Third Man Live

The Third Man Live records are a continuous series of full-length albums recorded in our Blue Room which is, as much as we can tell, the only current venue in the world where a band can record a live set direct-to-tape in front of a paying audience. These shows are recorded onto one-inch 8-track tape (usually by Grammy Award-winning engineer Vance Powell) in front of lucky-to-get-a-ticket crowds. The 8-track master is mixed to 2-track tape at Third Man Studio and that tape is then used to cut the vinyl master, thus ensuring the recording remains in the analog domain the entire time and is never transferred to a digital signal. With limited-edition, split-color, black-and-blue vinyl versions of the LP only available to attendees of the show (and on rare occasions, to Vault members for extra-special releases), the black vinyl versions of the show are of unlimited pressings. At this time the Third Man Live series is only available on vinyl and not any other format. Eventually, Third Man acquired the 1953 Scully lathe originally used by King Records (3) and began implementing the direct-to-disc process to record the Third Man Live series shows, which they refer to as direct-to-acetate instead. The shows were no longer required to be taped and cut to lacquer at a later time. The first show to use this new process was for The Shins' performance on October 6, 2012. Engineers from Nashville Record Productions, such as George Ingram and Wes Garland, are usually operating the lathe when capturing the live series shows at Third Man. Originally, all vinyl were pressed by United Record Pressing until Third Man opened their own pressing plant, Third Man Pressing, where all Third Man releases are now pressed.