Music Superstore
Studio Production Staff
Jeff Collins
Crossroads Co-Owner / Producer / Production & Studio Coordinator
Jeff began his career in the studio, working with legendary Eldridge Fox, beginning in the early 80’s. Partnered with Eldridge and Anthony Burger in the business endeavor Horizon Music Group, Eldridge and Anthony began turning over many of their productions to Jeff to produce. As Horizon grew into a major Gospel record company, Jeff continued honing his skills as a producer/pianist/session leader/vocal producer and arranger.
Today, Jeff continues to carry on in the Gospel industry as a leading producer, winning Harmony Honors Producer of The Year 2005. He has worked with many Gospel Artists, too many to name, and continues his desire to see Gospel music reach a much larger audience.
“Many years ago I prayed that one day I would have a career in the studio business,” states Jeff. “The Lord has allowed me to do just that for over 20 years now! What a blessing!”
Chief Engineer / Musician
Gospel, Bluegrass and Contemporary engineer Van Atkins began his recording career in 1990. Since that time he has recorded and mixed hits for the Kingsmen, Isaacs, Mark Bishop, the Talley Trio, McKameys, and the Kingdom Heirs, as well as, artists such as Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Tony Rice, Adam Steffey, Ivan Parker, Jake Hess, Lauren Talley, Inspirations, Karen Peck & New River, and many others.
In the last few years Van has made the change from analog tape to complete digital recording and mixing, embracing Digidesigns Pro Tools system. Recording and mixing “in the box” using only pro tools, has opened up a world of useful techniques for molding and making great records.
Also, being a musician himself, Van understands what it feels like to be on the other side of the glass and can relate to the artists needs and emotions, which will always translate to a better performance and finally a better record.
Currently Chief Engineer with Crossroads, Van says he feels that he has just touched the surface of where he wants to be in this industry and will continue to develop his craft as long as he can. By combining his work with the top gospel and bluegrass artists in the country and his passion for furthering his knowledge in the world of audio production, Van has become a leader in the gospel and bluegrass industry.
Scott Barnett
Recording Engineer / Musician
Scott Barnett, a salutatorian graduate of Full Sail School of Sound Engineering has a wealth of experience in the recording business (12 years as a Chief engineer) and a very good knowledge of the gospel industry. Scott has recorded many chart topping gospel artists, such as The Inspirations, The Kingsmen, The McKameys, Mark Bishop, and many more. He has several Top 20 & Top 40 songs to his credit and is well versed in a wide variety of musical styles ranging from rock to opera and big band to bluegrass.
Scott is also a musician and stays very active in the live sound industry. Furthermore, he strives continually to educate himself and improve his knowledge of recording technology in order to provide the very best quality and recording experience to all the clients he works with.
Danny Crawford
Pianist / Producer
Danny is from Liberty, SC. Growing up, his mother was the church pianist and he would sit on the stool beside her as she practiced, and would pick out notes that blended with what she was playing. He says, “One of the highlights of my week was Sunday mornings. That’s when the gospel music TV shows (Gospel Jubilee, The Kingsmen, Blue Ridge Quartet) would come on. I’d sit there mesmerized and think to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do one day’.”
At the age of 13 he began traveling with a local gospel group from upstate South Carolina. Through his teen years he continued playing with local groups and also began playing on their recordings. Around the age of 23, he took his first full-time playing position with the Rex Nelon singers from Atlanta. Through that affiliation he met Karen Peck, and in 1990, he and Karen formed the group New River. In late 1992, he stopped traveling with New River, turned the daily operations of his music store over to a manager, and began playing sessions on a full-time basis.
He currently travels throughout the southeast working for numerous studios and record companies as a keyboard player, producer and arranger. His session credits are definitely a “who’s-who” list of southern gospel artists (Ruppes, Martins, Kingsmen, Dove Brothers, Karen Peck, Ivan Parker and many others). He has scores of top 10 and #1 songs that he has produced and/or played on. He covers a wide variety of musical bases. He has just finished the music tracks for the Miss South Carolina Pageant for the fifth consecutive year. In recent years he has also published a book and CD for keyboard players, “121 Fills for Gospel and Country Piano” that is distributed by Mel Bay publications.
