Tom Bukovac, Blackbird Studio Manager Scott Phillips, John Oates, Justin Niebank
Blackbird Studios
Gavin DeGraw and Tove Lo worked on an upcoming release (DeGraw also produced) with engineer David Hall at the SSL 9080 XL-K in Blackbird’s Studio C…Over in the API Legacy Plus-based Studio D, John Oates was fleshing out a solo project with producer Tom Bukovac and engineer Justin Niebank.
Amber Nolan
Photo: Trevor Pickard Photography
Sound Kitchen
Meanwhile, out in Franklin at the Sound Kitchen, Amber Nolan (pictured) laid down lead vocals in The Big Boy Studio with producer David Dinsmore, first engineer Patrick Murphy and second engineer Ethan Nichols. Background vocals by Lona Heins were also tracked, and overdubs and mixing were done in Studio C.
Fred Vail (left) and Donovan at Treasure Isle
Photo: Kevin Lamb, Vice President, Peer Music
Treasure Isle
At Treasure Isle, which is celebrating its 33rd anniversary, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Donovan self-produced a solo project with fellow Hall of Famer John Sebastian (The Lovin’ Spoonful), who was featured on guitar, autoharp and harmonica, with engineering by Peter Coleman, assisted by Sam Martin…Multi-platinum singer Jason Aldean recorded two Merle Haggard songs for a tribute album due out later this year, with Michael Knox producing and Pete Coleman engineering, again with assistance by Sam Martin…Knox was also in the studio tracking new RCA group Bush Hawg, and an “event” track featuring Jason Aldean and Country Music Hall of Famers Alabama, for Show Dog/Universal. Both were tracked by Coleman, assisted by Martin.
Producer Louis Newman (left) and mastering engineer Joe Palmaccio.
The Place…for Mastering
At The Place…for Mastering, always-busy owner/engineer Joe Palmaccio mastered a variety of projects, ranging from modern country artist Gwen Sebastian’s self-titled release (produced by Louis Newman) and hybrid punk band Blooddrunk Shenanigans’ album R2B (produced by Pepper Denny and mixed by Vance Powell), to roots-rocker Sean McConnell’s Midland (produced by Brian Pruitt and co-produced by McConnell) and pop artist Kjetil Linnes’ self-produced single “Sunshine.”
Starstruck engineer Todd Tidwell tracking Kelly Clarkson in The Gallery
Starstruck Studios
Producer Mark Bright mixed live tracks for Carrie Underwood’s forthcoming release at Starstruck’s Pond studio, which also was the setting for some filming for ABC’s hit TV show Nashville…Meanwhile, in the 1,077-square-foot main room of The Gallery studio (which also saw a bit of filming for Nashville), producer Harold Shedd tracked Alabama’s latest, producer Tony Brown recorded strings for George Strait, and engineer Todd Tidwell did some tracking for Kelly Clarkson.