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In this episode of Stuck on Sound, Joey Stuckey welcomes multiple Grammy Award-winning producer, engineer, and mixer Ross Hogarth for a rich conversation about a four-decade career spent in the company of some of the greatest artists in rock, blues, reggae, and beyond. From the downtown New York punk scene to the California studios where legends are made, Ross's story is one of relentless curiosity, hard-won instincts, and an unshakable belief that music is chosen — not pursued.

Ross traces his beginnings as a drummer in New York, where the couch took a beating from soup spoons before he ever touched a real kit, through his years as a guitarist in bands, a student of folk music in the company of Pete Seeger's circle, and eventually a roadie and guitar tech for David Lindley, Jackson Browne, Mick Fleetwood, and Jim Keltner in Santa Cruz and Southern California. He shares how showing up — on time, prepared, and willing — opened doors that no resume ever could, and how the discipline of the drummer's relationship with time would become the secret weapon of his production and engineering career.

The conversation moves through some of the most celebrated sessions of Ross's career, including his Grammy wins with Quincy Jones and Keb' Mo', the making of Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth — the band's first record with David Lee Roth in twenty-eight years — and his Grammy-winning work with Ziggy Marley, TajMo, and Edgar Winter. Ross speaks candidly about the craft of analog recording, the near-surgical precision required to punch in and out on tape, and why his background as a musician gave him an irreplaceable edge in communicating with artists on either side of the glass.

Joey and Ross close with a conversation about the value of imperfection in recorded music — the grinding and clanking of the B3 organ, the tempo that breathes between the verse and the chorus, the odd bar that gives a lyric room to land. Ross makes a heartfelt case that the soul of a great record lives in those human moments, and that the goal of any producer worth the title is not perfection, but presence.

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Shadow Sound Studio

With over 30 years of experience as a musician, recording engineer, and producer, and serving as the official music ambassador of Macon-Bibb, Georgia, Joey Stuckey can service all your professional audio needs.

To learn more about working with Shadow Sound Studio and Joey Stuckey, visit the website or email Joey directly.

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joey@joeystuckey.com

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