Justin Niebank

Class of 1978: Grammy-winning mix engineer

Three-time Grammy Award winner Justin Wrigley Niebank is one of the top mixers, engineers and producers in country music. His honors include two Country Music Awards, including a 2012 CMA as Engineer of the Year and a 2016 CMA as mix engineer for Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man,” the Single of the Year; nine Academy of Country Music awards and 16 Music Row awards, given for the most top 10 albums in a given year.

He also has been involved with more than 20 Grammy Award-winning records as a producer, engineer or mixer. These include a Grammy as producer and engineer of Vince Gill’s “These Days” album, which won the Grammy Award for Country Album of the Year.

Niebank was born Oct. 12, 1956, in Evanston, Illinois. Although he majored in English and history at Ripon, he was always obsessed with music. He played instruments and tinkered with recording instruments as a child and later played in a band.

At Ripon, he joined his roommate, Tim Hale, Class of 1978, in playing and recording music. After graduating, he returned to his Chicago hometown, then moved to New York and finally ended up in the Nashville area. He started out writing jingles and then moved on to recording and other production endeavors.

He soon transitioned into working behind the scenes. “I love the actual process of making records — recording music and coming up with the tone, making the choice of location and songs,” he said. “I just love the art of making records.”

Being a mixer offers him creativity. Recordings are done on multiple channels, and “a mixer is like a conductor for an orchestra. I assemble all the tracks and rearrange them. I choose which elements of a song become apparent, the feel and groove of the song.”

He collaborates with a wide variety of artists such as Taylor Swift on her “Speak Now,” “Fearless” and “Red” albums, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Willie Nelson, Lady A, George Strait and John Mellencamp.

“College influenced my life significantly,” he said. “It’s such a thoughtful environment. It opened my mind to the concept of learning to learn.

“The landscape of my work changes constantly and I have to reinvent what I do. My education gave me a balanced approach to things that I do and having something to draw from. Just a little bit of perspective allows me to bring things to each project and make it unique.”

And the music business continues to hold its appeal. “I absolutely love music,” Niebank said. “That’s number one. I get to play with toys all day long. To me, music, of all the art forms, can appeal to anyone anywhere. You can hear a song you haven’t heard for 20 years and go back to the past. I can remember exactly where I was, who I was with, what kind of day it was. I try to make records that can evoke that emotional reaction in people so it can become a moment in their lives.

“Working behind the scenes in the music business is my passion. It’s the potential of creating magic, sounds you never heard before, a turn of phrase, a melody you never heard before. Every day is a mystery.”