For the second year in a row, Camden County College Teaching Administrator, David Downham, alongside his colleague, CCC Alumnus Matthew Weber ’08, has contributed to a Grammy Nominated album. David and Matthew both received engineering nominations on the following releases: Best Traditional R&B Performance: Adam Blackstone, featuring Jazmine Sullivan ‘Round Midnight’ (2022) and Best Instrumental Jazz Album: Adam Blackstone Legacy: The Instrumental Jawn (2023). While they lost the Grammy to Beyonce in 2022, ‘Round Midnight’ was listed on President Barack Obama’s Favorite Music of 2022 list.
David is a South Jersey native, and attended high school in Haddon Township. He then went on to attend college at University of the Arts in Philadelphia and graduated with a degree in Music Composition and a minor in Jazz Guitar. David has co-owned Gradwell House Recording in Haddon Heights, NJ for nearly 20 years, and his “day-job” is as the Studio Manager, Recording and Mastering Engineer. He is also a musician and producer. Matthew serves as the Chief Recording Engineer at Gradwell House Recording.
David began teaching as an adjunct faculty member in the Music Recording program at CCC nearly 16 years ago after he was contacted by Dr. Michael Billingsley- his former classmate at University of the Arts- who had heard of David’s studio through CCC students. David has been a full-time Teaching Administrator for the Audio Production program since 2019.
For David, teaching is about sharing his passion for the music industry with students.
“I love being able to introduce students to the world of audio and music and to make them aware of a new possible lifestyle/career that they had never considered. Many of my peers in the industry are wonderful, passionate people who love what they do,” David said. “I want to inspire the next generation of those individuals.”
David and Matthew’s success is proof that there are exciting opportunities available for students interested in the music industry.
“The pandemic heavily impacted our industry, especially the live sound world, which has seen a high rate of attrition,” explained David. “There are opportunities in that world to become a live sound technician (Front of House and Monitors) as well as a member of the crew, a stage manager or even a tour manager. In the studio world there are opportunities to become a recording, mixing or mastering engineer as well as a producer or beatmaker.”
Good luck to David, Matthew, and the rest of the talented individuals who worked on Legacy: The Instrumental Jawn. The 2024 Grammys will air live on Sunday, Feb. 4, on CBS and Paramount+.