Home recordings have become ubiquitous in the age of computer recording systems like Pro Tools, Logic, and Ableton. However, when Bruce Springsteen released his bedroom demo, Nebraska, in 1982, it proved you didn’t need an expensive recording studio to make a masterpiece. Springsteen’s DIY approach gave future songwriters a blueprint for capturing music without the high cost of a professional recording studio.
Videos by American Songwriter
See how Nebraska shaped these modern indie classics.
“Skinny Love” by Bon Iver from ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ (2007)
Justin Vernon suffered from health issues and personal struggles when he moved from Raleigh, North Carolina, to his father’s cabin outside his hometown in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He changed his writing method and subsequently changed the sound of modern indie folk. Recording under the name Bon Iver, Vernon has also become a dominant force in pop music, most notably on collaborations with Taylor Swift. The intimacy of “Skinny Love” puts the listener right there in the cabin with an emotional intensity later echoed by Zach Bryan.
“God Speed” by Zach Bryan from ‘DeAnn’ (2019)
If you think you need expensive equipment to record an album, let Zach Bryan set you straight. Bryan recorded his debut at an Airbnb in Jacksonville, Florida. While serving in the U.S. Navy, he gained an audience through emotional YouTube uploads, and soon he’d transform the sound of country and Americana music. Now, everywhere you turn, record labels push Bryan clones. But like Springsteen before him, there can only be one boss. After the commercial success of multiple albums, Springsteen wanted to slow things down with Nebraska. Bryan shares this impulse. Yet the record-setting crowds continue to show up. And the only slowness that came out of the Nebraska tapes was a gradual DIY revolution.
“Fake Empire” by The National from ‘Boxer’ (2007)
Nebraska is “the Big Bang of indie rock that was about making sh*t alone in your bedroom.” That’s a quote from The National’s Matt Berninger, which appears in Warren Zanes’s book, Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making Of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. The National has become one of indie rock’s most successful bands, but their home studio chops have also led to high-profile collaborations with Bon Iver, Taylor Swift, and others.
In the past, songwriters relied on record labels to support their development. Now, with affordable and accessible recording software, they can develop autonomously while also growing a fan base from their phones. Being self-sufficient and creatively free, artists don’t have to accrue insurmountable debt owed to record labels. Though a debt of gratitude is certainly owed to Nebraska.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.