As for Crossroads Studios, Danny says, “This is one of my very favorite places to work. I personally bring clients here because it sounds GREAT, it’s a truly Christian atmosphere and the customer gets a GREAT product at a GREAT price.”
David Johnson
Musician / Arranger
There was no end of exposure to music in David’s home. His dad played guitar, mandolin and fiddle; his mom played guitar; both grandfathers, Bill Johnson and Claude Caudill played old-time banjo; and his mom's brothers played guitar, mandolin, and banjo.
In the 60’s David began to apply his talents playing guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, bass, autoharp, and later, pedal steel guitar with various local bands in North Carolina. During these years, David discovered several recording studios’ need of musicians and began working as a studio musician.
As David’s work expanded to other area studios (including one built in 1975 by Marshal Craven) David met many more musicians to learn from, and as there was a hotbed of southern gospel groups working the area, several of these players were pianists. From these trained musicians David got to hear classical music and endeavored to learn more about reading number charts and chord theory.
Today, David is one of the most sought after studio musicians in the southeast.
“The gospel music that I get to record and help create is all the more meaningful to me now since the surrender of my life to Jesus. The Lord has blessed me with a beautiful family and a wealth of musical friendships. No man could ask for more.”
Roger Fortner
Musician / Arranger
Roger started his career in gospel music playing bass guitar with the Inspirations in 1973 at 15 years old, where he stayed until 1981. Roger has also toured with The Happy Goodmans, The Hoppers, The Greenes and The Talley Trio.
Currently he tours with the very popular McKameys with wife Connie and son Eli. Since 1975, Roger has continued to be very involved in studio work playing bass, electric and acoustic guitars.
Jeremy Medkiff
Musician
Jeremy Medkiff moved to Nashville at the tender age of 15 and began working in the Southern Gospel Music industry, playing guitar for various groups. After several years of live performance, he moved into the session scene as a studio musician in Nashville and in other parts of the Southeast. Jeremy plays mainly electric and bass guitar, and has played on many well-known hits, and is a much sought after studio musician.
Jeremy is also a worship pastor in Nashville, TN and says his passion for music is derived directly from his love for the Lord, and his deep desire to be used of God in music.
He is committed to excellence, evidenced in both his spirit and in his work as a musician.
Milton Smith
Orchestrator / Producer / Arranger
Music has always been a part of Milton’s life, growing up in a household where his Dad played the guitar; his Grandmother played the piano and there was always singing at home and at church.
In 1977, Milton became the pianist for J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet. There he played not only for the group, but also for Elvis Pressley during the gospel portion of the show. Milton had the honor of playing Elvis’ favorite hymns at Elvis’ funeral.
Milton was also a member of Tammy Wynette’s band and later played for the Singing Americans. He also performed shortly for the Bill Gaither Trio and The Vocal Band. More recently, Milton filled in as pianist for Ernie Haase and Signature Sound.
Today, Milton is well known for his orchestrations not only in the gospel industry, but also in the world of pageant tracks, including Miss America.
Roger Talley
Producer
An East Tennessee native, Roger Talley began singing with and playing piano for his family at a young age. After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a degree in agricultural business, he began his career in gospel music playing piano for the Hoppers and has remained a driving force in the industry for over 30 years.
Roger is an accomplished pianist, producer and arranger and has been awarded for his achievements in the recording studio from the Southern Gospel Music Guild Harmony Honors in 2004 and the SGN Music Awards in 2007 for Producer of the Year.
Roger has produced projects for such artists as Jake Hess, Ivan Parker, the John Hagee Family, the Collingsworth Family, the Kingsmen, and many of Lauren Talley’s solo recordings, as well as all projects by the Talley Trio.
Roger is an avid sports fan and enjoys following all University of Tennessee sports teams, especially the Tennessee Lady Vols, and the Tennessee Titans.
Tony Creasman
Drummer
Tony Creasman began playing the drums at a very young age and knew early on his God given talent as a percussionist and drummer would be his career choice. Tony began his studio session work in the 80’s and quickly became sought out as a first class studio session drummer. Tony has played on many top gospel recordings over the last 30 years, much of his work performed at Crossroads Studios. The list of number one songs he has played a part in over three decades exceeds the forties and continues to grow every year. Tony has also been session drummer for such popular artists as Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Allison Krauss, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Sam Bush, and Tony Rice…just to name a few!
