815 Rosedale Drive   New Orleans, LA.   70124

For those of you who may not have heard, as of January 1st, I will be retiring from the audio business I’ve been in for the last 35 years. From the very beginning at Rum Productions, to all the incarnations of Audio Works, its been a long journey and I’ve loved almost every minute of it. Billy Theriot of Southern Sound Services will be taking over ownership of Audio Works. Billy brings to the job over a decade of voiceover and ADR recording experience as well assound editorial work in the film and TV business, skills that will serve him well in his new role. He will operate Southern Sound Services in the Audio Works studios at the same location,815 Rosedale Drive. The phone number remains the same, 504 484 3833, and you can email him at billy@southernsoundservices.com. As your audio recording needs arise, you can trust Billy to provide the same level of quality from Southern Sound Services as I have provided for years.

My start in this business goes back to 1984, when Jim Rumsfeld hired me to work at the new Rum Productions facility at 824 Baronne Street. With Jim, Bob Dunn, Judy Lilley, Connie Armbruster, and a long list of others, we produced tons of radio spots, and had so much fun while doing it. I’ll never forget the first time I heard one of the spots I had produced on the air, and later, a “Rum Break”, where all of the radio spots in a commercial break were produced by Rum Productions. I could never possibly thank Jim enough for giving me my big break, and everyone else at Rum for their help and support over the years.

In 1997, I left the security of working for a company to become a company, and Audio Works was born. After some success working from home, it was Lenny Delbert who convinced me to move into the building on Carrollton Ave. Lenny, Joan Delbert, Heather Howard, Matt Borel, Lenny Jr., and Michael Campbell were all instrumental in raising my little enterprise to a new level. We had a blast during the many lunches generously provided by Lenny & Joan, and the countless jokes in Lenny’s repertoire. “It’s a knick-knack, Patty Wack….” it makes me laugh just thinking about it.

And then Katrina happened. Both Pan AM Communications and Audio Works were left with a muddy mess, and almost nothing else. It was touch and go for a while…. and then Larry Peter of Ad Sound offered me his studio space on Howard Avenue to operate from. Jim Land and Stan Gelpi made me feel very much at home, and could not have done more to make working there a pleasure.

From Howard Avenue, Audio Work’s next move was to the building on Canal Street, which eventually became the home for Michael Campell and Soup Factory Digital. When it became apparent that we could not stay in the Canal Street location, Michael found our great, current building on Rosedale Drive. Michael and Patty were very helpful with the move, and both have continued to offer support thru our years there.

And clients and colleagues.… Lots and lots of clients and colleagues.… Karen Adjami, Robert Alford, Lori Archer-Smith, Jared Arsement, Gralen Banks, John Barouse, Cindy Bower, Greg Buission, Michael Campbell, Karen Carvin, Bill Cassanova, Nathan Chapman, Troy Cox, Joan & Lenny Delbert, Matt Dosotell and everyone at MLC Works, Lana Duke, Pia Ehrhardt, Larry Esciduier, James Farwell, Stuart Feigley, Dave Frentz, Susan Garver, Stan Gelpi, Chris Henneman, Jackson Hill, Kathy Hirsch, Heather Howard, Shelby Hunter, David Jones, Laura Lee Kileen, Byron Leblanc, King Logan, Tom Long, Phillip Manuel, Josh Mayer and everyone at Peter Mayer, Rene Michelle, Jacques Morial, David, Shane, and Troy Mutter, Ron Nabone, Marcy Nathan, Mary Negrotto, Rob Olmstead, David Oreck, Jackie Palumbo, Fred Peer, Larry Peter, April Robinson, Bill Rouselle, Jim Rumsfeld, Bob Rupp, Joe Sanford, Deno Seder, Victoria Short, Dee Smith, Nick Spitzer, Kevin Stuart, Ray Teddlie, Tom Varisco, Richard Wallace, Tommy Williams, Webb Williams, Nancy Willy, and Kitt & Billy Wohl… Everyone of you and so many, many more all played a part in the success of Audio Works. Thanks is just simply not enough.

Over the years, I’ve also had the privilege of working with an amazing array of voice talent…Dave(not the Weatherman) Barnes, Charlie Detraz, Stocker Fontelieu, Ken Hanson, Mike Herrara, Larry McKinley, Paul Scheirhorn, Peter Thomas, Ronnie Virgets, Samantha Beaulieu, Matt Borel, Maureen Brennan, Bonnie Cantelli, Linda Cassidy, Tracy Collins, Leon Contravesprie, Tim Fahey, Wayne Ferrara, Susan Gebhardt, Lara Grice, Ron Gural, Mara Junot, Karen Kia-Livers, Don Lewis, Phillip Manuel, Maria Mason, Spud McConnel, Patrick McNamara, Middleton O'Malley, Sean Patterson, Brian Perry, Lisa Picone, Dane Rhodes, Gary Rutgers, Janet Shay, Billy Slaughter, Sheldon Smith, Steve St.John, Millie Stouse, Deneen Tyler, Devyn Tyler, and Thomas Uskali to mention only a very few of gifted artists I’ve had the honor to work with over the years.

And hats off to all the politicians… from races for Governor, to almost every elected City Council person and more, almost everyone who has run for public office in New Orleans and Jefferson has been in the Audio Works booth.

From the early days of editing reel-to-reel tape, thru time code sync, to an all digital workflow, to collaborating with people from around the world over the internet, a lot has changed in the past 35 years. It’s been a very long journey, and none of this would have been possible without the tremendous help and un-ending support of so many people along the way. You have all been part of Audio Works, and I am forever grateful to each and every one of you.

As for what’s next, I’m looking forward to doing some volunteer work here in Hammond, and hopefully more pool time. And of course, visiting New Orleans just for fun!