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JUDY WOODRUFF: The band The 
Black Keys debuted its first 
album in five years recently at

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the number one spot of 
the U.S. album chart.

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Its vocalist and guitarist, 
Dan Auerbach, has also been 
making a name for himself in

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recent years in another setting.

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Jeffrey Brown visited 
him in Nashville recently 
as part of our ongoing 
arts and culture series,

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Canvas.

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DAN AUERBACH, The Black Keys: 
The idea here is to be able 
to see everyone and kind of

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make eye contact.

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I can even see the singer in 
the other room over there.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Eclectic, 
functional, and intimate, 
it's a space that seems 
to sum up Dan Auerbach's

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philosophy for making music.

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Auerbach is best known as 
one half of the two-man rock 
band The Black Keys, as well

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as for his solo work.

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But he's also made a mark as 
a record producer as head of 
the label Easy Eye Sound, based

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here at his studio in Nashville.

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It's a nondescript building, 
a former call center, but now 
the source of nearly a dozen

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albums in the past two years.

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DAN AUERBACH: That drum booth, 
the way it's set up, I set it 
up after Muscle Shoals Sound.

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JEFFREY BROWN: It combines 
features of famed recording 
studios Auerbach loves, such as

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Muscle Shoals Alabama, a 1970s 
mecca for soul, blues, and rock.

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DAN AUERBACH: I did a 
lot of investigating.

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I went to Memphis, and New York 
City, and L.A., and visited 
the classic rooms, and talked

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to the classic console makers.

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And so this studio is 
hand-picked down to the wire.

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You know what I mean?

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Every little part of it.

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And it's completely unique, 
and there's no other studio 
in the world like it.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Every piece 
of vintage gear works.

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It's fully wired, ready 
to record, multiple 
keyboards, four sets of 
drums, dozens of guitars.

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DAN AUERBACH: I used this one 
on of the very first Black 
Keys recordings we ever made.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Oh, yes?

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DAN AUERBACH: An old Stratotone.

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JEFFREY BROWN: So, each one of 
these has got some history, huh?

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DAN AUERBACH: Each one of these 
has some history and each one 
of these has its own sound.

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It's like having a toolbox 
full of different tools.

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JEFFREY BROWN: But tools alone, 
Auerbach says, aren't enough 
to replicate what he calls the

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famous music factories.

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DAN AUERBACH: I think when you 
start, you are attracted by 
all the lights, and all the

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faders, and all the knobs, and 
then when you get down to it, 
you realize it's mostly just

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the musicians.

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JEFFREY BROWN: But then -- but 
I'm -- I mean, we're in a studio 
surrounded by instruments...

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DAN AUERBACH: Yes.

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JEFFREY BROWN: ... and gear.

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DAN AUERBACH: Well, this 
is a city where the people 
know how to play them.

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JEFFREY BROWN: That's why 
Auerbach started Easy Eye 
here in 2017 by hauling 
some of Nashville's

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best session musicians out of 
retirement, including Billy 
Sanford, who created one of

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the most famous riffs 
in rock history for Roy 
Orbison's hit "Pretty Woman."

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BILLY SANFORD, Musician: 
That was one of them.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Yes, I 
think everybody knows that.

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BILLY SANFORD: Yes.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

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Yes.

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But that's you, huh?

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BILLY SANFORD: That's me and 
two other guitar players.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

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Yes.

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The Easy Eye house band 
now includes Sanford and 
keyboard player Bobby 
Wood, renowned session

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musicians who can improvise, 
collaborate, learn a part 
quickly, and record six to eight

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songs in a day.

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BILLY SANFORD: You never 
know what's coming next.

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But that's good.

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That keeps you on your toes.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Here, everyone 
sits side-by-side, Sanford says, 
like the old days of recording,

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very different from the way many 
studios now record vocalists 
and musicians, in isolation,

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mixing it all together 
in post-production.

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BILLY SANFORD: The main thing 
is, all the players are here.

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You're not looking at some guy 
doing some guitar work here 
in Nashville, and then sending

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it off to L.A. or somewhere 
else, or -- I think you missed 
the heartbeat of a record

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unless everybody's playing 
together at the same time.

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JEFFREY BROWN: I asked Auerbach 
if he'd set out to preserve 
something important being

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lost.

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DAN AUERBACH: I don't feel 
like a preservationist.

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I feel like everything 
we're doing is new.

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I don't want to cut -- we 
don't cut old songs here.

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We cut new songs.

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I just want to make something 
I'm proud of and make something 
that feels like the records

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that I love, the records that I 
just want to live with forever.

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JEFFREY BROWN: That's meant a 
variety of genres and a growing 
portfolio of rising artists,

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including Yola, Shannon 
Shaw, Robert Finley, and 
21-year-old Dee White.

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White, who is from 
Slapout, Alabama, had 
barely started singing 
when he was brought in by

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a mutual acquaintance.

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He and Auerbach clicked, and 
that led days of intensive 
songwriting, followed quickly

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by a recording session, 
with special guests like 
Alison Krauss stopping 
by to sing harmony.

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DEE WHITE, Musician: Part of 
the reason that this is such a 
blessing for me is there hasn't

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been any kind of molding 
or shaping of what I 
should be doing musically.

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I feel like that is something 
that a lot of people 
who come to town face.

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JEFFREY BROWN: You mean 
trying to put you into 
a certain box, or...

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DEE WHITE: Yes.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Yes?

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DEE WHITE: You know, as 
far as a sound or whatever.

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And I feel like a lot of people 
have to compromise in some ways, 
and I never had to do that.

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JEFFREY BROWN: Easy Eye Sound 
has signed 10 artists so far, 
with several high-profile

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announcements expected 
in the coming months.

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And for a long time Black Keys 
fans, the band's new album 
was recorded here recently.

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Is this like the long-term 
sustainable way of life?

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Is that you -- what 
you're building?

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DAN AUERBACH: Well, I mean, 
if you talk to my accountant, 
he'd probably tell you no,

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but...

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JEFFREY BROWN: Really?

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DAN AUERBACH: ... I mean, in my 
heart, I believe that this is 
what I'm supposed to be doing.

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JEFFREY BROWN: A blend of old 
and new, one song at a time.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm 
Jeffrey Brown in Nashville.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Jeff gets 
all the good assignments.