American Heartland: 
 AV talks with Todd Mosby

 

Todd Mosby

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All photos in this interview are
 by Andrew Matusik.




American Heartland
by Todd Mosby

 

Between Landscape and Lineage: Todd Mosby’s American Heartland

There’s something fitting about the way Todd Mosby’s music seems to exist between places. His work has never belonged to a single tradition, but instead draws from a deep well of influences—Missouri bluegrass roots, the intricate discipline of North Indian classical music, and the openness of West Coast jazz. As the only guitarist within the Imrat Khani Gharana and the creator of the 18-string Imrat guitar, Mosby has spent decades shaping a language that feels both grounded and exploratory. What he describes as “geotemporal” composition isn’t just a concept—it’s a reflection of a lifetime spent connecting landscapes, cultures, and states of mind through sound. 

In this conversation, we sit down with Mosby alongside producer Jeffrey Weber to take a closer look at his latest release, American Heartland. As the second chapter in his ongoing musical travelogue, the album shifts its focus inward, trading the expansive horizons of the Southwest for something more rooted and personal. Recorded at The Village Studios and brought to life by a remarkable group of players—including Vinnie Colaiuta and Leland Sklar—the record feels less like a departure and more like a return. It’s an album shaped by memory, place, and a deep respect for the musical soil Mosby first grew in. 

What emerges from American Heartland is not just a tribute to geography, but to identity itself. There’s a quiet confidence in the way Mosby allows these influences to breathe—never forcing fusion, but letting it unfold naturally, as if these traditions were always meant to meet. In the discussion that follows, we explore how this balance is achieved, from the early influence of Ustad Imrat Khan to the collaborative spirit that defines the album’s production. It’s a window into an artist still evolving, still searching, and still finding new ways to translate the landscapes within and around him into sound.

AV:  You’ve described your musical DNA as a blend of everything from bluegrass and North Indian classical to Debussy and Steely Dan. Looking back at your upbringing in Missouri, was there a specific "lightning bolt" moment where these disparate genres first started to make sense as a single language for you?  

TM:  It was never a lightning bolt moment where the blending of genres finally came together as a single language but more of an assimilated learning process. This came about through years of practice, composition, study, mentorship, experience and a need to survive. In order to work as a full time musician in St. Louis, I had to be able to perform in an authentic way Jazz, Blues, North Indian etc. 

Over time, these various styles became organically connected at a very deep level to all that I do musically. They have become assimilated. This is not something I set out to do but is a result of what has been acquired naturally and musically over a long period of time and hundreds of thousands of hours of practice. 

AV:  You spent 13 years studying under Ustadt Imrat Khan. How did that decade-plus of rigorous discipline in the North Indian classical tradition change the way you physically approach the guitar when you are playing more Western-centric jazz or folk?  

 

TM:  Through the study of ragas and their accompanying technical exercises, my right hand guitar technique was honed to a very high level. Horizontal fingering was shifted to a one finger ascending descending technique with a second finger close at the highest ascending note. This leads to a sitar kind of phrasing which is very vocal in nature. On guitar and Imrat Guitar, I also have the advantage of ascending descending vertically across strings which leads to very rapid single note speed and creation of harmony.  

The pulling of the meen or bending of notes was taken to a height which far surpasses anything that blues guitarists are doing, with the exception of maybe slide guitar. Imrat always said the Imrat guitar is better than sitar and better than guitar. It allows access to the best of both worlds. Also whenever a new instrument is created, new music needs to be composed to accommodate the change.  

When I compose I access both of these philosophies contingent mainly on where the music leads, the instrumentation required, the audience and direction of melody and harmony. These are the only conscious decisions I tend to make. Otherwise the inspiration for melody and harmony is pretty much unconscious. A few ideas and concepts require time to decipher and work out, but for the most part it is a steady stream of thought. Since I am not writing for anyone or anything, I have the freedom to write music for music’s sake. 

