Shawn Moore
Chief Technical Engineer / Record Producer
Audio Engineering School in Nashville
Welcome to The Blackbird Academy
The Standard of Excellence in Audio Education
You’re not here by accident. You’ve been chasing sound your whole life—spending late nights mixing or listening to songs to figure out how they were made. The Blackbird Academy is where your passion turns pro. Based inside the world-renowned Blackbird Studio in Nashville, TN, you’ll train where the industry’s biggest records are made. You’ll learn from the engineers, producers, techs, and musicians who live and breathe this work—the people shaping the future of sound! The Blackbird Academy isn’t classroom training. It’s like the real world. And our program works. BBA graduates are out there making records or touring the world with major artists. If you’re ready to work, let’s get started!
What’s the Blackbird Difference?
It’s the mentor-driven, experience-based education only surpassed by our world-class facilities & amazing collection of gear.
The Blackbird Academy is built for the next generation of music pros. You’ll spend your time here getting true hands-on experience—either at Blackbird Studio or inside our massive live sound facility—working on the same gear the pros use every day. Classes are taught by professional engineers and an impressive lineup of award-winning guest lecturers—like Ken Scott, Chris Lord-Alge, Joe Chiccarelli, George Massenburg, Nick Raskulinecz, Bob Heil, Dave Natale, Ronald Prent, and more. If you’re ready for real-world training and access to world-class gear, Blackbird is the place!
Mentor based education
Nick Raskulinecz
Engineer and Producer
Kristian Bush
Song Writer / Producer
Joe Chiccarelli, Guest Engineer
The White Stripes, Frank Zappa, Jason Mraz, The Killers
George Massenburg, Guest Engineer
Recording Engineer, Inventor
Vance Powell and Dave Pensado, Guest Engineers
Powell is a six-time Grammy award-winning producer/engineer/and mixer; Pensado is a Grammy-winning mix engineer and host of Pensado's Place
Greg Wells, Guest Engineer
Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Dua Lipa, Keith Urban
Paula Salvatore and Candace Stewart
Paula is VP of Client Relations & Studio Marketing, UMG; Candace is Studio Manager, East West Studios
Wayne Pauley & Joe Keiser, Guest Engineers
FOH Engineers: Pauley (Lee Brice, Sawyer Brown, Trisha Yearwood), Keiser (Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, ZZ Top, Keith Urban)
Steve Marcantonio, Mixing in the Box
Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Thomas Rhett, Cassadee Pope
Brian Persall, Guest Engineer
FOH Engineer/Tour Manager for Terri Clark
Chris Lord-Alge, Guest Engineer
5-time Grammy-award winning Producer/Engineer/Mixer/Musician
Mick Conley, Guest Engineer
Producer, FOH Engineer Marty Stuart
Kenny Vaughan, Guitarist
Marty Stuart, Lucinda Williams, Allison Moorer
David Rideau, Guest Engineer
Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Bobby Brown, Miles Davis
Banked with the best
We do one thing, and we do it really well
Since its founding in 2013 by John and Martina McBride, The Blackbird Academy has quickly risen to a top-tier school for professional audio and has a world-renowned reputation for outstanding graduates.
Industry Recognition
top 5
Consistently ranked in the top 5 audio engineering schools
Graduate Success Rate
0%Of our LIVE SOUND ENGINEERING students find placement in the industry
Career Success
0%Of our STUDIO ENGINEERING students find placement in the industry
Music first
The music business is exactly that. Music first and then the business of star making, marketing and more. The music side comprises writing, arranging, recording and mixing of the songs.
The Blackbird Academy gives its students a natural fusion of new recording technology and the old and eternal recording techniques that have been used over the last 50+ years.
The Blackbird Academy will be a very exciting and life-changing experience for any aspiring artist, producer or engineer. It can also provide a great foundation from which to springboard one’s natural talent. If I was starting all over again, this is exactly where you would find me – a great place to learn and to keep one’s creativity intact.
Blackbird Studio is the finest recording studio on Planet Earth. What better place could there be to learn?
The Blackbird Academy gives its students a natural fusion of new recording technology and the old and eternal recording techniques that have been used over the last 50+ years.
