about anna…
Anna Frick has dedicated her career to elevating and preserving recorded music; and to supporting and inspiring the community that surrounds it. A chance experience behind a mixing desk while still in high school set the Colorado native on a path that would lead to her working on GRAMMY-winning albums, historically significant restoration projects, mentoring, and industry leadership. She has worked on recordings by Billy Strings, GRAMMY nominees Wood & Wire, Justin Moses, Roland Guerin, and both volumes of Third Man Records’ monument, The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records. Anna is involved in advocacy and mentorship in Colorado and beyond through the Recording Academy, Audio Engineering Society, SoundGirls, and the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Anna took the first steps towards her career in audio while still in high school, when she commissioned a recording of songs written and sung by a friend. During tracking, Anna asked the engineer about the gear they were using, and offered her own musical and sonic suggestions as the session went on. At the end of recording the engineer commented to Anna that she had a knack for engineering and production, she replied that she had enjoyed it, and wished it wasn’t over. After giving her a puzzled look, he remarked, “You know, you can do this as a career, right?”. It was a prescient question.
Anna studied formally at University of Colorado, Denver. After graduation she began working as a freelance engineer, before taking her first studio job, editing non-music audio. Driven to work with music, Anna soon moved on to a position as assistant engineer at Boulder, CO’s Airshow Mastering, where she worked for twelve years, elevating quickly to Senior Mastering Engineer, and Restoration Center Manager. Through her own diligent curiosity, and with the help of mentors like Dominic Maita, Anna developed a mastering style characterized by thoughtful listening and careful attention to the clients’ creative vision. She left Airshow in 2022 to start her own studio - Ally Sound - focusing on mastering, restoration and education.
In the world of audio restoration, Anna is challenged every day to determine the best method to revive old and historic recordings and to them preserve them in accordance with archival standards. Every piece of audio she works with is unique, and they run the gamut from precious home recordings to historic audio. Format and condition sometimes only allow one shot at transferring a recording to digital so that it can be restored, and preserved. By relying on her expertise and thorough research, Anna meets the diverse challenges audio restoration presents, and ensures that sentimental, or historically significant sound recordings are listenable for generations to come.
Outside of the studio, Anna is a dedicated mentor and supporter of women working in all levels of professional audio. She holds leadership positions at The Recording Academy, the Audio Engineering Society (AES), SoundGirls, and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Within each of these organizations Anna is a voice for equity, diversity, and inclusion, with a powerful commitment to enacting change. She understands how difficult it can be for aspiring professionals to envision themselves in positions where they are under-represented, and takes her influence as a role model very seriously. Anna is excited to see young women rise in the industry to become colleagues, and to use their own influence to tackle issues within their profession.
As a fan of live music, Anna is fervent supporter of the vibrant Colorado music scene, and can often be found at concerts and festivals up and down the Front Range. That love of music that drew Anna into a recording studio for the first time is just as strong as it was when she was in high school; and in the time since, her skill and dedication have grown to match it.
(written by Jeremy Darrow)