AV:  You hold the rare distinction of being the only guitarist in the famed Imdhad Khani Gharana. Does that 500-year legacy feel like a weight of responsibility when you’re composing, or does it act more as a liberation for your creative voice? 


Left to right: Nick Lane, Todd Mosby, John Dickson, Tom Scott,
Dan Fornero

TM:  There is a responsibility especially when performing in the traditional North Indian style. Imrat taught me that his—our—teachers and their teachers before them, are always listening to every note we play. To strike one distasteful note or create one unpleasant phrase, causes them much pain. So out of respect we must only play the most beautiful phrases, strike each note and bend with utmost accuracy and always play in perfect tune. 

Imrat also taught me that the reason Classical North Indian or Raga music has survived for so long is because each new generation takes what has been taught and then adds to it. This not only keeps the music alive and current but also establishes a well grounded base in tradition.

AV:  Tell us about the birth of the Imrat guitar.

What was the specific sound in your head that you couldn't achieve with a standard six-string that necessitated the invention of an 18-string sitar-guitar hybrid? 

TM:  I came to a point in my Indian raga studies where the acoustic guitar could no longer service my development as student of the music. To reach the truly higher aspects of Classical North Indian music meant understanding the finer details of tuning. Because I had no sympathetic strings, my ability to strike onto the heart of each note and create the natural chordal resonance of the sympathetic string vibration, it became a severely limiting factor.  

I was also taught the essence of North Indian raga music and level of musicianship is determined mainly by one’s ability to tune the instrument as well as to play and pull in tune. In other words, playing into the natural resonance of the instrument and firing the sympathetic strings.  

AV:  You’ve worked extensively with Will Ackerman, a titan of the Windham Hill sound. How did his "less is more" philosophy influence your approach to production before you transitioned into the more orchestrated, multi-layered world of your recent projects? 

TM:  Will Ackerman taught me how to use space inside a recording as well as how to piece together all the absolute best golden moments of each take and create a finished jewel. He is also the best barometer for recording solo acoustic guitar on the planet. Very difficult to do. His attention to detail is astonishing. 

To explain further, recording deals with a limited amount of space within a fixed amount of time. These factors never change once a tune is committed to tape. Will’s record philosophy is to start with the base instrument, guitar in my case, get a finished, golden track and then build/layer/overdub the rest of the instruments around that. The record develops organically as each musician adds their parts. The individual parts are left to each studio musician to create under Will’s guidance. He is very much a hands on producer in this sense with an impeccable taste for what is right. The individual layering creates a separation which is unique to the Windham Hill sound. Leaving space for other instruments to enter and leave, becomes critical to his work flow as does the intense level of editing required at times. 

The two recordings with Jeff required me to use every aspect of what I learned working with Will to create the finished albums. It is a constant learning process. 

AV:  American Heartland is the second chapter in a musical travelogue of America. How did the conceptual process differ when you were mapping out the "magic and strength" of the Southwest in Land of Enchantment compared to the "soul of Missouri" on this record? 

TM:  Land of Enchantment was my first outing with Jeffrey Weber and his production team, stable of musicians along with a new studio environment. I was testing new waters with this project. It was humbling to be around such highly respected, world class LA musicians. Musicians I had listened to growing up and were my heroes. I wrote and arranged for a smaller ensemble. I knew I wanted to track the rhythm section live and had all the parts written out in advance. The tracking, recording and production process was much different from what I experienced at Imaginary Road studios with Will Ackerman and Tom Eaton. I also ran into some time constraints as well.

With American Heartland I felt much more comfortable in my overall compositional, arrangement and performance approach. I had a basic history with the core musicians along with ample studio time for the tracking process. When creating the arrangements and written parts, I was able to add much more arrangement detail and my overall scope was broader in the way of musical style.

