Studio 2.0 was never supposed to exist.

When Wilson County first began writing original songs, the goal wasn't to build a recording studio or release albums. The goal was simply to get our songs into the hands of established artists in hopes that someone might record them. The only problem was that we couldn't afford the normal Plan A— commercial studio time. Since Plan A wasn't an option, we came up with our own Plan B. We bought some basic recording equipment, downloaded Audacity, and started teaching ourselves how to record.

The recordings weren't intended for release. They were intended to be demos. Something happened along the way, though. The more we recorded, the more we listened, and the more we compared our work to other artists, the more we realized something surprising: the songs were good. In fact, we felt many of them were every bit as strong as songs we were hearing on Pandora, Spotify, and other streaming platforms. For the first time, releasing the music ourselves seemed possible and that decision changed everything. We had another problem. If we were going to release our own music, we needed better recordings.

Better equipment was purchased, new skills were learned, and more time was invested. What started as a simple attempt to create demos gradually evolved into a small bedroom studio in Stockdale, Texas.

That was Studio 1.0.

After moving to Seguin, a dedicated recording space was built. More equipment was added. Existing equipment was upgraded, and the studio continued to evolve. Wilson County completed its first album, County Road 434, in that room.

Later, the band's second album, Bottom of the Deck, was recorded and mixed there as well. Somewhere along the way, someone looked around and said, "We've come a long way since the bedroom in Stockdale" to which the response was: "Yeah. That was Studio 1.0. This is Studio 2.0" and the name stuck.

Meet Will Salt

Before Studio 1.0, there were simply songs that needed to be recorded.

I'm a songwriter and founding member of Wilson County. What began as an effort to record Wilson County's music eventually led me down a path I never expected. It didn't take long to realize there was far more involved in recording and mixing than I ever imagined.

I've spent a fair amount of time learning the recording process from the artist's perspective, making mistakes, solving problems, upgrading equipment, and figuring things out one step at a time. I'm still learning this craft, and I always will be, because every time you think you've figured something out, there's another layer underneath it.

When that good friend asked, "Why aren't you opening this up to other artists?", I found myself thinking about it long after the conversation was over. The more I thought about it, the more I realized there are a lot of talented people with songs they want to record and share, and many of them are facing the same challenges Wilson County faced years ago.

If I can help make that process a little easier for another artist, then opening the door is the right thing to do.