Local music fans may know Bob Lord best as bassist for the heavy-hitting, prog-rock trio Dreadnaught. But Lord is also the musical mastermind behind Parma Recordings, a Hampton-based audio production company with five label imprints—Navona, Capstone, Soundbrush, Big Round and Ravello.

It may come as some surprise to Dreadnaught fans to learn that these labels are focused mainly on classical and world music. On the surface, it seems like a far cry from Dreadnaught’s guitar/bass/drums equation. But Lord, who founded Parma in 2008, says it’s a logical fit. From a structural standpoint, he says, Dreadnaught’s arrangements are rooted in classical sensibility.

“It’s always been embedded in there from the beginning,” Lord says. “It was a very natural fit for me.”
Parma has been putting out CDs at a prolific rate. Navona Records, a label dedicated to orchestral, chamber and classical music, has churned out numerous recordings over the last year, all with impressive album art and sound quality.

Flipping through the CD sleeves reveals that these discs were recorded at sites all over the world, including Slovakia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and, more locally, the New England Conservatory in Boston. Lord traveled to Slovakia in May for recording sessions with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, and he has been traveling to the Czech Republic about every other month. He plans to also embark on future recording projects in Russia and elsewhere.

The artists, too, come from all over, eager for the opportunity to see their music produced. “A lot of our artists are from all over the world,” Lord says. “They’re really pumped about all the stuff we’re putting out.”

One of the few area musicians to record with Parma is Boston-based clarinetist Richard Stolzman, who appears on several Navona discs, including his own album “Phoenix in Flight” with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Stoltzman also plays on pianist Patrick Beckman’s “Big Muddy,” which Lord describes as “part blues, part classical, part jazz, a lot of improv, a lot of structure and it’s just amazing.” Southern jazz and blues influences come across in the titles of tracks like “Memphis Nightrain,” “St. Louie Thunder” and “Catfish Rondeau.”

A few other Navona artists include Los Angeles-based composer Jonathan Sacks, Italian-born composer John A. Carollo, Swedish composer Örjan Sandred, Washington, D.C.-based composer Michael J. Evans, and Amherst, Mass.-based composer Lewis Spratlan—winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2000.

Soundbrush Records is devoted to jazz, tango, world and Latin music, while Capstone Records is a label for modern and experimental classical material. Big Round Records (acquired from Congressman Paul Hodes) will focus on blues, rock and jazz, while Ravello is another modern classical label.

Lord first became involved in classical recording when he was brought on to manage a classical label in Massachusetts in 2005. He found that the genre meshed with his musical approach and launched Parma in 2008. The company has acquired three new labels in the last eight months.

The five labels combined keep Lord plenty busy, but he gets ample help from Parma’s 11 staff members, most of whom hail from the Seacoast. The team has worked with such legendary names as Leonard Bernstein and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

“It’s nuts. It’s totally nuts,” Lord says. “Everybody works very, very hard.”

Meanwhile, Dreadnaught is rehearsing for upcoming gigs as house band for the Writers on a New England Stage series at The Music Hall in Portsmouth. The next installment of the series will feature E.L. Doctorow on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and a future highlight will take place when Stephen King comes to town on Dec. 1. “We’ve got a ton of really cool stuff planned for that,” Lord says.

For more information on Parma Recordings, visit www.parmarecordings.com. For more on Dreadnaught, go to www.dreadnaughtrock.com.