About

crow and a hat recording is founded by Cameron Ulshafer, an audio engineer and Bay City native.

I grew up being addicted to local radio. 97.3 Joe FM was my favorite and I would memorize their playlists. “Tom Sawyer” would always go into “Cars” and “TNT” meant there was an AC/DC power block where a half hour of pure rock would go down. It lead to me buying tapes of Chicago, Quiet Riot, and Guns n’ Roses. I would quiz my mom on all the song titles and the year they would come out. It was obsessive.

When I turned 16, my life would change with the discovery of Hip Hop – A Tribe Called Quest, specifically. Going down that rabbit hole led me to production, pirating FL Studio on my desktop and finding out how they made the beats for “Through the Wire” and “m.A.A.d City”. Entering college I participated in many groups trying to grow this new skill set into audio production. I found Moore Media Records, a club on campus that recorded a sampler of local music every year. Recording, mixing, mastering – it was all there! Some live audio experience, too. I soon became the Production Manager of the org and made a lot of music for four years.

After this I worked at Interlochen Center for the Arts as a Lead Audio Tech, providing audio support for a ton of student produced and faculty shows, including concerts and musicals. I also supported nationally touring acts as they passed through Interlochen. I have worked with the teams of Elvis Costello, Brandi Carlile, Norah Jones, 311, Neon Trees, and many more.

Today, I am a free agent. So I am going all in on my dreams to help creatives make great music. The purpose of crow and a hat is to provide a more egalitarian approach to music making. As Spotify and Apple Music continue to reduce the sustainability of music, I feel a lot of responsibility to share my knowledge and experience to as many people as possible. To expand the access of making music would result in a richer community and an opportunity to strengthen the cultural identity of Bay City, Michigan.