RSR518 - Trina Shoemaker - From Maid to Grammy as 1st Woman to Win Album of the Year - Recording Studio Rockstars

RSR518 – Trina Shoemaker – From Maid to Grammy as 1st Woman to Win Album of the Year

What does it take to rise from cleaning studios to shaping some of the most iconic records of our time? Trina Shoemaker’s story is not just about breaking into the music industry—it’s about breaking through it. As the first woman to win a Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Trina paved the way for a generation of female producers and engineers, and she brings her powerful voice and razor-sharp insight to this inspiring and unfiltered conversation.
In this episode, Trina shares how she went from mopping floors at Capitol Records to earning Grammy wins for her work with artists like Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris. She tells the behind-the-scenes stories of working on Wrecking Ball and how that album helped define the sound of Americana. We explore her years in London learning the art of engineering, her move to New Orleans to join the legendary Kingsway Studio, and the deep musical and personal lessons she learned along the way.
Trina also pulls back the curtain on the realities of being a woman in a male-dominated field—how she navigated the industry, demanded respect, and held true to her belief in capturing raw, honest performances. She discusses her approach to vocal production, why she avoids auto-tune, and how crafting backing vocals is one of her secret weapons. Beyond her life in the studio, Trina opens up about her love of writing and her dream of publishing a novel and having actor Will Patton narrate the audiobook.
Whether you're a seasoned engineer or just starting out, this episode offers a powerful reminder: authenticity, persistence, and a deep respect for the artist’s process will always rise above the noise.

My guest today is Trina Shoemaker, who was born in 1965 and raised in Joliet, IL, southwest of Chicago. Over the past three-and-a-half decades, she has produced, recorded and mixed hundreds of records. A four-time Grammy® Award winner and six-time nominee, she is the first woman to win the Grammy® for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Her credits run the gamut from Queens Of The Stone Age, Rodney Crowell, Charley Crockett and Iggy Pop to Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker. Although audio engineering is a passion, writing songs and playing musical instruments are not. Instead, while her ears are busy in the studio recording music, her imagination is busy creating characters, narratives, plotlines and dialogues as she travels through the hidden workings of songs. These stories have culminated in the creation of her debut novel, Bury Me Alive In Your Sugar. Trina lives on Mobile Bay in Fairhope, Alabama, with her husband, singer-songwriter Grayson Capps.

Thank you to Tyler Bryant for the introduction!

⬇︎⬇︎Scroll down to listen⬇︎⬇︎

Thanks To Our Sponsors:

Get hands-on training and launch your music career at SAE Institute Nashville! Learn studio production, live sound, and audio for film using industry-standard gear, taught by experienced pros. With diploma, associate, and bachelor’s programs, SAE helps you build the skills you need for the real world. Visit Usa.sae.edu to get started today!

Mix vocals like a pro with Velvet! This intelligent de‑esser separates sibilance and tone so you can control harshness, remove clicks, and shape the perfect vocal sound. Pair it with Ozone for mastering, and use code ROCK10 for 10% off at iZotope.com

From cinematic scoring to radio-ready productions, Kontakt and Session Guitarist put powerful instruments at your fingertips—only from Native Instruments. Use the code ROCK10 for 10% off at Native-Instruments.com

Focus your mix with the D3V Active Desktop Monitor System and H200 Dynamic Closed-Back Studio Headphones from Adam Audio. Designed in Berlin, perfect for pro-level monitoring in your home studio. Never leave the sweet spot at Adam-Audio.com

Soak up a little sunshine in your sound with the MBSI plugin! Created by Make Believe Studio & Metric Halo in collaboration with Bill Szymczyk and Lij Shaw, MBSI recreates the iconic MCI console from Criteria Studio C, used on legendary records. Bring the Grammy-winning sound of Miami 1976 to your home studio today at MakeBelieveStudio.com/MBSI

Make your next record with me at the newly remodeled RSR headquarters and experience the ability to hear your music in holographic detail with the Phantom Focus System PFS HD1000 monitors. TheToyBoxStudio.com

⬇︎⬇︎Scroll down to listen⬇︎⬇︎

Listen TO THE PODCAST here⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎

AppleGoogle PlayShare Leave a ReviewClammr ItListen in a New WindowDownloadSoundCloudStitcherSubscribe on AndroidSubscribe via RSSMix Master BundleUltimate Mixing MasterclassYouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastRockstars Of Drums

LISTEN TO
DISCOGRAPHY
ON
SPOTIFY




Website Links:


www.trinashoemaker.com

Additional podcast editing and production by:
Vlad Vasilcenko
Liz Hulitskaya

MixMasterBundle.com
Take your music from sounding like a basement demo to professional radio-ready mixes with my free introductory mixing course using stock and free plugins at MixMasterBundle.com!

Share
Tweet