historic creamery, the studio’s new home is near a ceramics gallery, an art glass shop, a cafe and the Harmony Chapel.

With a population perpetually listed at 18, the one-block town of Harmony is a world away from Los Angeles, where Crimmel worked as senior staff engineer at Ocean Way Recording before opening his own studio in 1996.

“I can look over the valley and up the hill and see the cows grazing,” Crimmel said.

The 2.5-acre village was sold in June, and new owners Alan and Rebecca Vander Horst say they want to maintain Harmony’s rustic charm and identity as an artists’ community that also honors its dairy history.

Crimmel’s studio fits right in. The old creamery where he set up shop was a place to make butter and cheese in the late 1800s. Today, people make music there, thanks to Crimmel, who has previously worked with artists including the Talking Heads, Kenny Loggins and Lionel Richie.

This story was originally published August 18, 2014 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Sweet sounds of Harmony."