No one, including the band themselves, consider the Black Keys to be from Nashville. But the city has been their home base for 15 years and has become the crucible for their most productive period, including work they have done for others. Since moving to Music City from Akron, Ohio in 2010, the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have been individually responsible as producers for nearly 75 full length albums by nearly as many artists. That’s not counting six official Black Keys records, including the newly released No Rain No Flowers. Auerbach even won a Grammy for Producer of the Year in 2013 and has been nominated for that same award three more times since 2020.
Auerbach and Carney agree that the city changed the way they approach collaboration and recording and has provided a unique environment for their pursuits outside of their world famous band.
“To a point, Dan and I’ve committed our lives when we’re not doing our stuff, to try to put other people on,” Patrick Carney explains. “The crazy thing is, with the amount of great records Easy Eye (Dan Auerbach’s record label) has put out as well as some of the records that I’ve helped make, you see how rare it is for a record to just even get heard or resonate. And that’s the struggle of living in a place with a history of so many great creative musicians.”
“So, if you’re in Whole Foods walking around, I’m always aware that someone in here made a better record than me, probably last week,” Carney and Auerbach laugh but Carney continues on a serious note. “And no one heard it. And they have to struggle with that. And that’s a deep thing here.”
“The Nashville community has been such a big part of all the records that I made,” Auerbach states. “Every single one I’ve made for 15 years has pretty much included someone from Nashville on the record in some way. It really couldn’t happen the way that it does in any other city.”
From their long list of collaborators, we’ve welcomed five into the WNXP Sonic Cathedral over the years: Hermanos Gutiérrez, Nikki Lane, Yola, *repeat repeat and Shannon and the Clams. Watch those sessions below.
Here’s a select playlist of selections from albums the pair have worked with while in Nashville.
Patrick Carney productions at Audio Eagle since 2010:
Tennis – Young and Old (2012)
The Sheepdogs – The Sheepdogs (2012)
Royal Bangs – Brass (2013)
The Black Lips – Underneath the Rainbow (2014)
Tennis – Ritual in Repeat (2014)
Turbo Fruits – No Control (2015)
Tobias Jesso Jr – Goon (2015)
Michelle Branch – Hopeless Romantic (2017)
Karen Elson – Double Roses (2017)
Dams of the West – Youngish American (2017)
Calvin Johnson – Wonderful Beast (2018)
Sad Planets – Akron, Ohio (2019)
Jessy Wilson – Phase (2019)
*repeat repeat – Glazed (2019)
Kramies – Days of (2021)
Michelle Branch – The Trouble with Fever (2022)
Bass Drum of Death – Say I Won’t (2023)
Ruby Amanfu – Shadow on the Wall (2015, contribution only)
Dan Auerbach productions (mostly at Easy Eye) since moving to Nashville:
The Reigning Sound – Abdication for Your Love (2011)
Jessica Lea Mayfield – Tell Me (2011)
Brian Olive – Two of Everything (2011)
Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again (2012)
JEFF the Brotherhood – Hypnotic Nights (2012)
Dr. John – Locked Down (2012)
Hacienda – Shakedown (2012)
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – The Lion The Beast The Beat (2012)
Hanni el Khatib – Head in the Dirt (2013)
Bombino – Nomad (2013)
Valerie June – Pushin’ Against a Stone (2013)
Nikki Lane – All or Nothin’ (2014)
Ray LaMontagne – Supernova (2014)
Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence (2014)
Cage the Elephant – Tell Me I’m Pretty (2015)
The Arcs – Yours, Dreamily (2015)
Pretenders – Alone (2016)
Bombino – Azel (2016)
Robert Finley – Goin’ Platinum (2017)
Dan Auerbach – Waitin’ on a Song (2017)
La Luz – Floating Features (2018)
Shannon Shaw – Freddies ‘n’ Teddies (2018)
The Gibson Brothers – Mockingbird (2018)
Shannon & the Clams – Onion (2018)
Sonny Smith – Rod for Your Love (2018)
Shannon Shaw – Shannon in Nashville (2018)
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes – Cypress Grove (2019)
Night Beats – Myth of a Man (2019)
Kendal Marvel – Solid Gold Sounds (2019)
Dee White – Southern Gentleman (2019)
Leo Welch – The Angels in Heaven Done Signed My Name (2019)
Yola – Walk Through Fire (2019)
CeeLo Green – …is Thomas Callaway (2020)
Marcus King – El Dorado (2020)
Early James – Singing for my Supper (2020)
John Anderson – Years (2020)
Aaron Frazer – Introducing… (2021)
The Velveteers – Nightmare Daydream (2021)
Robert Finley – Sharecropper’s Son (2021)
Tony Joe White – Smoke From the Chimney (2021)
Yola – Stand for Myself (2021)
Shannon and the Clams – Year of the Spider (2021)
Hank Williams Jr – Rich White Honky Blues (2022)
Early James – Strange Time to Be Alive (2022)
Ceramic Animal – Sweet Unknow (2022)
Marcus King Band – Young Blood (2022)
Hermanos Gutiérrez – El Bueno y el Malo (2022)
Robert Finley – Black Bayou (2023)
The Arcs – Electrophonic Chronic (2023)
Nat Myers – Yellow Peril (2023)
Various Artists – 21st Century Juke Joint Blues (2023)
Jon Muq – Flying Away (2024)
Britti – Hello, I’m Britti (2024)
Aaron Frazer – Into the Blue (2024)
Jeremie Albino – Our Time in the Sun (2024)
Hermanos Gutiérrez – Sondo Cosmico (2024)
Shannon and the Clams – The Moon is in the Wrong Place (2024)