Jeff was instrumental in bringing these variety of styles together. His song choices for the project allowed me to tap my training as a composer and arranger in a variety of ways. As a result, I felt more confident presenting this music to his team. I also had access to whatever instrumentation was needed as each arrangement was completed. For instance, on Witchi Tai and All the Stars Tonight the arrangement called for french horn, flugelhorn and trombone,  I needed Glockenspiel and Cello on two tunes and Jeff was able to provide. The beauty of recording in LA is access to some of the finest caliber of musicians. They are all there.  

AV:  You’ve been a Grammy voter and have won multiple ZMR and Global Music awards. From that vantage point, how have you seen the "contemporary instrumental" landscape evolve over the last ten years?  


Todd Mosby

TM:  It has definitely shifted over the years. In general, categorizing music can be challenging. When I first started as an academy voter, there was a New Age category and Contemporary Instrumental was a subcategory of New Age. A few years later, Contemporary Instrumental became its own category. When this happened, Contemporary Instrumental appeared to become a catch all for everything from smooth Jazz to ECM New Music to traditional New Orleans, Classical new music ensembles, new age and prog rock bands. It became a very strange category and each year seemed to highlight a different style. Last year a new category emerged titled Alternative Jazz. Maybe it was a way to defray some of the wide mix of music found in Contemporary Instrumental. The artists entering the Alternative Jazz category now range from hip hop, rap to contemporary jazz (vocal or instrumental), traditional jazz not based on standards to spoken word in some cases. So, again it appears to be a catch all. Anyway, it is still wide open at this point to see where either of these two categories land. 

AV:  You attended Berklee as an undergrad and Webster as a graduate student. How does that academic grounding play into your "painter’s imagination" when you are trying to capture something as abstract as a "geotemporal soundscape"?  


Leland Sklar

TM:  I first encountered the music of Debussy’s Reflections On The Water during a composition class at Berklee. I would say this is the epitome of descriptive writing or what was then termed as program music. I listened to, performed and studied many of Debussy’s piano preludes, composition and orchestration techniques during my academic career. Through program music, Debussy and others were able to introduce new compositional techniques to audiences that would normally not have been accepted. Stravinsky did the same as did Arron Copeland. At Webster, much of my graduate program dealt with writing dissertations. My personal focus was on composers who were writing the program music of their time. In my way of thinking, program music of their day equates to concept albums of today.

There is a central theme, direction and purpose to each tune which contributes to the visual direction and concept of the project as a whole. 

AV:  Many artists move to the coasts to find their voice, but you’ve lived in Missouri your whole life. What has staying rooted in the "Show-Me State" allowed you to preserve in your music that you might have lost in New York or Los Angeles?  

TM:  I will say there is a definite trade off. In New York, LA or even Nashville, which is closer to home, I would most likely have wound up, among other things, becoming a side musician with the goal of getting on tours with larger selling acts and doing all the things musicians do in a major music center for commercial music. The musical focus would probably have been outwards working projects for others. 

St. Louis is not a commercial music center. By the time I acquired the chops to compete for work in the other three major centers for music, I had a son, I was under contract for gigs two years out, established a solid teaching practice and had plenty of compositional and performance opportunities to earn a decent living. It was hard to breakaway. I was able to compose and perform music in many different venues and varied film and advertising outlets. The projects were mostly based on my own personal vision and scope. In St. Louis it is very easy to develop your own voice because it is so cut off from what others are doing. Staying in Missouri also offered tenures with specialized stylized bands like the Police, Motown, original New Wave and Traditional Jazz which shaped my performance and writing concept as well.  

AV:  You are one of the few musicians who has mastered Western composition, jazz improvisation, and Indian raga. Is there a specific mental "switch" you flip when moving between these, or have they become a single, fluid palette for you at this point?

TM:  I do flip a switch when keeping true to each style although I can also cross pollinate when needed or as inspiration strikes. For example, when performing traditional or contemporary jazz I may pull a note in north Indian style or play a phrase from a raga. Although because I am thinking vertically against moving chord structures the approach becomes mostly centered on weaving lines into chordal passages. The phrase can become angular, chromatic or linear depending on the structure of the tune and shape of the melody.  

