Dann Huff
Birth nameDann Lee Huff
Born (1960-11-15) November 15, 1960 (age 63)
OriginNashville, Tennessee, U.S.[1]
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1976–present
Formerly of

Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio musician and songwriter.[3] For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the Musician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Country Music Association Awards and the Producer of the Year award in 2006 and 2009 at the Academy of Country Music.[4] He is the father of American singer and songwriter Ashlyne Huff, a member of Giant and White Heart and brother of drummer David Huff.

Career

Huff grew up in Nashville and attended Brentwood Academy.[5] His father, Ronn Huff, was an arranger, composer and conductor who wrote orchestrations for film and television and was the pops conductor for the Nashville Symphony.[6][7] Huff began his career as part of the original Christian rock band White Heart in which he played with his brother David Huff,[8][9] and later in the melodic hard rock band Giant. He has since then been active as a session guitarist and producer in both rock music and country music with his first guitar recording debut for Ron Haffkine and Kyle Lehning. In the 1980s, Huff played guitar on albums for Michael Jackson, Amy Grant, Scritti Politti, Whitesnake, Roger Hodgson, Steven Curtis Chapman, Doro Pesch, Juice Newton, Michael W. Smith, Whitecross, George Benson,[10] Whitney Houston's debut album Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand,[11] Kenny Rogers,[12] Warren Hill and more.[13][14] Since the 1990s, Huff has been working as a producer for various bands and artists, touring with Hank Williams, Jr, some of which include Faith Hill, Megadeth, Rebecca St. James, Rascal Flatts[15] and Lonestar.[16]

The songs Huff has played on include Whitesnake's 1987 US radio version of "Here I Go Again"[17] and Michael W. Smith's Go West Young Man.[18]

In 2012, Taylor Swift produced three songs with Huff and Nathan Chapman for her fourth studio album, Red.[19]

Collaborations

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References

  1. ^ Dillon, Charlotte. "Dann Huff biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  2. ^ Dunkerley, Beville (June 11, 2014). "Dann Huff on Faith, Keith and Rock-Infused Country". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  3. ^ "Producer Profile: Dann Huff". Rolling Stone. June 11, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  4. ^ "Winner". Academy of Country Music. Retrieved December 16, 2016. Enter Dann Huff in the search field.
  5. ^ "Eagles" Brentwood Academy Yearbook. Nashville: Brentwood Academy. 1978.
  6. ^ Bostick, Alan (January 23, 2000). "Manchester at ease with orchestra". The Tennessean. p. 10F. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  7. ^ Oermann, Rober K. (May 25, 1983). "Tree signs Ronn Huff To Key Post". The Tennessean. p. 1D. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  8. ^ Rosenthal, Traja (March 14, 1987). "White Heart Beats". Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, California, USA. p. 5. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
  9. ^ Cusic, Don (2009). Encyclopedia of contemporary Christian music: pop, rock, and worship. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 461. ISBN 978-0-313-34425-1.
  10. ^ "20 20 by George Benson @ARTISTdirect". ARTISTdirect. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  11. ^ "Emotion by Barbra Streisand @ARTISTdirect". ARTISTdirect. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  12. ^ "What About Me by Kenny Rogers @ARTISTdirect". ARTISTdirect. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  13. ^ Songs and Albums on which Dann Huff played on
  14. ^ Biography of Giant/Dan Huff on Allmusic.com
  15. ^ Tucker, Ken (April 15, 2006). "Hitting the high notes". Billboard. e5 Global Media. p. 38. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  16. ^ "Lonely Grill - Lonestar - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Prown, Pete; Newquist, HP (1997). Legends of rock guitar: The essential reference of rock's greatest guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 211. ISBN 0-7935-4042-9.
  18. ^ "1990 album: Go West Young Man". Artist Direct. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
  19. ^ "Red - Taylor Swift | Credits". AllMusic.
  20. ^ "Lead Me On - Amy Grant | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  21. ^ "Jesus Freak - dc Talk | AllMusic". AllMusic.

External links

Authority control databases
White Heart
Giant
CMA Musician of the Year
Categories