Michael Simon

simonmt@whitman.edu
Hall of Music 217
509-526-3003

Michael Simon is a Senior Lecturer of Music at Whitman College, where he teaches courses in music technology & production and instrumental applied music on the bass, and leads the Music Technology & Production track in the Music Major. Michael’s creative and scholarly work deals with the role recording and music production play within the context of modern music-making, specifically with regards to place, and the role technology plays in the furthering of musical expression and creativity.

Hailing from Walla Walla, Washington, Michael is an accomplished bassist, guitarist, producer and audio engineer fluent in pop, rock, jazz, electronic, classical, and other genres. While based in Boston in the 2000s, Michael was the bassist, lead guitarist, and backing singer for the touring pop/rock band Stepanian. During this time, Michael played almost 500 shows across the eastern US and was a part of the release of 2 full-length albums, Autumn She Leaves, Wait Out the Rain (the LP), and 1 concert DVD/album, Live at Club Passim. Additionally, he has performed in many jazz and orchestra settings, including with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the Walla Walla Symphony, Whitman College Jazz Faculty, Rob Scheps, Tom Simon, and Phil Lynch.

Advanced degree in Music Production
Berklee College of Music

B.A. Music Theory and Composition
Whitman College.

As a recording engineer and producer, Michael’s work has been featured on many albums, including Origin Records releases by Doug Scarborough, and Centaur Records releases by David Hyun-Su Kim. Michael his engineering and production skills in New England at Sackamusic Studio and independently, serving as assistant engineer or mix engineer on releases by The Nields, The Boxcar Lilies, Eric Stepanian and others, including as recording engineer for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras chamber concerts, before returning to the Pacific Northwest, where Michael has founded Coffee Ring Studios, a full-service recording studio in Walla Walla, Wash. Additionally, he has produced and engineered pop, rock, jazz, and classical releases by, Kate Morrison, Johnny Boyd, Jesse & Anna Burgess, Candace Brown, Eric Stepanian, The B Side, Rogue Lobster, Frog Hollow Band, and many others. Outside of the studio, Michael serves as on-location recording engineer in classical and acoustic environments for the Walla Walla Symphony, Walla Walla Choral Society, Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, Whitman College Department of Music, and others.

Michael’s most-recent release is Social Distancing: Four Songs of the Pandemic by the Michael Simon Project. This album was recorded entirely remotely, with no members of the band in the same room (or often the same state), and the four songs each speak to a sense of place within the context of the stay-at-home orders in the early stages of the pandemic. The album is available on all major streaming services.