Michael Ward

Michael Ward is a co-owner and General Manager for San Francisco’s Hyde Street Studios, which was opened in 1969 by Wally Heider. It became the home studio for legendary bands that went on to define not only the San Francisco sound but changed the direction of rock music forever. Bands such as The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash recorded many of the most important works of the ’60s and 70s in this off-the-beaten-path Tenderloin location. In 1980 Michael and partners bought Hyde Street Studios and carried the Bay Area musical torch into the next generation, with recordings by Green Day, Tupac, and Train. Michael, who is also a working musician, tells the story of how a landmark studio navigates a changing music scene into the digital age.