When performing raga style, I am thinking a linear approach and respecting the characteristic ascending descending notes of the raga, puckers or licks which make the raga unique and phrases which determine the mood of that particular raga. Chords do not exist technically in this music other than what is found in the natural sympathetic string resonance. Another aspect of Indian music is the taal or count. It is the cycle of time in which a phrase loops such as; 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 beat cycles. Because I understand harmony, I tend to cross pollinate this style with modal chords characteristic to the raga movement of notes.  

The contemporary compositions I personally create have a tendency to consciously or unconsciously blend these platforms. Sometimes it depends on the instrument I have in hand, other times it depends on the ensemble instrumentation.  Essentially, due to personal experience, study, knowledge and authentic choice, the music flows in directions dictated by melody and or harmony. For contemporary Indian music, Imrat taught me to create my own path based on the capabilities of the Imrat Guitar. 

AV:  Your travelogue series will eventually conclude with Northeastern sketches. Do you find yourself already "hearing" the textures of the East Coast while you are still immersed in the sounds of the Heartland?  

TM:  This project is somewhat mapped out. I have discussed preliminary ideas with producer Jeff Weber. The project will focus on contemporary new music ensemble instrumentation. Essentially a direct to disc recording with studio strings, harp, woodwinds and vocals around a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass, drums, tabla and percussion. Some of the music is already written but will need to be re-arranged for a studio and record environment.  

I am also currently involved in writing for three other projects, one with a hammer dulcimer player in Tucson, Arizona, a South Indian vocalist and a Contemporary Jazz ensemble both out of St. Louis.  

AV:  As a master of concept albums, how do you ensure that the "story" of the music remains accessible to a casual listener who might not know the history of the geography you're describing? 


Left to Right: Tom Scott, Jeffrey Weber

TM:  The song titles tend to offer a visual type reference to geography and place. For instance, Clouds Above Golden Fields, Palomino, All The Stars tonight, On The Farm, A Full Moon Rising are titles which depict a visual reference or scene. I also offer the song story along with a haiku which captures the songs essence in minimalistic terms as part of the packaging. The melody, chords, instrumentation and arrangement all combine to support the emotive aspects of the overall picture. In a sense, it is contemporary program music which helps the listener relate to the purely instrumental aspect easier. I also use vocalise to give the arrangement a human, vocal element. Words are kept to a minimum so the listener can use their own imagination to visualize scenes and landscapes.  

AV:  American Heartland is an "emotionally moving ode to Missouri". After traveling sonically to other regions, what was the most surprising thing you rediscovered about your home state during the writing of this album?

TM:  I feel what was rediscovered most is the longing, beauty, gratitude and thankfulness I have for being born in my native region and the varied experiences I was able to have along the way which has shaped who I am. Being born and raised between the Missouri, Meramec and Mississippi Rivers, the final stop off place of Daniel Boone, start and end points of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, home to Mark Twain and Scott Joplin brings much historical richness to me and the area. I am not sure if a project like this matters to anyone in St. Louis or the State nor do I care, but for me it is important to me that I offer an ode to Missouri. I find it a source of personal inspiration. I love that I had the opportunity to experience the heart and soul of rural America in such a fascinating way and chose to write about it. 

AV:  You recorded this album at the legendary Village Studios in Los Angeles. Did the ghosts of history-making sessions by Steely Dan or Frank Zappa in that building influence the "sophisticated yet accessible" direction you took with producer Jeffrey Weber?  

TM:  For studio layout, room size and instrument placement it did help. Also tracking with the original boards and in these iconic rooms, it is hard not to think of the amount of history, signal and vibration that went thru those wires and vibrated within those floors and walls. It is an amazing kind of feeling. 

There is a reason recording studios retain legendary status and I feel it has to do with the quality found in gear, room sound and personnel. At Village Studios the sight lines are clean, set up and breakdown is efficient, nice rooms and places to chill for playback and in between tracks, great mic selections, preamps and mix board, excellent pianos, operational gear, plenty of room and space for tracking, excellent headphone monitoring and playback, great isolation, efficient and qualified engineers and assistants.This all adds to the vibe of the place definitely matters as far as work flow, efficiency and end result.

