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More Grammy Gold
MTSU alumni across musical genres celebrate multiple awards in 2024
by Andrew Oppmann
Named a “Grammy-winner factory” a few years back by NBC News, MTSU saw alumni collect several more gramophone statuettes at the 66th Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles this year.
Julien Baker (’19), a Recording Industry student before majoring in English, captured three Grammys out of six nominations as a member of boygenius, an indie supergroup with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus.
Previous two-time winner and alumnus Lecrae won two more Grammys, for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Your Power” and for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Church Clothes 4.
Joining Lecrae in the album award was first-time winner Connor Back (’18), an Audio Production graduate who earned a Grammy for his mixing engineering work on Church Clothes 4 and earned a certificate for his engineering work on the song “Your Power.” Back works for Reach Records, Lecrae’s independent record label.
Jason Hall (’00), a Recording Industry major, and Jimmy Mansfield (’14), an Audio Production graduate, won Grammys for engineering, mixing, and vocals work for Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country, chosen as Best Country Album. Hall and Mansfield have been part of past Grammy nominations.
While not singled out for a nomination, Josh Kear (’96), a Recording Industry minor who majored in History, co-wrote the song “Watermelon Moonshine” on Bell Bottom Country.
The number of MTSU-connected Grammy winners since 2001 now stands at 23 people with a total of 47 Grammys in categories from classical to pop to rock to country to gospel.
Other Outstanding Output
In the last two decades, MTSU alumni, students, and faculty from across the University have been a part of more than 164 Grammy Award nominations. Alumni also up for Grammy awards in 2024 included:
• Two-time winner and Recording Industry graduate Brandon Bell (’04), who was part of three Grammy-nominated efforts for his engineering work
• Three-time winner and Recording Industry major Tony Castle (’95), nominated for his engineering work as part of the team on Willie Nelson’s Bluegrass, up for Best Bluegrass Album
• Randy LeRoy, an MTSU student through 1991, who was nominated for Best Historical Album as part of the team that produced Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from The Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971
• Recording Industry alumnus Phillip Smith (’16), honored for engineering work for Brandy Clark’s self-titled album, up for Best Americana Album
Black Tie and Red Carpet
Prior to the Grammy ceremony, the University recognized Keith and Bell at an event at the Mama Shelter hotel rooftop spot, where alumni, industry professionals, students, and faculty gathered to reconnect and wish the school’s nominees well.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Beverly Keel, dean of the College of Media and Entertainment, presented each a special certificate.
McPhee also caught up with Baker in Los Angeles and conferred on her the title of honorary professor of Recording Industry.
MTSU students also participated in the trip, experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hit the Grammy red carpet and even work at the Recording Academy’s black-tie charitable fundraising event honoring legendary rocker Jon Bon Jovi as MusiCares’ Person of the Year.
The six students from MTSU’s College of Media and Entertainment represented the University’s ninth trip to the music industry’s biggest awards weekend. In addition to the MusiCares event, students toured recording studios and iconic music venues and met with recording industry professionals.
Zoe Naylor, a senior from Murfreesboro majoring in Journalism and French, covered the trip for Sidelines, the University’s student news outlet, and the MTSU Student Voice, the University’s student-run social media team. Naylor said in addition to gaining valuable experience in entertainment and event reporting, she also enjoyed “the possibility of seeing some awesome artists at the awards ceremony!”
Grammy Winners in 2023
MTSU Department of Recording Industry alumni Brandon Bell and Tony Castle received 2023 Grammy Awards for their work on albums by Brandi Carlile and Willie Nelson, respectively. Both are multi-Grammy winners for their music engineering work.
At the 65th annual Grammy Awards, Bell received the best Americana album award for engineering Carlile’s In These Silent Days, and Castle earned his latest Grammy for perfecting icon Nelson’s new country album, A Beautiful Time
Bell (’04) earlier won the bluegrass album Grammy for mixing Nobody Knows You, the Steep Canyon Rangers’ 2012 release.
Castle (’95) had won two Grammys for engineering Nelson’s projects featuring the songs of George Gershwin and Frank Sinatra.
Getting in Tune
The Grammys weren’t the only music business trip MTSU students took in 2024. Audio Production students (alongside three department professors) also flew to Austin, Texas, in March to attend South by Southwest’s annual music festival.
With four days at the festival, the 2024 trip served as MTSU’s first time collaborating with SXSW. Professor Frank Baird spearheaded the project, with support from colleagues Mike Hanson and Chris Collins.
The purpose of the trip was to instill crew culture and event safety—vital aspects of touring life learned through action.
Crew culture is about timeliness. Getting through TSA and operating as a group not only at the airport, but throughout the festival. Navigating uncertainties. Coordinating early mornings, long days, and late nights. Having a buddy system. The list goes on.
“Crew culture is unique to the professional touring industry,” Baird said. “A lot of it is the ability to hang. That’s something that I teach in my classes. You show up early. You have to be personable. You just need to hang out.”
In order to obtain admission to SXSW’s music festival, the students had to volunteer around 40 hours. The volunteer shifts sharpened the students’ knowledge on event safety through reporting incidents and crowd control.
“They’re getting a look at what a music festival consists of: crowd control, security aspects, interaction with patrons, and even interaction with talent and behind the scenes folks,” Collins said.
The University hopes to continue building its relationship with SXSW.
[Editor’s note: This is a condensed article written by Sidelines Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell.]
