Episode 606 – Stories From 7-Time Grammy-Winning Engineer, Producer, And Songwriter Brent Maher

What does a life in music look like when you follow curiosity instead of chasing titles?

In this episode, 6-time Grammy-winning producer, engineer, and songwriter Brent Maher shares a remarkable journey across genres, generations, and creative mediums.

From recording legends like Elvis and Duke Ellington to discovering The Judds and inventing a new format – a musical novel – Brent’s stories reveal how passion and patience can outlast trends and change the industry from the inside.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Success is doing what you love, not chasing recognition
• Brent’s path from engineer to producer to songwriter was guided by curiosity
• How a surprise moment led to Tina Turner recording one of his songs
• The unique way he discovered and developed The Judds
• Recording Duke Ellington and how it fulfilled a lifelong dream
• Why he never actually met Elvis despite engineering his last #1 hit
• How Brent produced an entire Elvis track from Jungle Room rehearsal tapes
• Creating the world’s first musical audiobook, Night of the Orphan Train
• The untold story behind America’s Orphan Train movement
• A touching story of how a stranger helped him buy his first Gretsch guitar

BEST MOMENTS
00:02:43. “I couldn’t really go to sleep… I wound up writing a song that evening.”
00:04:10. “Tina can’t get that song out of her head. She wants to cut it.”
00:06:54. “Naomi Judd was a registered nurse… and Diana loved her.”
00:09:15. “We wound up with three songs that were quite different, but there was something that would weave them all together.”
00:13:16. “I engineered Duke Ellington’s… maybe his second or third last record before he passed away.”
00:20:10. “Every time he quit singing, you’d hear the other band. This was pre-automation.”
00:22:51. “It’s a musical novel… a fictional audiobook with songs woven in like a musical.”
00:35:35. “She said, I will co-sign this guitar as if I’m your mother. That woman changed my life.”

You can hear it on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Mixcloud, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn Radio, or RadioPublic.

Also, a video version of this podcast is now available on YouTube as well.

Enjoy the show!