All About Eve

Did you know that only 3% of the population of engineers and producers in the music business are women? I believe we’re on a path to upping that number but for now it’s the truth. And Eve Nelson is one of them. 

When I approached Eve to work on my record it had nothing to do with the fact that she had a vagina. I wasn’t necessarily looking to work with a woman in order to make a point.

From the few times we had collaborated in the past, I knew her musical sensibilities were delicious and realistic, her process organic and most important…I enjoyed her company. 

Typical session — I show up at her front door and she greets me in sweat pants and slippers or maybe she’s still in pajamas  — the aroma of a roasted chicken is wafting from the kitchen. 😋Before we even discuss music we hover over the counter and pull pieces from the bone. No time for plates or cutlery. Only napkins. A Jewess singer/songwriter’s dream. 

Who can make music without first feeding the brain? 

Then after a couple of phone calls (she’s got a lot going on and I respect the delay because I’m sharing her with many) we get started. 

Focus ensues. 

We’re reimagining songs of mine that were made famous, iconic even, by superstars. How do I compete with superstars? Eve isn’t concerned. She’s full of options. 

She prefaces an idea with “I don’t know if you’re gonna like this but check it out.” She lays her fingers on the keys and shit happens. She is wrong. I like it.

When I want to tone down the ‘melismic’ nature of Christina Aguilera’s “What A Girl Wants” Eve proposes a more laid back wha-wha vibe. I dig it. 

I want to bring my 1999 “Human On The Inside” (recorded by the Pretenders) into 2020  — maybe eliminate some of the chord changes — she offers 3 alternative progressions. Just pulled them right out of her a**!  I’m like WHAT? As a chord-change junkie I find it really hard to give them up. But suddenly I don’t miss them because the alternative is actually even more satisfying in a modern space. 

For Brandy’s “Almost Doesn’t Count,” she’s feeling a single cello as accompaniment to her gorgeous piano arrangement. I listen back and don’t have to think. It’s  emotionally married. No try-hard there. 

She completely removes the last chorus from “Notebook,” a new song I’m including on the collection. That’s like amputating an arm. But you know what? It effing works. 

She sends me into the vocal booth … aware and sensitive to my year full of vocal issues…doesn’t push me to sing louder or higher or longer. I gently lay a ruf. The ruf winds up being the vocal I can’t beat. Because I’m at ease. 

See her EMMY upper left!

Eve gets me. She gets what I’m trying to do. She believes I’m as relevant as I believe I am in my own head. Isn’t that what a girl (or a boy) wants in a producer? Vagina or penis is irrelevant. 

Eve will never tell you (unless you ask) that she’s won an Emmy or that she’s making an album with Chan Kahn covering Joni Mitchell favorites or that she produced all the music to Little Mermaid Live! She doesn’t brag. She’s got no social media game, no PR, no agent! Still the work keeps coming. 

Every few months, more square footage of Eve’s home is dedicated to recording. The only piece of furniture in the living room is an impeccably tuned Steinway mic’d to perfection for optimum live sound. This is her priority. I’ll beg her to dine out with me or party-hop but she’s in her zone behind those keys and that’s were she wants to stay. I’ve come to respect her choice but I’m feeling kinda of sad that we’re done with my record and I won’t see her every day. 😢 Who will I slurp chicken with?

For those of us who’ve had the pleasure of working with Eve, you understand what I’m talking about. She’s truly one of a kind. 

But back to vaginas…

International Women’s Month is upon us. I’m hoping that soon, we won’t be singling women out as the exception or talking about a woman in a man’s world. We’ll simply be half of the workforce. And my friend Eve will still be there having paved the way for generations to follow. 

Here she is in a nutshell. Even when she’s talking about producing music she’s equating it with cooking:

🙏for reading. Have a listen to What A Girl Wants 2.0 . Please save it, share it, playlist it! If you'd like to receive my blog via email or be notified when new MUSIC comes out please click here. Pick up a copy of the GRAMMY Nominated “Confessions of a Serial Songwriter.” Visit my Serial Songwriter Facebook Page. Follow me on Twitter and Insta.

Click On Me…Stream, Save, Share!