Vince Herman was introduced to what might be called “the tao of Nashville record-making” during the music business’s pandemic shutdown. The jam-grass legend’s unplanned journey down that path resulted in Enjoy the Ride, his first solo album in three decades of recording.
Herman tracked the album, which hits stores and streaming services on Friday, during three days of sessions in December 2021 at the Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, the studio made famous by the late Cowboy Jack Clement.
“It’s been a real eye-opener to see how it’s done here in Nashville,” says Herman, who’s best known as co-founder and co-leader of Boulder, Colo.-based jam band Leftover Salmon. “I’m really pleased with the results.”
The first tenet of the tao of Nashville record-making is to get an album’s worth of good songs to record. That’s where the story of Enjoy the Ride begins.
“During the pandemic, I decided to get an RV and drive around the country,” Herman recalls. “I came to Nashville and ran into the Davisson brothers, old buddies from West Virginia.”
Chris and Donnie Davisson, who front the Davisson Brothers Band, became Herman’s guides into the Nashville music community. They introduced him to George Strait’s longtime manager Erv Woolsey, who became his manager and publisher.
“The Davissons hooked me up with Erv, and I got a couple of big group co-writes going and ended up getting a publishing deal,” he explains. “Until I came to Nashville, I’d never done a co-write, so it was a brave new world.”
In addition to the Davisson brothers, Herman’s co-writers on the record include Levi Lowrey, Aaron Raitiere, Phillip Lammonds, Ronnie Bowman, Adam Hood, Rob Snyder, Benny “Burle” Galloway, Channing Wilson, Paul McDonald and Dave Pahanish. He also wrote a pair of songs with John Prine collaborator Pat McLaughlin and producer David R. Ferguson.
The material ranges from Prine-ish country-folk rock (“Lost Lover’s Eyes”) to funky swamp rock (“Rattlesnake”) and jazzy Dixieland polka (“Any Other Way”). There’s also straight-up bluegrass (“Enjoy the Ride”), classic Cajun country (“Coraleen”) and traditional country (“Drinking Alone”).
“I’ve written more in the last year-and-a-half than I probably have the rest of my life,” he says. “I ended up having this big pile of tunes, and I thought, ’Well, what am I going to do with these songs?’ ”
So Herman had a batch of good songs to record, which brought him to the second tenet of “the Nashville way” — get a good producer to record the songs. Again, the Davissons were the facilitators, introducing him to Ferguson, known simply as “Ferg” by myriad top-notch artists who’ve worked with him.
“The Davissons had worked with Ferg on their upcoming new record, and I met Ferg, and we got along great,” he says. “Ferg was kind enough to want to be involved, so I decided to put my eggs in that basket and make a record with all these songs I’ve been writing.”
Speaking by phone a few days later, Ferguson recalls the first time he met Herman. “I was making a record on the Davisson Brothers, and Vince wrote a couple of songs on their record with ’em,” Ferguson says. “He came over to play on ’em, and he just liked what we were doing. And he goes, ‘Man, how would you like to make a record on me?’ I said, ‘Hell, I’d love to. Let’s just do it.’ ”
As Ferguson remembers it, Herman sent him “a bunch of songs” to listen to, but ultimately he left song selection up to the artist. “When you have somebody like Vince, that’s a veteran, he knows his following a lot better than I do,” the producer says. “He knows what his voice can do, and he knows his songs, and he has an idea of what he wants. It’s my job just to augment that a little bit.”
With Ferguson on board, Herman came to the third tenet of the tao of Nashville record-making: get some good studio musicians to play on your record.
“Ferg hooked me up with this great A-list of Nashville session cats, and boy, I’d never made a record like that before,” he says. “I’ve always had a band that was touring and developing the material. To go into the studio with a bunch of folks I didn’t know was a big leap of faith for me and a whole new way of making records.”
The album was tracked live with a backing band of McLaughlin on guitar, multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott, bassist Dave Roe, drummer Pete Abbott, keyboardist Mike Rojas, guitarist and pedal-steel player Russ Pahl, fiddlers Jason Carter and Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and Herman’s son Silas on mandolin. Tim O’Brien, Mike Armistead (Tennessee Mafia Jug Band) and the aforementioned Ronnie Bowman (Lonesome River Band) contributed backing vocals.
Additional overdubbing and mixing for the album took place at The Butcher Shack, Ferguson’s post-production facility in Goodlettsville. Clarinet and trumpet overdubs for “Any Other Way” were recorded in New Orleans at Rhythm Shack Studio, the facility owned and operated by onetime Dirty Dozen Brass Band guitarist Jake Eckert.
To say Herman is a convert to the Nashville way might be an understatement.
“It’s been a creative boon for me to be here in Nashville, so much that I bought a house here, and I’m living in Nashville now. I’ve got chickens, fruit trees and a garden in my yard. I’m in for the long haul.”
