There's a good interview with Paul Leim, one of Nashville's
omnipresent session musicians, in the new (April) issue of
Modern Drummer. If you don't recognize the name from the
zillion cd's this guy has done, you might recognize his face
from Ricky Skaggs' Ryman tv band. It's not all drum geek
stuff. He talks in some detail about how Shania Twain's and
Trisha Yearwood's records are done. The interviewer gently
presses him about how calculating a lot of Nashville
production strategies seem, particularly on Mutt Lange
(Shania) sessions. Leim just says that being told in detail
what to do is "not a steady diet," just one part of a pile
projects he does, so it doesn't bother him.
On the other hand, if you think some of the Nashville stuff is
calibrated down to the precise second, you're right.
Interesting reading in any case.
Tom Smith
