Inside Abbey Road — In John’s Own Words

Written by John Barwick

Today is Friday the 13^th, 2026. In my life, I’ve been in two recording studios. Technically they’d be considered home studios, but both had great equipment and engineers who knew their craft. Today, I’ll enter my third, which is arguably the most famous in the world. As I look down at the streets of London (another great song) from my hotel room, I wonder how I wound up 4,000 miles from home and at least a step or two outside of my comfort zone.

When I started writing music again after a long break, I remember setting some basic ground rules for myself. My relationship with music has been love-hate for most of my life, and I didn’t want to repeat the burnout that led me to leave it behind for a decade. So, I made it a point to remove any external expectations for my music from the equation. I’d write just for the sake of it with what tools I had, which at that time were a Yeti mic and a PC. I figured I would never be in the studio again or release music, besides sharing it with a few friends. That may seem like negative thinking, but it was really freeing. I would just do my own thing. If I’d made it as best I could and it was authentic, that’s really all that matters. 

Back to today. It’s a 19-minute walk from our hotel to Abbey Road. My drummer friend, Tony Stiglitz, and my son, Jack, are also playing on the session. Tony has been here before and knows the way. We weave through the quiet residential streets for a bit. As we round a corner, I see the famous crosswalk. Now the gravity of the moment and a large swarm of butterflies really hit me. It’s surreal that I’m recording one of my songs here today. 

After checking in at the front desk, we make our way downstairs to meet Saskia and Kris, who’s producing the song, in the cafeteria. As luck has it, the doors to both Studios 1 and 2 are open, and the three of us step just inside each space. #2 has an aura you can feel. I clap my hands just to hear the space. Yes, it sounds just as good as I had imagined.

We’re recording in the Gatehouse today. A comforting observation for me once we arrive is that the live room is roughly the same size and shape of my recording space (bonus room) at home. It’s fairly intimate, which fits the song perfectly. That’s where the similarities end. I’ve never seen so much high-end vintage equipment in one place. The gear nerd in me just wants to start peppering the engineer, Freddie, who is a lovely guy, with a million questions, but I manage to keep those bottled up for the most part. Tony and Kris start dialing in the drums, and we’re off.

Tony is a bit of a legend in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina music scene and a pro, so he and the bass player, Diego, another awesome person and pro player, lock in and knock their tracks out in a few takes. Next up is the piano part. This is my son’s first time in a recording studio. I can’t imagine how nervous I would be if I were his age and tracking piano at Abbey Road, but he handles it well. 

Now it’s my turn. My wife and daughter arrive at the studio while I’m recording guitar tracks. They made the trip with me, which makes it even more special. The Stratocaster I’m borrowing from the studio has the large 70’s headstock, and we’re running that through a Marshall amp, so I do my best to channel Robin Trower just a little bit during the solo. I even ask if there’s a vintage Uni-Vibe on the grounds, but alas that is probably one of the only things they don’t have. A few more electric overdubs, and then I add some acoustic guitar using a couple of really impressive Lowdens. I’m in heaven.

I don’t fancy myself a singer per se, so recording vocals, especially in a place like this, is a little nerve wracking. As I step up to the mic, I keep thinking about how I wish I’d keyed the song down a step or two and how great the microphone sounds while I should be concentrating on singing. I trudge through it and finally get a decent take or two. Saskia comes in and adds some background vocals off the cuff, which is a beautiful thing to observe and an even better thing to listen to. And just like that, it is almost 8:00pm and time to wrap things up. We’ve been here since 10:00am, but it’s flown by so fast. I’m exhausted but exhilarated. What a day…

In the Uber back to the hotel, I’m still trying to figure out how I got here. I guess it boils down to a Facebook ad, a willingness to have my songs evaluated, and a few bucks. It may seem contradictory, but that change in mindset I wrote about several paragraphs ago actually gave me the freedom to submit multiple songs to TITA last year and may have been the difference between sitting the contest out and having this amazing experience with my family. Whether I received constructive criticism or low scores on my entries, which I definitely did on a couple, or the judges liked one or two, I would remember that I’d written them the best I could, they expressed something authentic in me, and that’s really all that matters.