David Gregory Brainard (born February 9, 1975) is a Grammy-nominated American record producer best known for his work in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

in the entertainment industry.

Early life

Dave Brainard was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and raised in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, the second of four children born to Greg Brainard, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

, So Un Jo. He graduated from

Papillion-La Vista High School Papillion-La Vista Senior High School, often referred to as Papio, PLHS, or ‘’’Monarchs’’’ is located in Papillion, Nebraska, Papillion, Nebraska, United States, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha. Operated by the Papillion- ...

in 1993 and went on to attend

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

for 1 year. Afterwards, Brainard served 5 years in the

United States Air Force Band The United States Air Force Band is a U.S. military band consisting of 184 active-duty members of the United States Air Force. It is the Air Force's premier musical organization and is based at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C. Wi ...

stationed at Offutt AFB in Omaha, NE, before moving to

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

in 1999.

Early career

In 2001 Dave Brainard began his publishing career writing songs for Balmur Corus Music. Afterwards, Brainard wrote for

Bigger Picture Music Group Bigger Picture Music Group, formerly Big Picture Music Group, was an independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee founded in 2008. It is distributed by Atlantic Records in the US. Their main focus is in country music. Their artist roste ...

''formerly Big Picture Music Group''. In that time, Brainard wrote songs for

Neal McCoy Hubert Neal McGaughey Jr. (born July 30, 1958), known professionally as Neal McCoy and previously as Neal McGoy, is an American country music singer. He has released 10 studio albums on various labels, and has released 34 singles to country radio ...

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Cashat (born February 24, 1958), known professionally as Sammy Kershaw, is an American country music singer. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 2 ...

, Kelly Coffee,

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

, Tebey Ottoh, and

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...

. During this time, Brainard went on radio tours, playing on the road with artists such as

Rebecca Lynn Howard Rebecca Lynn Howard (born April 24, 1979) is an American country music artist. She has charted seven singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, and has released three studio albums. Her highest-charting single, " Forgive", peaked at N ...

, Anthony Smith, Marcel,

David Nail David Brent Nail (born May 18, 1979) is an American singer/songwriter and country music artist. In 2002, he debuted the single "Memphis" from an unreleased album for Mercury Records Nashville. Five years later, he signed with MCA Nashville, fo ...

, and

Jessica Andrews Jessica Danielle Andrews Chagnon (born December 29, 1983) is an American country music singer. At age 15 in mid-1999, she made her debut on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts with the single "I Will Be ...

. Brainard began recording Music Row demos for other contemporary songwriters, such as

Chris Tompkins Christopher G. Tompkins (born Muscle Shoals, Alabama) is an American songwriter based in Nashville. Since 2002 he has co-written songs for pop, rock, and country artists Jimmy Buffett, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean ...

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 ...

, Craig Monday, Chris Wallin, Anthony Smith and produced

Jamey Johnson Jamey Johnson (born July 14, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to BNA Records in 2005, Johnson made his debut with his single "The Dollar (song), The Dollar", the title track to his 2006 album ''The Dollar (album ...

's self-released debut album "They Call Me Country". Dave Brainard is a self-taught music producer known for his multi-instrumental ability and creativity.

deciBel Productions

In 2006, Dave Brainard founded deciBel Productions LLC. Brainard founded Mix Dream Studios with engineer Brian Kolb at that time and the two businesses partner to perform artist development services. Designed as a studio and executive office, Mix Dream Studios has produced and collaborated with much of the Nashville creative community.

Jerrod Niemann

In 2008, friend musician

Jerrod Niemann Jerrod Lee Niemann (born July 24, 1979) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one single for Category 5 Records (2006); three albums for Sea Gayle Music/Arista Nashville: '' Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury'' (2010), ' ...

sought production services from Dave Brainard to produce record " Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury". The album was signed by Joe Galante to

Arista Nashville Arista Nashville was an American record label that served as a wholly owned division of Sony Music, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specialized in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks ...

as a completed work and went on to debut at No. 1 on the country albums chart. Niemann experienced No. 1 single success with "Lover Lover", which went on to sell Platinum in digital single sales. “Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury” went on to yield another top 5, Gold selling “What Do You Want”, and a top 20 in “Drinkin’ Song”.

Brandy Clark

In 2011, Dave Brainard and deciBel Nashville produced highly acclaimed album “Twelve Stories” with

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 ...

. "Twelve Stories" would go on to receive a Metacritic score of ‘universal praise’ and national critics (

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

SPIN Magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps as ''SPIN'') is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. ...

NY Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' and ...

) have recognized “Twelve Stories” as “one of the Best Country Albums released in 2013.” In 2014, Brandy Clark was announced as an opener for Eric Church's "Outsiders World Tour". Brandy Clark was also nominated as New Artist of the Year by the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

in 2014.

Ray Scott

American country singer-songwriter Ray Scott had independent success on Sirius XM's The Highway with his Dave Brainard produced hit "Those Jeans"(2012). Brainard and Ray Scott collaborated on the production and promotion of Ray Scott's 2014 record "Ray Scott". "Ray Scott" has received positive international review.

Personal life

In September 2015, Brainard was hospitalized after being found unconscious with a broken jaw and missing teeth following an attack by an unknown assailant on Demonbreun Street in Nashville.

Production discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brainard, Dave 1975 births Living people Record producers from Nebraska