Editor’s note: Make it Missoula has partnered with the University of Montana’s Online News class, taught by Jule Banville, to create a new Citizen Journalism feature that’s all about local views and issues. We’re excited to provide these students with a platform so they can objectively explore and report about the topics they think reflect the lives and times of Missoula and its citizens.
By RACHEL A. SEIDENSTICKER
After recording seven jazz CDs and headlining clubs in Chicago, appearing on ABC’s “The Commish,” and performing, acting, and modeling across the world, Eden Atwood found herself back in Missoula about 10 years ago.
Claude Pineault, a French-Canadian singer-songwriter with his own set of Quebec pop hits, found Eden on Facebook and wanted just to give her a song he had written. One year later, they were married.
Now, they juggle parenthood, careers, 25 students, and a studio they opened on the Northside in 2010. They built Pinewood Studios in a converted garage to bring their experience to singers starting out and to continue working together as singers professionally.
At Pinewood, Atwood and Pineault are helping students of all ages grow as singers, record their own music, and learn instruments such as guitar and piano. The studio also acts a bridge between Quebec and Montana, as Pineault still writes music and helps record Québécois clients long-distance through technology.
The couple continues to teach music as their shared passion, and they are working on producing their first record together called “A Deux.”
Rachel A. Siedensticker is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Montana.