Studio B Entertainment owner Dwight Jones made a substantial investment when he decided to move his recording studio from 450 square feet of space in Well Bottom, Southampton to its present location on Cemetery Road in Pembroke.

There, over the last year, he converted close to 2,000 square feet of one big upstairs room into a purpose-built recording studio that will be the envy of others not only in Bermuda but the Caribbean area as well.

The new facility marked its arrival with a grand opening two weeks ago that was attended by political figures; Minister Terry Lister cut the ribbon while MP Randy Horton was also in attendance.

Musicians like Junior C., Geneman, Ras Mykkal, Tempo, Shine Hayward, Johnny Woolridge, Randy Lambert and Tyrone Stovell were present.

Both Power-95 and Mix-106 carried the opening live for two hours while the celebrations continued into the evening.

For Mr. Jones it is a dream come true from 1994 when he went to Atlanta to study Music Production and Engineering at the Art Institute of Atlanta.

A studio in his home in 1995 was followed by more space for Studio B at Well Bottom.

Now the business has grown to three sound isolation studios, designed to meet the needs of Bermuda's recording artists, and eventually international clientele as well.

"When I returned to Bermuda I tried to work full-time and do the studio part-time and couldn't do it,'' explained the 35-year-old Mr. Jones.

"Something was pulling at me and I totally relied on God and my obedience to Him and decided to do it full-time. I knew I could do good work, but whether people would patronise me was another question.

"It's been a substantial investment. The money we've made has been re-invested in the company so we can get a little further ahead. I took a lot of advice from a lot of people. I received some good advice as well as some bad advice.'' Studio B provides a number of services, from recording soundtracks to radio commercials, audio for video, demos, complete albums, CD duplication and music instruction.

Right now they provide piano lessons, and pretty soon will have violin, guitar, voice and an artist development programme. Wendell Simmons is a part-time engineer there who helps with production. "Dwight is mainly focused on the creative side of production, whereas I'm the gatekeeper, so to speak,'' said Studio B manager Cal White Jr.

Mr. White also has an entertainment background as half of the Just Us dance pairing he formed with best friend Jamal Williams.

They made three appearances at the Apollo Theatre, the third with Carol Ann Williams. "My role will become larger once we get the artist development programme off the ground. When I was coming up as a youngster we didn't have these types of tools and avenues available.

"We want to show the talent that's coming along that they don't have to think just Bermuda anymore, that there is a whole world waiting for them. We want to show them the way.'' Mr. Jones was a member of reggae band Jahstice from 1990 to 1998 when he met Mr. White who proved an ideal replacement for the business when secretary Annette Busby left.

"I saw in Cal his desire which was so rare,'' said the Studio B owner.

"I had a secretary working for me who was very good and I was so sad when she moved on.

"Apart from the fact we want to become the premier studio in the Caribbean (region) is the underlying fact that we want Bermuda to shine and set an example as well. We can be the pacesetters.

"We want to market ourselves to overseas artists. Why not record in Bermuda where there is peace and tranquillity.'' Mr. Jones, who played keyboards, the drums and then was lead singer for Jahstice, was given music gifts by both sides of his family.

In fact, his grandfathers, Richard Jones and Erskine Zuill, once played guitar together. "My momma (Lois Jones) really believed in me, I would like to thank her, especially, and my wife for being so understanding,'' he stated.