Martina McBride's Studio a Musical Melting Pot

Martina McBride photo by Andrew Southam, courtesy of RCA Records Nashville

July 2, 2007 — The Tennessean reports that the top three albums on the Billboard 200 albums chart have something in common: they were all recorded at Nashville's Blackbird Studio, owned by Martina and John McBride.

Bon Jovi, the White Stripes and Brad Paisley all chose the Berry Hill studio to record their recently released albums. Although many top country artists have recorded there, it's not just for country anymore. "We've been so busy and we're getting a lot of crazy rock stuff," says John, citing the Raconteurs, Kid Rock and Altar Bridge. "It looks like Staind is coming here."

John says Tom Walley, chairman of Warner Bros. Records, compared Blackbird to A&M Studios in the 1970s, when several big albums were made in the same complex. "It has a really great vibe, thanks to Martina," John says. "People feel good here and they enjoy working here. We give them the ultimate service and equipment selection and microphone selection.

"We look at it like the artists, engineers and producers are painters, and I want to be able to give them every color on the palette. I don't want them to ever be limited by what we do."

One day recently while the Kings of Leon were playing wall ball in the parking lot, Anne Murray worked in one room and Megadeth had something mixed in another. Another day, Blackbird had Mariah Carey, Jewel, Big & Rich, R. Kelly and Kid Rock working on different projects.

"I thought, 'Okay, this is almost surreal,' " John says. "It's almost humorous when you look at the lineup here. There's no other way these people would be in the same rooms at the same time."