AV:  The lineup on this record is a literal "all-star" team, including Vinnie Colaiuta and Leland Sklar. How do you direct such high-level session masters to ensure they are serving your specific Missouri vision rather than just providing their signature sounds?  


Lola Kristine

TM:  Musicians of this caliber will always serve the music first. This is why they work so much and what makes them so in demand. They are at such a high level musically, the compositions are automatically lifted to the absolute highest levels. These masters can play any part handed them extremely well. No overshadowing with this crew.

I provide a musical roadmap with the arrangement and written parts. I then say “Here is the part, please make it sound better.” This gives them freedom to play as written or create something which works better in the moment. Most of these guys have worked together for decades so they know each other and gel very well together. For example, on the title track American Heartland, the band alters between tutti in the A section to a more open sound in the B section with bass, drums piano free to groove. We also recorded the title track American Heartland live except for the gospel choir at the end.  

AV:  "On the Farm" is a solo acoustic piece that immortalizes your 5:00 AM childhood rituals. Was it a challenge to strip away the "all-star" orchestration of the rest of the album to capture that specific, solitary memory?  

TM:  All of my albums leave space for at least one solo acoustic guitar piece. I love the sound of acoustic guitar. I started on it. The solitary sound of solo acoustic guitar provides a pin drop moment against the landscape of thicker orchestrations. On American Heartland there are two such moments where solo acoustic guitar is heard. One is a new age introspective piece and the other a solo contemporary acoustic blues guitar piece.

Jeff really liked the variety of moods with A Full Moon Rising and felt it would work nicely as a part of the package.  

AV:  Your cover of Joni Mitchell’s "Both Sides Now" features Michael Manring, Lola Kristine, Luis Conte and cellist Judy Kang. What did you want to say with your arrangement of that classic that hadn't been said in the countless other versions over the decades?  

TM:  This was a piece that Michael Manring and Lola Kristine performed live numerous times during our concert tours together. I would always have them open the second set with this tune and it always provided a special moment in the evening.

With this concept in mind, I decided to create a recorded arrangement of this classic Joni Mitchell tune in Contemporary Folk style. Cello was used on the original first recording by Judy Collins which I pay tribute to in this arrangement. I also love writing for vocal, piano, acoustic guitar, cello, bass and percussion, it reminds me of the second James Taylor album and the first Jimi Spheris album. What separates this recording from the others is the personnel involved, the instrumentation I chose and the haunting vocals, the expanded sections and reworking of harmony. To have the opportunity to arrange this composition for this level of performers is unique and something which may never be repeated. 

AV:  "Palomino" was the first single and is described as a "cinematic masterpiece". Can you tell us about your love for drawing and riding horses as a child and how those visual lines translated into the "galloping bossa nova" rhythm of the track?  

TM:  If you have ever ridden a horse in canter, gallop or running mode, this is the feeling I was after. It is a beautiful thing when horse and rider become one during a canter or gallop through what feels like a melding of auric fields. To capture in a drawing is one thing, to experience live is a whole other thing. Hopefully I captured this experience in music.

The fluidity of the A section, melodic question and answer of the B section, hesitation of the C section with the diminished scale all add to the exhilarating experience of riding one of these amazing animals. When the percussion enters in the second A section, this is when the real ride begins. Luis Conte is an excellent percussionist and portrayed this feel beautifully as did all the musicians.  

AV:  You took a very "French Impressionist" approach to tracks like "Clouds Above Golden Fields," referencing Satie and Debussy. How do you balance those European classical sensibilities with the "earthy" Missouri roots of the album?  

