The Producer’s Chair: Julian King

Don’t miss Grammy winning Engineer/Producer Julian King on The Producer’s Chair on Thursday, June 26, at Douglas Corner at 6 p.m. Details at www.theproducerschair.com.
Long known as a Grammy Award-winning studio engineer, Julian King has quietly made a name for himself as a record producer as well. In one capacity or another, he has been involved with records that have sold more than 100 million units.
King has worked with a who’s-who of Nashville superstars, including such huge hit makers as Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Tracy Lawrence, Clint Black, Martina McBride, Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams Jr., Randy Travis, Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins, Alabama and Jo Dee Messina. He earned a Grammy as the recording engineer of Faith Hill’s 1999 multi-million-selling, pop-crossover sensation Breathe. And, his credits extend to some of the hottest young acts in town, such as Tyler Farr, Chris Young, Justin Moore, Brett Eldredge and Casey James.
In 2007, he reunited with Tracy Lawrence and co-produced the star’s CMA Award winning hit “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” which featured Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. As an engineer his notable work includes Lee Ann Womack’s 2005 CMA Album of the Year There’s More Where That Came From and multi-Platinum albums by Sugarland.
Raised by parents who were both school principals in Charlottesville, VA, King attended nearby James Madison University as a music major. He planned to be a professional trumpet player but that changed when he started off running sound for bar bands on the college circuit.
In 1987, during his junior year, King got an internship working as “an assistant to the assistant” engineer at recording sessions for producer Jimmy Bowen, with his staff of engineers at Sound Stage, Emerald Studios and Masterfonics. The internship was set up by his advisor, Rich Barnett, and Merlin Littlefield. At the end of Julian’s internship they offered him a job, which he started after completing his music degree.
Working under producer Bowen, King was instantly in sessions with such Country superstars as George Strait. While working on an album with Charlie Daniels, King was teased by the star for being a trumpeter. Eventually, Daniels not only asked King to play trumpet on the record, he paid for King to join the Musicians Union.
King soon became a favorite of top producers James Stroud and Byron Gallimore. He recalls that some of the earliest No. 1 hits he engineered were the career-launching singles by Tracy Lawrence and Clay Walker. One of his favorite projects from those early years is the 1992 John Anderson CD Seminole Wind. In 1993, he was tapped to engineer the debut of then-unknown, McGraw. King has engineered every McGraw album since. He also helped create the sound that kick started Toby Keith’s career.
The entire community has learned to rely on his skills. One reason for King’s unerringly good “ear” is the fact that he is a recording engineer who is also a formally trained musician. You might even find him listed as a musician on a hit or two.
“That music degree does come in handy sometimes,” he says, “particularly on sessions with string players where music scores are involved. It took me a while to adapt, but now I find that the [musical shorthand] Nashville Number System is more useful on a day to day basis.”
The Producer’s Chair: Who have been your mentors through the years?
Julian King: I learned the bulk of what I know from the engineers that I worked for back then: Chuck Ainlay, Steve Marcantonio, John Guess, Steve Tillisch and especially from Lynn Peterzell. Lynn had a heart attack at the studio and died tragically at age 39. I learned so much from Lynn. He was my real mentor. Everything I know, I learned from watching and listening to those guys and then playing with the gear and the music on my own time.
With so many concerned parties, how do you manage to please everyone in the studio?
It’s been my experience that artists, producers and record labels all have the same general goal, but frequently differ on how to reach it. I feel that it’s my job to recognize the merits of each party’s ideas and then help them all come together. I have been fortunate to work with so many talented artists, producers and musicians through the years and am proud of the body of work that we have assembled.
What is your biggest strength in the studio?
I think, the ability to see that a record has many small elements that come together to make it whole. Each piece has to complement the next in order for the record to be the best that it can be. Seeing all these things come together is really satisfying.
Now that you are also producing major artists, which do you enjoy the most, engineering or producing?
Graduating into producing was thrilling but, in the end, I want to put a career together where I can be both a producer and an engineer. I think I will always engineer, as long as they’ll have me. That’s how much I love being in the recording studio.
What have been some of the biggest highlights of your career?
One of the things I look back on fondly is having worked with George Jones, George Strait, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard and many other Country music icons. There aren’t very many folks who can say they got to do that.
Some artists prefer today’s ’80s rock-sounding production and some do not. Which do you prefer and why?
I do not have a preference as long as we make music that comes off as honest for the artist.
When you are producing a new artist, what is the biggest factor that determines the production sound that you create around the artist’s voice?
It is such a lyrically driven format and I feel like the songs have to fit the artist. You can’t have them singing about things they don’t directly relate to. Once the songs are chosen each one has its specific parameters. It is hard to put a single element on every song that glues them together, you have to rely on the artist’s performance to be the glue.
Given the increase in rock-influenced Country, what do you think will happen to the overall Country genre?
The genre has always evolved but I would not be shocked to see it split into two formats someday—one focusing on the rocking thumpin’ stuff and one focusing on more traditional Country. There are a lot of more traditional songs on the hot albums today but they just aren’t getting through the gatekeepers to the listeners.
Which producer has taught you the most valuable lesson about producing, and what was that lesson?
I have been fortunate to work with a lot of great producers but I think the best lesson I’ve learned is something that I see James Stroud and Byron Gallimore do. I try and let the musicians and artists give me what they hear first without my clouding their minds with how I have envisioned it. More times than not they deliver! If for some reason it’s not what I am looking for we can talk and make adjustments after they have put their initial thoughts down.
Who are you currently producing and looking for material for?
Jim Catino and I are in the middle of recording Tyler Farr and I am also co-producing Casey James, with Casey.