Brandon Bell is a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning recording engineer, mix engineer and producer based in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. His credits include

Brandi Carlile Brandi Marie Carlile (born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Her music spans different genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. Throughout her career, she has received eleven Gramm ...

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

Sarah Jarosz Sarah Ellen Jarosz ( ; born May 23, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her debut studio album, '' Song Up in Her Head'', was released in 2009 on Sugar Hill Records

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Steep Canyon Rangers Steep Canyon Rangers is an American bluegrass band based in Asheville and Brevard, North Carolina. Originally formed in 2000, the band has become widely known since 2009 for collaborating with actor/banjoist Steve Martin. SCR performed as a ...

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, ...

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

, The Highwomen,

Foo Fighters The Foo Fighters are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Initially founded as a one-man project by former Nirvana (band), Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, the band comprises vocalist/guitarist Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, gu ...

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

, Parker McCollum,

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finge ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

and

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

Brandy Clark Brandy Lynn Clark (born October 9, 1975) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Mu ...

Billy Strings Billy Strings (born William Lee Apostol, October 3, 1992) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and Bluegrass music, bluegrass musician. He has released four studio albums, with his album Home (Billy Strings album), ''Home'' winning the ...

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country music, country singer. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place ...

Allison Russell Allison Russell is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, and activist. Prior to her solo music career, Russell performed as a member of various music groups including Po' Girl, Birds of Chicago, Songs of Our Native Daughters, Our Native Daug ...

, and

Blackberry Smoke Blackberry Smoke is an American country rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2001. The lineup consists of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Charlie Starr, lead/rhythm guitarist Paul Jackson, bassist Richard Turner and keyboardist Brandon Stil ...

. Bell graduated from

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

in 2004. In 2014, he was hired as the studio director and chief engineer at Southern Ground Nashville, owned by recording artist, Zac Brown from the Zac Brown Band. Since 2020, Bell has been working independently. He has been featured as a special guest on music industry podcasts: Recording Studio Rock Stars and Surviving The Music Industry with Brandon Harrington. Bell is a member of

The Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

and sits on a committee of the

Audio Engineering Society The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or product ...

Education

Bell graduated from Heber Springs High School in

Heber Springs, Arkansas Heber Springs is a city in and the county seat of Cleburne County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 6,969 as of the 2020 Census. Geography Heber Springs is located near the center of Cleburne County. Arkansas Highway 5 bypasses the ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Recording Industry degree at Middle Tennessee State University. MTSU honored Bell in 2023 for his achievements in the recording industry.

Selected discography

Awards

Bell has received two nominations for

Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

with Gary Paczosa. The first in 2006 for Alan Jackson's ''Like Red on a Rose'' (which is also Gold Certified by RIAA) and the second in 2011 for Sarah Jarosz's ''Follow Me Down''. He won the

Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass mu ...

in 2013 for his work on Steep Canyon Rangers’ album ''Nobody Knows You '' and again in 2025 for ''Live Vol. 1'' by Billy Strings. He engineered

's lead single ''Right on Time'', from the Album ''In These Silent Days''. The single received Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance in 2022. Bell was nominated for Audio Engineer of The Year for the 2022

ACM Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

. He also engineered ''The Marfa Tapes'' which was nominated for

Best Country Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Country Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the country music ge ...

at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2023, Bell won the

Grammy Award for Best Americana Album The Grammy Award for Best Americana Album is an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Americana music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors ...

for his work as an engineer on Brandi Carlile's album ''In These Silent Days. ''The album also received the Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Carlile's single "Broken Horses" won Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. "You and Me on the Rock''"'' was nominated for Record of the Year, Best Americana Performance, and Best American Roots Song. In 2024, Bell won a

Grammy Award for Best Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the folk genre. Honors in several ...

for his work on Joni Mitchell's album ''At Newport.'' Allison Rusell's album ''The Returner'' and Brandy Clark's album ''Brandy Clark'' were each nominated for Best Americana Album. He contributed additional engineering to Billy Strings' album Me/And/Dad, which was nominated for Best Bluegrass Album. Years reflect the year in which the Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Brandon American audio engineers Grammy Award winners People from Heber Springs, Arkansas Year of birth missing (living people) Living people