Anaheim, CA (May 9, 2023)—TEC Tracks classes are all the time among the many highpoints of the annual NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, however this 12 months’s version noticed nine-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile take to the stage to not carry out however to share hard-won insights into music manufacturing, as she mentioned how she approaches producing different artists and making certain that songs underscore an artist’s authenticity.
The session, “Brandi Carlile on Producing and Uncovering the Artist within the Studio,” discovered Carlile joined by four-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer Dave Way. NAMM CEO and President Joe Lamond launched the pair and welcomed attendees to the session.
Way interviewed Carlile to debate her method to file manufacturing. Both the artistic and organizational points of manufacturing had been lined, with Carlile increasing on the completely different steps taken and selections made to convey out the “magic” within the course of. The subjects of track choice and band-building had been additionally a spotlight, with Carlile discussing what she appears to be like for in a track for every explicit venture and what it takes to collect the correct studio ensemble. In each circumstances, Carlile mentioned she prefers these selections to venture the authenticity of the artist initially, moderately than enjoying it secure to generate a by-the-numbers product.
On the Road with Brandi Carlile
“I’m simply searching for the songs that reveal the artist most authentically, the place it doesn’t sound like they got here out of a employees writing room, or it doesn’t sound like they aren’t being revealed authentically within the track for no matter cause,” said Carlile. “I all the time ask artists to not ship me produced demos. I all the time ask for only a voice memo in your cellphone, a guitar and vocal. Not as a result of I wish to have an overbearing end result on how the track seems, however simply because I don’t need me or that artist to get pulled in a single path in too sturdy of a method, to depart room for the second, the second that’s rock ’n’ roll within the studio.”
Carlile additionally shared knowledge, strategies and insights she has discovered from working with different acclaimed producers, together with T Bone Burnett, Rick Rubin, Dave Cobb and Shooter Jennings, and he or she mentioned variations between producing her personal music versus different artists’ work.
Aside from the manufacturing of her personal work, Carlile has more and more been a file producer for different artists in recent times, helming albums by Tanya Tucker, Lucius, The Secret Sisters and Brandy Clark. The 2019 Tanya Tucker album, While I’m Livin’, which Carlile co-produced with Shooter Jennings, received the Grammy for Best Country Album (Carlile’s first manufacturing Grammy for work with one other artist). Her manufacturing work continues in earnest this 12 months, with a number of high-profile initiatives within the pipeline, together with the upcoming self-titled Brandy Clark LP, Tanya Tucker’s just lately introduced June launch, Sweet Western Sound, and others.
Some of the dialogue was devoted to Carlile’s latest collection of collaborations with songwriting legend Joni Mitchell, together with Mitchell’s 2022 return to the stage on the Newport Folk Festival after a prolonged health-related hiatus and the ensuing upcoming reside album produced by Carlile. At the TEC Tracks session, Carlile performed two preview tracks (“A Case of You” and “Both Sides Now”) from the upcoming Mitchell reside album for the gang, together with further cuts from Tish Melton (“Michele” and “The Chase”), Tanya Tucker (“Bring My Flowers Now” and “Kindness”) and Brandy Clark (“Buried” and “Ain’t Enough Rocks”).
Carlsbad, CA (January 25, 2021)—The annual NAMM Show went virtual this year with its Believe in Music Week online gathering last week, and along with that, the annual TEC Awards, honoring the best in professional audio and sound production, also went online. As always, the annual event recognized efforts in Technical Achievement (pro audio equipment and services) and Creative Excellence (music making, live performances, video games, television and films).
Carlsbad, CA (August 10, 2020)—With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to rage on, NAMM has shifted gears in regard to its annual NAMM Show convention, which was scheduled to take place in January, 20201. The in-person convention will not be held, but instead replaced by “Believe in Music Week,” a week-long online music event kicking off January 18, 2021.