Todd Ashburn is a Nashville-based session and touring bassist with more than 35 years in the music industry.

He’s known internationally for playing with various rock, pop and country artists, including TOTO, Steppenwolf, Taylor Dayne (video below) and Luke Bryan to name a few. But it’s his roots in our shared hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., and involvement in the state’s music scene that stole my heart. So, I decided to shadow him for a day. 

The day starts aptly at his Nashville farm, known in the city as “The Homestead” – a site used by several high-profile musicians for their videos.

Ashburn, along with his fellow studio musicians, have 10 songs to record today so we need to get moving.

The first order of business is loading up his much-loved Dodge Ram with an arsenal of basses. His Spector NS-2 bass goes first, two Fender Precisions – one classic, one a little newer – next. He adds to it a Fender Jazz, MusicMan Stingray and Hofner, along with two, five-string basses (Sadowsky and Spector). 

Once loaded, it’s a quick trip to the iconic Ocean Way Nashville Studios in the heart of Nashville’s Music Row. Housed in a renovated 100-year-old Gothic Revival Greystone church, the studios have recorded artists including Bon Jovi, Dan + Shay and JellyRoll. There, Ashburn meets up with the day’s band leader, Buddy Hyatt of rock band TOTO fame. Not only did he hire all the session players, but Hyatt will also be on keyboards today. And the two are joined by other “who’s who” level musicians, including Brent Mason (guitar), Bobby Terry (acoustic guitar), Scotty Sanders (lap steel) and Andy Hull (drums). It’s 9 a.m.

Ashburn loads in and gets set up. He explains that it’s rare when he doesn’t run his bass directly into the main soundboard. When an artist or producer is looking for a particular sound, however, he’ll be asked to bring his Ampeg SVT rig for the recording engineer to mic up. 

By 10 a.m., we’re in Studio B for recording – or what they call “tracking.”

The musicians are huddling in the main soundboard room to review the song charted by Hyatt in what they call Nashville Numbers. This is a music notation shorthand developed in the 1950s that uses numbers (1-7) to represent chords based on the scale degree, rather than fixed letter names (A, C, G, etc.). 

Listening to the artist’s demo, Ashburn and each of the musicians make their notes on the charts they’ll take to the tracking room to record. The artist either sings with an acoustic guitar – sometimes a keyboard – or plays their demo while the musicians are making their notes. This is when the artist, producer and musicians brainstorm ideas for the music.  

The huddle breaks five minutes later and the band heads to the tracking room. The artist performs a dry track (not for final mix) in the vocal booth to help vibe the musician.

By 10:10 a.m., there’s music.

The artist and producer watch in amazement while the band make it happen in a couple of takes. Afterward, Ashburn tells me with genuine sincerity that he feels fortunate to play with some of the world’s best musicians. 

Now it’s time for Brent Mason to lay down his solos, while the other musicians take a short break. The team in the soundboard room are obviously feeling good about how it all is coming together. Mason finishes up in about 10 minutes and returns to the soundboard room to start on the next song. And the process repeats.

The band sizzles the next four songs they tracked with accolades from the artist and producer. We break for lunch at 1:30 p.m. Today, the entire team – including the artist and producer – hopped into several cars and went out to lunch. They have the “usual” spots, as I learned, all of which are close to Music Row. We landed at Arnold’s, one of the favorites, because as Ashburn tells me, “you can’t go wrong with a meat-and-three situation.” The camaraderie is evident, and the authentic Nashville scene is especially enjoyed by the out-of-towners – me and the artist. Amidst the chatter and laughter, we ate with haste so the musicians could get back to business.

We’re back in the studio by 2:20 p.m. and five additional songs are recorded.

Ashburn is in his element. It was clear that he not only loves his craft, but also the musicians and artists he works with. Although seasoned, he’s not jaded. He still picks up on artists’ energy – from the wide-eyed excitement of newer artists to the surgical precision of veteran singers. He thinks both, along with all those in-between, are cool.

Since music is a team sport, so to speak, I wondered what it’s like to play with Ashburn. Andy Hull, who plays/tours with some of country music’s biggest stars (currently Clint Black), appreciates his musical prowess. “Todd knows when to play, when not to play when to ham it up,” Hull said. “That goes a long way in recording. Live music is sometimes a free-for-all – and you can step on other players. He is one of those musicians who knows what to play, when to play and how to serve the song.”

Hull also appreciates the person. “Todd is a wonderful guy. His personality goes a long way. There are so many, forgive my language, assholes who are great players. You want to hear them play, but you don’t want to be in the same room with them. Todd is not one of those.”

The day wraps at about 7:45 p.m. Ashburn will be back tomorrow, without his shadow, so he leaves his instruments on the bass rack. 

We jump into the truck and head back to the farm. While he’s pulling out of the Ocean Way parking lot onto Music Square, Ashburn is listening to his voicemails. Some are about upcoming sessions, I hear. But it’s the touch-base message from his good friend Billy Cox, former bassist for Jimi Hendrix; current session and touring musician, that sparks a huge smile on his face. I found myself smiling too, happy for my fellow Winston-Salem native.

Back at the farm, Ashburn walks straight to the outdoor fire pit, his favorite place to unwind (no matter the temperature). Accompanied by his dog, Poppy, and a few orphaned kittens – all of whom he rescued – he takes a few deep breaths of the fresh air and begins to melt into the chair. He’s staring off into the distance when he tells me how grateful he is to live this life. 

And on that note, a “normal” day in the life of Todd Ashburn, as he called it, came to an end. I was honored to be a part of it.

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