YouTube efforts like Live on KEXP and NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series have mastered the art of featuring music recorded in a live setting—supporting artists with top-notch video gear and audio equipment. In many cases, these videos wind up being the best way to hear what a band actually sounds like, better than a polished single or album—and many music fans, myself included, have found a new favorite band thanks to a recorded live session.
In the Coachella Valley, quality live recordings are few and far between. The Hermano Flower Shop in Palm Springs has done great work, yet the last upload, as of this writing, was seven months ago. Thankfully, a local musician and longtime music supporter is stepping up to fulfill this need.
Cove TV is a new studio with recording and broadcast capabilities that’s recently started putting together and recording live sessions for local bands. The first was a full set from the ferocious Fever Dog, complete with lights to shine off of their shiny matching outfits. Next came songs by new band Caña, a mix of Latin and prog rock.
Timothy Burr is one of the people behind Cove TV.
“I first learned about this opportunity when I went up to my uncle’s property, and he told me that he was having a studio built,” Burr said during a recent interview. “I thought it was going to be, like, another room in addition to what’s already there—and I was just really surprised at the capabilities of what we’re going to be able to do. Me and my uncle, Mitch Haberman, worked together and put in all of the electrical and all of the audio cables. Our max capability is 36 microphones, and if we get a couple of Toslink upgrades, we can do 48. We can also record simultaneously through our analog-to-digital recorder. For the video side of things, we have 10 SDI connections, and everything that’s connected in between the two rooms can be matrixed, so ins can be outs, and outs can be ins. It just really depends on what we need to do for a show.”
Burr ran sound at the former Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs, and he’s recently assisted with photo design work for Lazuli Bones.
“My uncle said to me that he wanted to broadcast bands live, and that’s all that he wanted to do. He was building the space so that he could have as much fun as he wanted at 3 o’clock in the morning, and no one would really bother him, neighborhood-wise,” Burr said. “All of the equipment is from my uncle, and he has been collecting gear for his 30-year career in television and show business. He’s all in with the idea that we just want to broadcast bands, and to be able to show bands online for an audience—and whoever wants to join can join in. We want to make it as big as possible, and have as top-quality bands as possible. Our goal is really that there is no goal except to have bands come and perform a great show. We get to capture it and give the footage back to the bands, because they performed it themselves.”
Cove TV’s first episode with Fever Dog streamed live on Twitch in February before being uploaded onto YouTube the following week. Burr was blown away by the initial reaction—which showed how desperately the valley craved a live session experience like this.
“The reception from our live stream was exceptional,” Burr said. “I can’t believe, for our first live stream, we had the audience and the support immediately. I powered on the stream, and people were just so excited for the first show. It was unbelievable.”
The channel is already getting attention beyond the valley as well.
“Fever Dog has since performed in a number of locations, and when they performed in Vegas, they were approached by fans who said that they heard of Fever Dog through Cove TV,” Burr said. “They’re locals out in Vegas who saw Fever Dog’s video and decided to come see their show in person—and that’s literally the goal. We definitely want people to be aware of really, really good talent that we can find and bring in and promote.”
Burr also has a home recording studio. He’s currently working on a live album with Caña, and doing some engineering work for local rock duo Analog Lab.
“I have my own home studio with professional preamps and microphones and all that industry jazz, working in FL Studio and Pro Tools,” Burr said. “I do a lot of postproduction at my house as well for Cove TV. … I’ve built some posters and stuff like that for other bands and shows over the years. I’m still open to doing that, and we’re currently making fliers and eventually merch or T-shirts or stickers for Cove TV. I am currently producing, mixing and mastering different artists. I have my own beats and production coming with an artist called Ckeelay; that is some of the stuff that I’m most excited about, other than working on Cove TV and having more incredible bands come perform with us.”
That’s not all; Burr is also continuing to lend his talents to local theaters and schools.
“I’ve helped out at the Coachella Valley Repertory over in Cathedral City on … Dirty Blonde and Once the musical,” said Burr. “… I’m currently helping out John Glenn Middle School’s production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and I’m helping the school put on the best show they possibly can. I’m teaching kids about pitches and keeping time with each other and all that stuff.”
Burr said he’s set on providing tools for artists.
“I’m willing to explore creative endeavors, and I really understand artists’ visions,” Burr said. “Everyone has something to say, and my job is to just bring out the absolute best performance that any musician comes over to do, and make that performance as elevated as possible, either through mixing techniques or idea-sharing. It’s always nice to say it’s professional, studio-quality gear as well, working with industry-standard microphones, preamps and EQs. It’s the quality we bring and the unwillingness to settle for less than what the artist’s vision truly is.”
