ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï

Steve Fishell is an original faculty member of the Nashville Study Away Program and a musician, record producer, author, executive, entrepreneur, and educator known for his extensive work in the country and Americana music scenes.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Mattingly Creter: Professor Fishell, it’s a pleasure to sit with you. Can you introduce yourself?

Steve Fishell: My name is Steve Fishell, and I’m an adjunct instructor here at the University of New Haven’s Nashville Study Away Program. Record production is my subject, and I love bringing what I’ve learned in the recording studio, so students can observe real, live recording sessions and go into depth on how to capture an artist’s creative vision.

MC: What classes do you teach?

SF: I teach Music production, and the course is structured around the live recording session. We talk a lot about how tracks are made in Nashville and where bands set up. We start at the beginning, and just play the song all the way across, and track that song as if it's a live performance in a nightclub or on a concert stage. Whether it's Red Rocks or a nightclub, it's all the same, right?

We study all the different elements, not only finding great songs, but how to match a great vocal to a performance of that track, and, ultimately, how to mix each track and master them so that each is a fully formed piece of art that can be released to the public.

We go through step-by-step how this is done. I have vocals from major artists that we use to study vocal comping, and we get into composite vocals. We have guest speakers that come in and talk about their roles as record producers, artists, or musicians.

It's always just a really fascinating way to learn about recording. Rather than reading about it, students actually experience it live in a recording studio, at the level of , which is just a remarkable place.

MC: What experience are you bringing to the program?

SF: My journey to become an adjunct instructor with the University of New Haven was a long road, but I’m happy this is how it turned out. I’m a musician. I play the pedal-steel guitar. I’m also a record producer, and I’ve been an A&R executive at two different labels.

I’ve also taught the pedal-steel guitar. The instrument is something that captured me many, many years ago. I saw a couple of key concerts that just turned me on to the music, and I wanted to understand how that instrument worked. Initially I just wanted to be the best steel guitarist that I could be.

MC: You wrote about Buddy Emmons, right? Can you tell us about your book, Buddy Emmons: Steel Guitar Icon?

SF: One of my idols on the pedal steel is Buddy Emmons, who recorded and toured with Ray Price, Little Jimmy Dickens, Ernest Tubb, and a host of others. He played steel guitar with super-human virtuosity. He dazzled listeners with his musical genius, and, as an inventor, he imagined unparalleled improvements to the pedal steel’s pitch-bending mechanism, for which he received a U.S. patent in 1969. We worked together on the book, and it was such an honor to help share his story with the world.

MC: Who else have you worked with?

SF: I had the great fortune to play in a band called Commander Cody that ended up playing three times at Red Rocks, opening for different artists. We also opened for Led Zeppelin in 1979 at the Knebworth Festival in the UK. I had these incredible experiences in my early twenties playing concerts with Commander Cody.

Eventually that led me to Emmylou Harris, who was looking for a steel guitarist. She is a thirteen-time GRAMMY® winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member. I joined her band was at a moment that was one of the key points in her career. She’d already had five gold albums, and I was brought in to play steel guitar for her departing steel player Hank DeVito.

I just learned so much being in the studio with Emmylou. She was kind enough to let all of her bandmates play on the records. What I’ve learned from the recording studio comes from having been with her.

Eventually I wanted to get into record production, and I started working with various artists, first in California and then in Nashville. Some of those artists include Pam Tillis, who I had a platinum record with, and Radney Foster, who I had several top ten singles with. I also played with a band called the Mavericks, and I’m really proud of what we achieved. We recorded at Criteria Recording Studios down in Miami and had a great time recording there.

I’ve also been in the studio with Emmylou, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, all who made a record together in 1987 called Trio, and that was a really remarkable experience to see how they interacted together.

I’ve recorded with Little Richard, John Prine, Mavis Staples, Eric Church, and recently with Lainey Wilson. I’ve just been really fortunate to be able to play my instrument or to be in a situation where I can help produce an artist so they can achieve their vision of what they're trying to capture in the studio.

MC: What is your favorite part of the Nashville Study Away Program?

SF: What I love about the Nashville Study Away Program is that it allows students to dive deeply into various subjects: music publishing, entrepreneurship, recording, and record production. This is something that is of interest not only to Music Industry students but also for Music & Sound Recording students. They learn about subjects that they may not have as much strength in by being here, being right in Nashville, and having the expertise of our various instructors here to lead them through these subjects.

Recording is a really fun part of this program. It’s great to be able to see how the process works, even if a student’s inevitable goal is, perhaps, management or to be a music business attorney, they’ll learn so much about the recording process and have a better understanding of what the artist is going through when they're making a record. The Nashville Program is really a wonderful immersive way to learn more about these different subjects.