TM:  The Missouri Ozark plateau region, where I was raised, was settled by the French during the early part of European incursion. Many of the towns in this area still bear French names. There is a reason for this. Early settlement had to do in part with similarities of landscapes found in both the Ozark Plateau region and areas found in France. Missouri is also filled with many waterways, a western plains region and northern plains area. The rolling hills support farming, wine making and growing wheat. When I see the white cumulus clouds passing overhead on a late Spring or early Summer day, it reminds me of a Millet or Monet painting or Debussy describing fields of heather or his refections on water. The earthly sensibilities is built into the history and landscape of the region. The landscape is not majestic or spectacular but one with a refined natural beauty and hidden subtleties.  

AV:  "Joanie’s Town" is a piece dedicated to your wife. Musically speaking, what are the specific textures or "snazzy" elements in that track that represent her personality to you?  

TM:  St. Louis is just north of Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis was home to Sun Records, Stax Records and Ardent Recording Studios. I grew up listening to the Memphis sound on radio. It was ingrained at a very early age. Joanie and I were raised surrounded by this incredible music. I sent the initial concept to Jeff and was somewhat surprised when he wanted to track it. The music was so different from the rest of the project. At that point I began arranging the song in a contemporary Stax style reminiscent of the old shuffle Memphis sound. It was a lot of fun and generated some interesting results.

The snazzy elements which represent Joanie’s personality are found in the lyrics; Blue Jean Baby, New York City, museums. It is also found in the heart of the Memphis style 60s shuffle feel complete with a 3 horn section, backing vocals, chinking guitar, Rhodes piano, bass and drums.

AV:  You reimagined Jim Pepper’s "Witchi Tai" in two distinct parts. Why was it important to present it first as a "driving 1970’s acoustic-rock" and then as a New Age instrumental postlude?

TM:  I grew up listening to the Brewer and Shipley version of Witchi Tai. They are from the Ozark Plateau Region. It was an Acoustic-Rock version of the tune and I totally loved it. I created a wordplay chant on the sound of Witchi Tai and built a new melody and supporting harmony. The vocals are doubled with a brass section to offer a silvery sheen to the melodic and chant. Witchi Tai translates into Water Spirits. The 70s style acoustic-rock is my contemporary, yet old school version of that style which is very close to me.


Todd Mosby

The postlude is in contemporary folk / new age style and offers a prayerful and introspective variation of the same chant.  

AV:  The physical CD includes poetry, images, and stories. In an era dominated by streaming, why was it important for you to provide such a tactile, multi-media experience for American Heartland?  

TM:  There are many listeners in my demographic who still have CD players and love the experience of a tangible audio product in their hands. CDs and vinyl also offer a much higher quality audio resolution and listening experience than most streaming platforms as well. Vinyl is probably the absolute best way to experience a high quality recording. Both CD and Vinyl involve packaging design and art work. You can read about the story behind the recording, songs, photos, personnel involved, recording dates, studios and locations and personal bios. The product is then presented in beautiful print and artful graphics as part of a whole experience. For some audiences, I believe providing this kind of presentation still offers meaning. It also is representative of the overall quality embedded within the CD and music.

Streaming music removes most detail found in CD or vinyl packaging and offers low quality audio resolution and no sense of tangible product ownership or information regarding the recording, personal, etc. The convenience of streaming has basically cheapened the overall consumer experience and totally changed the landscape of how music is created, tracked, played back and how artists are compensated. In essence it has taken an art form which relies on people interconnecting and separated them out into isolated fragments. When creating music for a record, I prefer having live human interaction, musicians in the same room tracking at least rhythm section parts together to get that special live feel. This has become the exception and not the norm.



Left to Right: Tom Scott, Clark Germain and Jeff Weber

AV:  "All The Stars Tonight" is a bossa nova piece inspired by stargazing and spiral galaxies. How do you bridge the gap between the terrestrial "Heartland" theme and these more "cosmic" inspirations?  

TM:  The spiral arm of our galaxy is visible overhead each Fall in Missouri. My family has owned property for decades on an ancient creek bed away from civilization where the spiral arm is very visible at night. I wilderness camp there with my son occasionally and this is how I feel musically when looking up and capturing those moments. 

