The Henhouse Hang

The Henhouse Hang is a unique 3-day music recording seminar in the heart of East Nashville, focused on recording and mixing Roots music from the ground up at Steve Dawson’s Henhouse Studio. This is your chance to experience the process of producing music in a room full of well-seasoned veterans. Steve has dedicated the last 20 years of his life to making records, and the skills and experience of working in this style are totally unique. Steve will be joined by his long-time friend and recording engineer Sheldon Zaharko, and a cast of world-class Nashville session musicians. The goal will be to produce and record 2 songs for a guest artist, from the ground up in that time, and showing you recording and production techniques along the way. The Americana/Roots genre is unique in that recording a live band performance is an accepted and preferred way to work. We don’t make bed tracks and add instruments one at a time. We get the whole band in the room and play some music! You’ll see how Nashville Number charts get written and used while the band hears the song for the first time, how lyric sheets get referenced, how instrumental parts are developed, and how the band works together to create music that is both respectful to the song but also an inspired performance by all those involved. You’ll see how we get sounds from various instruments and the techniques involved in capturing them in a recording using various microphones and other equipment. All of these skills take a long time to learn and to master, and it’s almost impossible to find a way to experience a recording session like this first-hand without being one of the musicians on the session. We hope to change that by opening the doors to a small group of people who want to learn this engaging, interactive and unique way of making music.

“The entire Henhouse Hang was fantastic! I loved learning about the process of how tracks are produced by actually experiencing it first-hand in the studio, and working through a couple tracks from start to finish. We gained insights into every step from the studio setup to a deep-dive into the gear to the whole musical process.”
- Allan (2023 attendee)

  • A unique 3-day learning and interactive music recording experience in Nashville, TN hosted by Steve Dawson at his Henhouse Studio

  • Learn recording and mixing techniques specific to unique instruments and styles of recording based around group performance in the Roots/Americana genre

  • 3 Days of intensive and interactive studio time with some of the best musicians and songwriters around

  • See how instruments like drums, upright bass, acoustic and electric guitar, pedal steel, banjo, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, piano and more are played and recorded

  • Watch as the session unfolds and the musicians create recordings in real time with the featured artist whose songs we will be working on

  • Delicious home-made lunches, coffee and snacks provided

  • Limited to 8 participants

  • Rates for 2025: $1400 USD

The Henhouse Hang - Now Booking for September 15-17, 2025

($300 deposit required to hold a spot)

If you have any questions about The Henhouse Hang, Contact us here

Coming from Canada? Let’s meet somewhere in the middle on the terrible exchange rate!
Contact us to discuss

“Having the opportunity to see “behind the curtain” of the work of such incredible professionals was a gift (and very rare in my experience). Everyone was generous and open handed with answering any questions we had. Getting to observe the team work through the songs was inspiring. The food/hospitality was first rate as well!”
- Paul (2023 attendee)

Steve Dawson - I’ll be playing guitars, steel, etc and essentially running the show.

Sheldon Zaharko - Sheldon will be doing the bulk of the engineering and showing you how it’s done! He’s an award-winning engineer with decades of experience.

Dave Jacques - Dave was John Prine’s bassist for 25 years and is an incredible player and positive force in the studio.

Richard Bennett - Richard has spent the last 25 years as the guitarist in Mark Knopfler’s band, and before that was in Neil Diamond’s band for decades. He has produced and played on hundreds of amazing records.

Jen Gunderman - Jen is a spectacular piano and organ player who has toured in Sheryl Crow’s band for many years, as well as The Jayhawks, and countless recording sessions.

Justin Amaral - Justin is a drummer/percussionist with a huge palette of interesting grooves. Justin is a very in-demand player in Nashville.

Guest Artist - Aaron Lee Tasjan - Aaron is a truly original singer and songwriter and we will be working on 2 of his songs throughout the process.

Meet the Musicians at This year’s Henhouse Hang

The announcement for 2025
and a bit about what’s in store!

FAQ

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($300 deposit required to hold a spot)

If you have any questions about The Henhouse Hang, Contact us here

Coming from Canada? Let’s meet somewhere in the middle on the terrible exchange rate!
Contact us to discuss

Some images from Last Year’s Event

Featuring our amazing crew, guests and our incredible special guest artist, Lily Winwood!

“Steve Dawson is an extraordinarily gifted and versatile musician. Being as well a songwriter, engineer, and producer allows Steve a broad and nuanced perspective of any project’s scope; and he is an unfailingly inventive and generous collaborator. I find myself turning to Steve less for any particular instrument he might play, and more for the expanse of his experience and humanity that he brings to the table.”
- Joe Henry

Meet The Instructors

 Steve Dawson

Behind the seemingly endless stream of award winning musical output is one of the hardest working musicians this country has ever produced. Whether he’s turning heads on the concert circuit with his incendiary playing, or pulling the best possible performances out of the many artists that he works with, Steve Dawson is always striving to take things to the next level with innovative slide guitar playing, fingerstyle guitar and songwriting. His work as an artist and producer has garnered 7 Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy). He has become an in-demand guitarist and sideman, touring and recording with artists such as Birds of Chicago, Matt Andersen, Allison Russell, Bruce Cockburn, Joe Henry, Jim Byrnes, Kelly Joe Phelps, John Hammond, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and many more.

Steve currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee, where he works as a solo artist, sideman, and record producer. He runs the acclaimed independent label Black Hen Music and his recording studio, The Henhouse. Steve also releases a monthly podcast exploring the lives and careers of interesting musicians entitled “Music Makers and Soul Shakers”.

Sheldon Zaharko

Sheldon is a Juno Award winning engineer that has worked with many Internationally acclaimed artists on their recording projects. Sheldon is also the recipient of the Western Canadian Music award for Engineer of the year 2017 and 2021. 

Sheldon was born in Vermilion, Alberta and discovered at an early age that music can pretty much save your life.  Growing up in a small town, he found refuge in music as a musician and performed in bands throughout the 80’s as a drummer. His love of music morphed into a fascination with the recording process and he discovered his passion lay in the studio, behind the mixing board.

In 1991, Sheldon went to Trebas Institute, a prestigious recording school in Vancouver where he gained theoretical and practical experience.  After his studies at Trebas, he was hired to work at "The Factory", starting as an assistant engineer working under John MacLean.

From 1993-2011 Sheldon was the Head Engineer at "The Factory", working with a bevy of recording acts like Billy Talent, Robben Ford, Geddy Lee, Simple Plan, Bad Company, Roberta Flack, Michelle Wright, Sheena Easton, Melissa Manchester, Susan Aglukark, Philip Bailey, Jeffrey Osborne, Peabo Bryson, Prism, Rob Halford, Ridley Bent, Jane Siberry, Steve Dawson, Holly McNarland and The National Film Board of Canada.

We Hope to see you in September at The Henhouse Hang!!

Book a spot now ($300 Deposit required to hold a spot)

If you have any questions about The Henhouse Hang, Contact us here

Coming from Canada? Let’s meet somewhere in the middle on the terrible exchange rate!
Contact us to discuss