Some Polaroids.




Me and Kenny Rogers during the recording of "There You Go Again" at Quad Studio B. Kenny is by far the most approachable mega star I have ever met. He always made me feel important, which is probably one of the reasons I think he's so great. Oh, and the fact that he bought me a ton of steak dinners doesn't hurt one bit, either.



Producer Dave Sardy (Marilyn Manson, Bush, Oasis, Dandy Warhols, Jet) grabbed my camera and took this self-portrait. Then...



...Sardy spun around in his chair and took this picture of his engineer and longtime friend Greg Gordon (System Of A Down, Slayer, Orange 9mm), who was asleep at the time. Greg looks drunk, sick and passed out. He's just passed out. And yes, Greg hated this picture. He thought he looked dead. These pictures were taken during the recording of the Hank Williams III punk project.



Will Kennedy, Jason White and Brian Granger, along with three very beautiful string players. Brian is one of my best friends, and he asked me to help him put something together. Brian's album was the first think I had ever produced, and it sounds like a freshman effort. I overproduced that thing out the yin-yang. But the whole experience was a blast, and there are a few songs on the album that I can still listen to without subjecting myself to self-flagellation. Look how psyched Will is to have his arm around that girl. She's cute.



Quad Studios owner Lou Gonzalez and legendary engineer Milan Bogdan. Lou actually said "Tada!" when I snapped this picture. I know you've heard Milan's work... he mixed that disco tune "I Love the Night Life." Lou is an interesting dude. He's very straight with you, and until you get used to it, it can really take you by surprise. It's crazy that honesty is so rare that when you encounter it, it surprises you. I consider Lou a good friend, even though he zapped me in the neck accidentally with a stray electric cable.



I've been lucky enough to work with two generations of the Hank Williams family. This is Hank Jr. and his long-standing friend Merle during the recording of the 1999 Super Bowl commercials. Hank Jr. is an amazing guy with lots of terrific stories about his wilder days, as you can imagine. He guzzles a pint of Hot and Sour soup before he starts singing, to clean out his sinuses. That'll do it.



Here's the third generation. See the resemblance? Hank Williams III is exactly what I would think his grandfather was... punk, country, irreverent and tough, hard drinking and confrontational, but with a real charisma. You enjoy hanging out with him because he seems completely real.



Yes, I freak out when people touch my neck. And yes, Juvenile's hands are wrapped around my neck, and I'm not freaking out. But let me explain myself... I did a vocal overdub on one of his albums (I don't remember which album) and one of my lines was "Juvie's gonna kill me! He's gonna kill me!" So we took a picture with him assaulting me. I wonder if this is admissible in court. I could be a gazillionaire. By the way, note the furry beret. Only Juvenile could pull this off. Wait, I take it back. Elton John could pull it off, too.



This is Gary, the lead singer of the band Chinese Whispers, which is really doing terrifically. He is one of my favorite people in Nashville. There was a time about 4 years ago when he was actually thinking of giving up music. That would have been a tragedy, as anyone who has seen Gary in concert will attest to. He is pure energy, on and off stage.



That's Stevie J and Eve in happier days. I think this picture was taken in 1999 or thereabouts. They seemed very much in love at the time. Also in the picture is Germinotti (!), who was playing Madden on Playstation II and would not move out of the way. Don't know the name of the dude in the back. By the way, nothing cool rhymes with Germinotti except "Maserati," and that gets real old, real quick.



Engineer Doug Sarratt and vocalist Lisa Cochran posing for the camera. Lisa sings on everything. She's sings background vocals on everything that comes out of Nashville, country or contemporary Christian. She's had a couple of forays into solo projects, but nothing has really stuck. She's absolutely amazing. Doug is a great engineer with an addiction to soft tacos. He also owns Gear For Days, a terrific gear rental outfit here in Nashville.



This was taken in the studio with Dave Latto and Jim McKell, during the Kenny Rogers record. I can't remember the name of the guy in the background, who was Jim's assistant. Dave Latto is the tech at Quad Studios, and is like an older brother to me. I always call him for advice. Our phone calls generally sound like this: "I just ran over the water spigot in my front yard with my lawn mower. What do I do now?" and "I just broke an incredibly expensive piece of gear. Should I jump off a bridge?" Jim McKell was producing the Kenny Rogers record.



Michael Mathis, Ed Staysium and Bubba Smith at Sound Stage B in Nashville. I recorded all the vocals for Shirley Caesar's album "You Can Make It," Ed mixed the whole thing, and Bubba and Michael produced it. It won a Grammy, which I was psyched about, but that and $1.09 will buy you a cup of coffee.

Here are a few pictures that aren't polaroids, but still have fun people in them.

Polaroids of my parents and sisters.