AV:  Jeffrey Weber is a two-time Grammy-winning producer. What did he bring to the table for this specific chapter of your travelogue that allowed you to capture the "soul of Missouri" so effectively?  

TM:  First and foremost was the song selection and arrangement approvals. Second and equally important is access to his stable of musicians. Next is the booking of musicians and studio time, coordinating musician schedules, packaging layout, mastering, mixing and song sequencing.

As a producer Jeff is pretty hands off when it comes to recording the music in studio. Frank Zappa once said this is the best kind of producer to have. With Jeff,  musical direction and choice, at least in my case, was left solely up to me. This offered a different approach which allowed the compositions, arrangements and solos to expand in way that allowed the music and to develop from an internal perspective. My concept was fully present and I was able to make use of many of the composition and orchestration tools acquired over the years. 

AV:  You’ve said that every tune on this album "feels like home". Now that the record is finished and ready for the world, does it feel like a closing of a circle for you personally as a Missouri-born musician? 

TM:  I have been very inspired by the landscapes of this region and to tried to capture that beauty along with a personal history in a musically descriptive way. I feel this is personally important. I live in a beautiful melting pot of so many cultures, races and ancestry. To access the many offerings which surround me as an artist is so inspirational. I was able to study with India’s musical ambassador and keeper of its musical Heritage. His lineage dates back 500 years of Ustdat masters. I was trained by some of the finest representatives of Jazz in the world. They were legends in their time living right at my back door; Joe Charles, David Hines, Rick Haydon, for composition Dr. Roland Jordan. I feel immense gratitude for being a musician while living in Missouri. The American Heartland project is my sonic overview of the land I grew up in and a small thank you to a growing gratitude to my place of origin which is America.

The next few questions were addressed to and answered by Jeff Weber, Producer 

AV:  You are often noted for a "standard of excellence" in the studio, and for American Heartland, you worked to achieve a sound that is described as both "sophisticated and accessible." From a production standpoint, how do you balance the technical complexity of Todd's compositions with the need to keep the music inviting for a broad audience? 

JW:  Todd sent me a substantial body of work to consider, and my first job was curatorial — identifying which pieces had the melodic strength and arrangement depth to really resonate with listeners. Once we aligned on the material, Todd dove in creatively, drawing on an impressively wide palette of instrumentation and vocal approaches. From there, my role was structural: I deconstructed each arrangement into its component parts, built everything up from the rhythm section foundation, then layered instruments and vocals in a way that served the non-verbal emotional goals of each song. Sophistication and accessibility aren’t opposites — they meet when every element earns its place. 

AV:  This project features an extraordinary rhythm section with legends like Vinnie Colaiuta and Leland Sklar. When you are in the booth at a historic location like Village Studios, what is your process for guiding such high-caliber session masters to ensure their performances serve Todd’s specific vision of the Missouri landscape? 

JW:  This might surprise people, but my first instruction to every musician on this project was: don’t just play the chart. I’m not bringing Vinnie Colaiuta or Leland Sklar into the room to execute notation — I can hire anyone for that. I bring them because of what they carry inside them as artists. So I ask them to become emotionally invested in the music, to listen deeply, and if something moves them to interpret a passage differently or add something that isn’t written — do it. That kind of creative freedom is rarer in studios today than it should be. And to Todd’s great credit, he embraced it completely. The result was that his arrangements genuinely soared, elevated by contributions so subtle you might not consciously hear them — but you absolutely feel them. 

AV:  Todd’s music is built on a unique “geotemporal” concept, aiming to capture the soul of a specific region through sound. As a producer, what specific sonic choices — whether in microphone placement, room reverb, or instrumentation layering — did you make to ensure the “Heartland” felt physically present in the recording? 


Seated in center front Todd Mosby
Standing Left to Right: Dapo Torimiro (Keyboards), Michael Manring (Bass), Jeffrey Weber (Producer), Vinnie Colaiuta (Drums), Lee Sklar (Bass), Tom Scott (Saxophone), Michael Clark (Score Supervisor), and Clark Germain (Recording & Mix Engineer).

