Over the past six months, I worked on my biggest piece to date for The Tennessean, a deep dive into the world of Nashville music producers.
For my article “Music City, Remastered,” I explored the careers of eight of the city’s top music producers, spending countless hours working to understand what exactly a producer does and why their job is an integral part of the Nashville music ecosystem.
I first had the idea for the piece in early 2024 when I continually noticed certain producers’ names attached to the works of the artists I knew and loved.
I began to wonder what the world of music production looked like.
How did artists pick their producers — and how did producers find artists? I was curious about what individual producers brought to the table.
Through other pieces I worked on, I began to learn that some producers are talented songwriters, many are musicians, and others studio engineers or string arrangers.
And after prioritizing other projects, I dove into working on a 2,500-word piece about the world of music production in November.
My first step was finding the proper interview subjects.
Through red carpets at the ASCAP Country Music Awards and the Nashville Grammy Chapter Parties of 2024 and 2025, the picture of who was moving the needle forward in the Nashville music scene became clear.
I set out to create a well-rounded group of music producers that encompassed all genres, from country to K-pop, while also focusing on the burgeoning pop scene in Nashville.
Though Nashville has countless talented music producers, I spoke with a handful of influential producers that included duo Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk, Mike Elizondo, Julian Bunetta, Gena Johnson, Ian Fitchuk, Roger Ryan and Daniel Tashian.
For each producer, I first conducted interviews that lasted between 30 minutes to an hour over Zoom, via phone and in-person.
Each producer explained to me what a day in their life looks like, how they first discovered the world of music production and learned their craft, and how they noticed Nashville’s sound was evolving.
We spoke about how to know if a song is a hit, their studio quirks and superstitions, and their creative processes.
Production duo Jenna Andrews and Stephen Kirk were even generous enough to let me into their Gallatin studio multiple times, where I watched them produce demos for top global artists.
As Andrews and Kirk worked late into the night, I observed their process like a not-so-quiet fly on the wall, peppering them with questions (and entertaining their new puppy, Stella).
The largest challenge in crafting this story was attempting to get the group of eight of the most in-demand musical minds in the industry together to record a video conversation and take a group photo.
With the exception of Mike Elizondo and Julian Bunetta (whose inputs were equally important in the crafting of the piece), I was able to find a time for six of the eight producers to meet and gather in Nashville’s Ocean Way Studio A. Our team photographed Bunetta and Elizondo individually.
I am grateful to those who let me pick their brain, who were giving with their limited time and open with their answers.
My favorite quote of the process comes from Stephen Kirk.
“A music producer takes an idea or a song and turns it into a story, both musically and lyrically. It’s really about taking an uncut gem and turning it into the finished product that goes into a ring.”
Read the piece HERE.
Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist with The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com.