...the three owners know that creating a comfortable and unpretentious setting in the studio is essential for real creativity to take place. "As cliché as it sounds, the vibe is really important to us," says Bullock. "Sometimes we treat the space like our own personal dorm room. Making a record should be fun."

"We're completely focused on helping our clients walk out with the record they wanted to make when they walked in," Baldwin says, "whether it's just tackling the technical end of ideas that are already fleshed out or full-on production where we take a germ of an idea and turn it into a wall of sound. I feel very strongly as if there's still something to prove in pop and rock music, and I'm confident we can help get it there."

Best Rock Producer: Jason Bullock
Nowadays, recording software like GarageBand lets any wannabe with a computer make a record, but that doesn't mean they sound good. Enter indie producer Jason Bullock. The MTSU alum got his start engineering in Murfreesboro, then opened a studio in his Nashville apartment, where he began recording a who's who of local rock bands: The Privates, Character and The Pink Spiders, to name a few. Not only has Bullock's work gotten some of the aforementioned acts industry attention, he's earned a reputation for working fast and cheap, and helping bands sound like themselves. Even though he's got new digs on Music Row, he still doesn't even charge B-room rates, making him the most band-friendly rock producer in town.

Having something like [Lake Fever] in Nashville, Pink Spiders singer/guitarist Matt Friction says, is as important to the health of the local rock scene as its pool of bands. "I think it's essential... they're to me a kind of saving grace... A lot of people take credit for what has happened to us - really most of the credit goes to those guys. [They are] completely essential to our success."