Shane Leonard

Shane Leonard didn’t intend to be a producer. But it’s become his foundational role in the wider folk/indie community and made him a go-to inspiration resource in his home scene of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Leonard started out as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, putting out records as Kalispell and touring with bands like Field Report. Around the time he and his wife, Margaret, were expecting their first child, and Leonard was contemplating getting off the road, the phone started ringing: Had he ever thought of producing?

“People just started asking me,” he said. “It was actually pretty strange. Because producing really is other people wanting you to be in the room with them when they try to make their albums. And that's not a thing that you can set out to be.”

Early projects with Kristin Andreassen and Humbird led to producing JE Sunde, Courtney Hartman, Mipso, Anna Tivel and more. He continued to engineer, mix and sit in on studio and live sessions, becoming known as, in Justin Vernon’s words, “a monster musician who's played with everybody.” His worked-with creds read like a modern indie-folk who’s who: Josh Ritter, Rose Cousins, Foy Vance, Rachel Price, Larry Campbell, Sara and Sean Watkins — the list goes on. But producing has his heart.

“Producing is such a quasi-mystical challenge,” said Leonard, who records to tape and mixes on an analog console. “It’s a thrill and a privilege to be given that kind of trust.” 

It’s also influenced his work as a solo artist on 2019’s Strange Forms and the upcoming Make The Birds Fly, out on Sleepy Cat Records February 26. He’s gotten to experiment with many different studio processes while clarifying what recording techniques and production choices can’t overcome.

“Production made me spend a lot more time on the songwriting,” said Leonard. “I’ve been in enough sessions where a song was just not making us feel anything, no matter what we tried. That’s when you have to look at the song itself. I’m way more willing to revise now.” 

Whether producing, mixing, playing or writing, Leonard is looking forward — and around. He helps lead a monthly song-share with Eau Claire-based musicians, organizes a yearly songwriting retreat and can often be found taking on music-director duties for big, collaborative shows.

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