Musician, Educator, Recording Engineer
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Jake Pardee is a professional musician with a diverse skill set. Jake works as a session guitarist, music educator, and accomplished recording engineer.
Jake's expertise spans recording, teaching, and audio production, with a focus on facilitating creativity and artistic growth. He holds a degree from Berklee College of Music and is the owner of Maritime Music Studio where he has engineered recording sessions for acclaimed artists like Timo Shanko and voice-over work for Discovery Channel's Expedition Unknown with Josh Gates.
In addition to his studio work, Jake has an impressive performance history, having played with the Naples Philharmonic, been part of the Broadway production Mean Girls, and toured extensively with renowned reggae musicians.
At 4 years old, I was obsessed with the music of Jimi Hendrix.
So, naturally, I begged my parents for a guitar for Christmas. To cut to the chase, behind the tree that year in our home in Rockport, MA was a big box with my name on it and a 1984 Squier #1 Bullet inside. It was my first guitar, and remains my prized possession.
Since then, I’ve collected quite a few more guitars, and the initial excitement of discovery—of learning to make music—has stuck with me. I still use that Squier at my studio. It is a physical reminder that I am grateful to be playing and of the wonderful people who have inspired and helped me to develop my musical skill.
When I was young, I studied with the composer Robert Bradshaw, who taught me the basics of how the guitar works and how to play a bunch of my favorite songs. I was too young to stay focused on anything for long, but any piece that Mr. Bradshaw taught me, I would practice over and over again until I had absorbed it completely.
Those early days were my first steps on a path that I’ve stayed on for nearly 30 years. When my students ask me how long it will take to be able to play well, I typically reply, “I’m sure it’ll take you less time than it took me!” I learned slowly—a frustration in my youth, but something I now see as a blessing as it allowed for the development of a deep sense of feeling for and connection with my instrument.
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In my teenage years, I played in rock bands, studied jazz with Anthony Weller, performed with the Ipswich High School jazz ensemble under the direction of Gerry Dolan, and attended New England Conservatory on weekends. I attended Berklee College of Music, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Business Management and studied with too many extraordinary teachers to list here.
I began performing with my own band in my twenties—Pier Ave, a beach-rock/reggae group featuring local friends. I also played as a member of Mamadou Diop’s African music ensemble and acted as the music director of legendary Jamaican reggae group Cultural Roots featuring Wade Dyce. I had many opportunities to work with heroes of mine, including Flabba Holt from the Roots Radics and Glen DaCosta, saxophonist for Bob Marley and the Wailers. In 2022, I began performing with the Naples Philharmonic in shows featuring Tony award-winning actor Brian Stokes Mitchell. In spring of 2023, I joined the production of Mean Girls on Broadway’s first national tour in Naples, FL.
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The catalyzing moment of my musical journey came in 2015 when I opened the Morrison Sound Studio in Gloucester, MA, teaching private lessons and recording local bands. I expanded to a new space in 2017, opening Maritime Music Studio where I currently produce music for a wonderful group of clients, offer private instruction for a diverse studio of musicians, and record professional narration and voiceovers for television and advertising, including recent work with Josh Gates for his Discovery Channel show Expedition: Unknown.
I remain as excited about all aspects of music as I was on that Christmas morning in the ‘90s. I enjoy continuing to improve my craft, learning about learning while working with inspired and inspiring students, and living each day steeped in my delight in music, and my gratitude for the ability to work in the field as a creator and educator.
