Nashville music engineer Gena Johnson joins Joy Williams on Southern Craft Radio to discuss being the first woman ever to receive an ACM Award nomination for Audio Engineer of the Year and share behind-the-scenes moments of working with artists like Lady Gaga, John Prine, and The Highwomen. Listen to the interview in-full anytime on-demand here.
Gena Johnson on favorite memory of working with Lady Gaga
So my favorite memory in the studio with Lady Gaga, we’re at East West Studios recording ‘A Stars is Born’ soundtrack, Dave Cobb producing. “Always Remember Us this Way” was the song that just keeps coming back to my mind. And I was in the control room with the other engineer and we’re standing there. We’re both from Nashville and Lady Gaga is on an SM7, no more than three to five feet away from me, and she’s just belting it out. I cried. We did three takes and I cried every single take. I was like, “This is insane.” Her voice is so powerful.
I just was enveloped in the sound and the quality and, I think, also being a singer… Because sometimes it’s like, “Okay, yeah, that’s impressive.” But also it’s like, when you’re singing, she’s barely moving her body, and what’s coming out is insane. So it’s like, what’s going on? Inside is like, she’s doing everything you’re supposed to be doing it and more. It was just, it was crazy.
Gena Johnson on favorite memory of working with The Highwomen
Probably when they asked Natalie Hemby to be a part of the band. It was Amanda Shires and Brandi Carlile, and we were in RCA Studio A. They came into the control room and Natalie was in there because she wrote “Crowded Table” with Lori McKenna. I think Brandi wrote on that one, too and probably a few other people that I should name, but I don’t have it in front of me right now. But they came up to her and they were saying, “Okay, Natalie, we want you to be a part of the Highwomen.” And her face, everything. She was like, “Wait, are you serious?” You have two mega stars, which Natalie Hemby, in my opinion is a mega mega mega star. She has been forever.
Finally getting out there and having the facial recognition, I think that she really deserves, and I hope, wants, because it’s so cool and the rest of us just love it so much.
Gena Johnson on favorite memory of working with John Prine
Gena Johnson: I have so many favorite memories from John. I guess I’ll talk about the most recent, and recording his very last song he’d written and recorded, “I Remember Everything,” which won two Grammys and just won, I think, best song, Americana Music Awards, and a number of other things. It’s crazy to think back that I was even in that room. I think when you just keep going, going, going, you don’t realize how fortunate you are at the time. But with him, I always knew, I always knew this was such a blessing and I was so grateful for it. Working on “Tree of Forgiveness” and getting to know him and his family, Fiona and Jody and Tommy and Jack. Eileen at Oh Boy is amazing and they just showed so much love for each other. So we recorded it. I came up. It was around 7:30 at night because John was a late, late riser. He would stay up till 3:00, 4:00 in the morning sometimes, Fiona would say, and get up in the late afternoon. So recording usually happened around 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, whatever. So I went there and started setting up around 7:00-
Joy Williams: In his house right?
Gena Johnson: …We started recording, yeah, in his house and his living room. Big, beautiful windows. Not a room you would think would sound very good, but it did. It sounded really good. I just had a microphone on his voice and on his guitar, and then just one room mic, just to capture the essence of the room and if… Room mics feel like energy to me, you know?
Sometimes you want it really intimate. Sometimes that helps with the intimacy. So that was really fun. I sat there across from him, and then Dave arrived and we’d done a couple takes and we did a few more. At around, I think it was take three or something, Fiona walked in and it was on the line where he said, “Your ocean eyes of blue.” He looked up at her and he just smiled. It was the most peaceful, loving moment I’ve ever experienced in my life. It was just, that’s the love that we all want.
Gena Johnson on what it meant to be the first female engineer to ever be nominated for Engineer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music
As my individual personal accomplishment, which it’s not it doesn’t only come from me. It comes from the people that hold the chair out and said, “Hey, you get to be here, too.” For me, personal achievement, it was huge. It was like, okay, this is next level stuff. I finally felt seen by my community. Then I learned I was the first woman, couple hours later. It just meant so much more because all of a sudden, this door opened that I didn’t realize hadn’t been opened before. It should have been opened before.
Many people that could have broken that glass, too. But the fact that it was my name on that, grateful and honored and joyous and humbled, honestly.
