Meet Cory and Julia Shuman: Producers, songwriters and owners of Little Bird Big Sound

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cory and Julia Shuman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cory and Julia, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
Cory: I am from Savannah, Georgia, y’all! Savannah is home to a lot creative-arts entrepreneurs, including my parents and grandparents. My grandparents owned a gourmet basket shop on the 90’s and my parents and sister are photographers.

My whole life has been focused around art — I can remember being exposed to beautifully engineered art from a very young age. My family was always very focused on delivering really high-quality products to their clients, and that deeply impacted me!

I was also introduced to music at a young age by my Dad, who has always loved Top 40 from all decades. When I was a kid, we had a record player and a a super cool audio Hifi system that mesmerized me, and there was not one album or song that my dad didn’t know or share with me!

When I grew older I decided to go to school for music, and my family encouraged me to go for it. That kind of support in your life as a young adult is so important! During school, I started getting into the process of record making and completely fell in love with it. The whole process was like a high I could not describe — It was like the record player all over again, but this time it was so much more. I loved everything from creative writing, to recording to mixing and mastering the final product.

After school, I put a video on YouTube and got booked for a tour as a drummer and again, my family said go for it! During that time, I got to go into some amazing studios and was able to work with some really great producers — I knew then that it was my life’s calling to create music.

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Julia: I was born in Florida, and moved around a bit as a kid, but Savannah, Georgia will always be home to me! 

I grew up in a very tight-knit, musical family. My mom is a singer-songwriter and toured globally in a rock band back in the day (seriously), my dad is a bass-player, sound tech and singer, and my brother sings and plays keys and percussion as well. My grandparents were also accomplished musicians — so music is definitely in my blood!

Growing up, I often watched my parents play instruments and sing at home, in church and eventually in venues around town. My friends would often note how “different” it was to come home and find my mom rocking her electric guitar in the living room, but to me it was just normal. My parents taught me the greats from an early age, and always encouraged me to sing, play music and write.

As a teenager, I started singing in church and eventually advanced to performing with my parents at their shows. In 2011, Cory came into the picture, and we ended up forming a band with my family (mom, dad and brother), and we spent the better part of the last decade playing shows all across the southeast. 

Those years of touring and performing – on top of the musical lineage in my family and Cory’s influence – definitely set me up for what we do in our business today.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We are songwriters and producers, and own a music production company called Little Bird Big Sound. We specialize in working with young artists, which typically involves walking them through creating a song from the ground up. In our process, we cover the songwriting, recording and production of a radio-quality single or album, to post-production-editing and distribution to all streaming platforms. We definitely did not start off doing everything we do now — Little Bird Big Sound has been around for 4 years or so, and it’s taken most of that time to really dial in our niche within the larger music industry. 

When we launched our business, we would take on pretty much any type of work so that we could build up our portfolio. There were a lot of lessons learned during those early seasons in our business — we figured out who we are, what we’re passionate about, and how to hold on to things loosely.
We know that 2020 was a hard year for so many people around the world, so we want to make sure to we acknowledge that with compassion — but surprisingly enough, things really started to take off for us right as the pandemic shut everything down. We found our niche and were able to connect and work with some of our dream clients, and to top it off, we had our first experience with our artists’ music climbing the charts (not just once, but 5 times)! We were floored.
There had been so many moments over the years where we wanted to give up, we couldn’t believe that was our story. Of course, we still have the day to day struggles of running a business, but if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that when you choose persevere though the hard times and hold on loosely, the sky really is the limit.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Because we’re from Savannah, we’ll gear our answers towards our favorites in our hometown —

Our current favorite place to eat would be Flock to the Wok — an amazing, upscale Chinese restaurant located in the heart of Savannah’s historic district. We have taken almost every one of our clients there after recording sessions and it never disappoints!

We also love to explore Savannah’s historic, arts and entertainment districts — which are all home to some amazing local businesses, restaurants and boutique hotels. 

Foxy Loxy, is great local coffeehouse, and The Paris Market, Byrd Cookie Company, Nerdheim, and the Savannah Bee Company are always on our list of places to shop and explore!

When we are in Atlanta, we love to visit Centennial Park, Stone Mountain and the Georgia Aquarium or Zoo-Atlanta!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Cory: First and foremost, my wife. When Julia and I first got married, we were playing a lot of shows with our band (Tell Scarlet) and I was doing some light producing. To be honest, I really thought that at some point I would have to stop playing and producing music, get a “normal job”, and be a grown up. Even though my parents taught me that I could make a living doing what I wanted, I was terrified to be a music producer full time. But my amazing wife kept telling me, “you have to do this – I believe in you”. I’ve already mentioned how amazing it is to have my family’s support, but when your wife gets behind you and truly believes in you — you can accomplish anything! That kind of support is something that is forever. So number one, thank you to my amazing wife for joining me on this wild journey!

I also would like to give a shoutout to my family and my in-laws, as they also have been incredibly supportive of Julia and I over the years of launching and running our business.

Lastly, I want to give a shoutout to my close friend, Michael Clark. Michael is a songwriter and producer who has written for some of the greats (you’ve probably heard many of the songs he wrote). When we met, he told me that the music we were doing was really great, and I thought, “oh that was nice” — I then learned who he was. After that we started to get to know each other, and have since become really good friends. Micheal also helped us acquire some amazing recording gear along the way that helped us to grow our business, and through his own experience, he helped me understand why I needed it and how to use it correctly! If you truly want get to know someone, take the time to listen — You will gain the kind of wisdom that can change the trajectory of your life.
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Julia: There are so many, but I would definitely have to say that Cory and my family have had the biggest influence over where I am today. They are my biggest cheerleaders, teammates and collaborators, and doing life with them has impacted me in more ways than I can say.

I knew from a young age that I could sing, and my parents always encouraged me and sought out opportunities for me to develop my craft. As a shy kid, they definitely gave me the push I needed to get past my nervousness of singing in front of people, and I am forever grateful they they believed in me from a young age and opened doors for me that I wouldn’t have thought to seek out myself.

And of course, Cory has shown me a whole other side of the music world that I’ve fallen in love with. I always planned to be a singer and knew that I wanted to write songs, but I don’t think I ever would have pursued writing and producing music for other artists if he hadn’t encouraged me to do it. He believed in me even when I didn’t, and I know that he would drop everything and support any dream I have in an instant – which is truly amazing.

Website: https://www.littlebirdbigsound.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlebirdbigsound/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/littlebirdbigsound/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC30H5P-Nauz5B1Nh5BM2sw

Other: https://soundcloud.com/littlebirdbigsound https://www.allmusic.com/artist/little-bird-big-sound-mn0003820926

Image Credits
Shuman Fine Art Photography