Brian Kennedy reflecting on his experience working with country music superstars Rascal Flatts:
“You know how you’re a kid and can’t believe you got to Disneyland? That’s how I felt working in Nashville with the Rascal Flatts. That was my moment, when I was invited to a session to produce with Dan Huff. It took me awhile to look back and really reflect on what happened, that’s how serious and intense it was for me at the time.”
“This youtube video chronicles two or three days of operations in the studio. To physically record the song, took one day. But to actually finish and complete requires more time. Plus Gary came back in and cut extra vocals and Natasha did as well, so to get it 100% right took a bit longer, maybe three days all-in. But nothing matters when you’re putting out something you really love. You don’t put titles on love, you just LOVE. That was one of my favorite sessions of all time, I learned so much from it as a musician and producer.”
BK’s first experiences working in Nashville:
“When I first started working in Nashville three years ago, my goal was to get to Rascal Flatts,” Brian says passionately, “and most were like, ‘yeah you and everyone else.’ Not in a bad way but just, you work here and you’ll see. So it was pretty amazing, not having any ‘country music’ experience, that my first placement and major hit in the Country format is with the group that got me loving country music in the first place. It was a huge break for me. I love listening to Kenny Chesney, I’m working with him pretty soon, and I love Faith Hill. But I wasn’t really super into Country music until I heard the melody and the voice of Gary LeVox from the Flatts.”
BK talking about the actual recording session for the Rascal Flatts/Natasha Bedingfield smash “Easy”:
“The session itself was awesome. Real cool. I’m used to being behind a keyboard and controlling production and everything that goes on from the keyboard, but this was me constituting a whole live band. That was a whole other feel too. To be able to sit there with Dan Huff, and communicate to the musicians, how to play and what to play is a form of producing in itself and yeah it tripped me out! I was like wow, this is next level. This is how scoring, and live music really is. That’s how they did it back in the day. They all got in there at once. Gary was singing, Natasha was singing, and the band was playing simultaneously. And you feel it, cuz everybody’s connected. Being a band member and conducting my own band The Brian Kennedy Project, I could immediately relate. With a full band it’s like one big moving machine, not parts. But this is completely, totally different from how the pop music world records things.”
Brian describes what made this particular session so special:
“Just to communicate with each of them on a one-on-one basis, and the humility of the artists is one thing I want to express here on this blog. For the magnitude of stars they are, to be so humble was inspiring. Luckily I’ve never had a really bad experience recording with any artists, but I had a really great experience with the Rascal Flatts. They made everything worth it. These guys have platinum, platinum, platinum, #1s, #1s, #1s, and they treated me like their equal. It was one of the best sessions I’ve ever had in terms of unity, and just working in their creative environment. Their way is, “let’s all sit down together,” and “let’s all make it happen.” Total inclusion. They brought their personal chef in and we all ate food together, talked and laughed, and when everyone got done they hopped on tour buses, and went their way back on the road. Major work ethic.”
On why Brian Kennedy is now creating music the “Nashville Way”:
“This is why I’m incorporating the Nashville way into my pop way and slowing down, to get every single piece of the puzzle right when constructing a song. In Nashville, the writing, the playing, is secondary to living and loving. That’s the key difference. When you work in the studio with a “pop” artist, it’s like “let’s RUN and get this done!” and then, “let’s go eat.” There is much more of a sense of urgency about things. In Nashville the sentiment is, “Hi, nice to meet you. let’s go eat.” The reason is to go get to know each other first because in the end I’ve learned that helps the creative process. For example this other session I had in Nashville one time– we all sat in the lobby of the studio an hour before the session was supposed to start and just got to know each other. We were laughing a bit, talking about churches, where you’re from, and that’s what its about…. Living, liking, loving and THEN….”okay let’s go make some music together”. With my experiences there I really feel like “producing music”, in Nashville, is secondary to “living the music.” And that’s why I love Nashville.”