Not pictured here are additional players: Luis Conte (Percussion), Judy Kang (Cello), Nick Lane (Trombone), Dan Fornero (Trumpet), John Dickson (French Horn), Bruce Carver (Glockenspiel), Lola Kristine (Vocalist), Laura Vall (Vocalist).

JW:  My approach was always to serve the music from the inside out. The sense of place was never absent — it lived behind every note Todd wrote — but I didn’t want to impose it artificially through production decisions. My focus was on capturing the full personality of each instrument and each performance with honesty and care. I knew that my recording engineer, Clark Germain, would then weave those individual captures into a sonic mosaic that honored Todd’s compositions. When you get that right, the geography takes care of itself. The Heartland is in Todd’s musical DNA — our job was simply not to get in the way of it. 

AV:  You’ve worked on a vast array of high-level productions throughout your career, including winning two Grammys. What was it about Todd Mosby’s “painter’s imagination” that made this particular collaboration at Village Studios stand out from other contemporary instrumental projects you’ve helmed? 

JW:  What drew me in was Todd’s commitment to authenticity. In an era where so much music is assembled digitally — loops, sequences, sounds generated entirely “in the box” — Todd came to this project wanting real instruments played by real people in a real room. The arrangements he crafted were rich and layered, but every element was organic and performed live. That matters enormously, because listeners feel the difference even when they can’t articulate it. There’s an emotional connection that live performance creates — a kind of aliveness — that is genuinely difficult to replicate any other way. This project had that quality throughout, and that made it a deeply rewarding experience to be part of. 

AV:  The album includes a diverse range of textures, from the solo acoustic intimacy of “On the Farm” to the “French Impressionist” arrangements of “Clouds Above Golden Fields.” How did you approach the sequencing and overall “arc” of the production to ensure these different styles felt like part of a unified Missouri travelogue? 

JW:  Sequencing is one of my favorite parts of the entire process — I genuinely think of it as an art form in its own right. For this record, I led with gut instinct guided by a few clear priorities. First, I wanted to establish immediately that Todd is a remarkable guitarist. With arrangements this rich in nuance and subtlety, I felt it was essential that listeners connect with him as a performer right from the opening moments. From there, it became about pacing and mood — I wanted the journey through the album to feel organic, even a little unpredictable, rather than following an obvious arc. Tempo variation between songs was carefully considered to keep the listener engaged and leaning forward. And woven through all of it was emotional context: I wanted each song to breathe on its own terms, so that the individual melodic character of each piece could land fully before the next one began.

AV:   As we close out this conversation, I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to Todd Mosby and Jeffrey Weber for their generosity, openness, and the time they’ve taken to share the story behind American Heartland. It’s clear that this project is the result of not only deep musical craftsmanship, but a genuine passion for place, collaboration, and expression. Conversations like this don’t come around often, and it’s been a real privilege to spend some time inside their creative world. Wishing Todd and Jeffrey continued inspiration and success as this music finds its way out into the world and connects with listeners in the same meaningful way it was created.

 

If Todd Mosby’s American Heartland resonates with you—the sense of place, the melodic touch, the way the guitar becomes both voice and atmosphere—then spending some time with Vin Downes feels like a natural next step. Downes works in a similarly inviting space, where composition and tone are given room to breathe, and where each note carries a quiet emotional weight. His music doesn’t rush to make its point; it unfolds gradually, drawing the listener inward with a warmth and clarity that feels immediately familiar. 

In his conversation on Ambient Visions, Downes shares insights into his creative process, his connection to the legacy of Will Ackerman, and his collaborations with Tom Eaton. It’s a thoughtful look at an artist who, much like Mosby, understands the balance between structure and feeling, tradition and personal voice. If Mosby’s journey through landscape and lineage has struck a chord, this is a path well worth continuing. Click the interview button on your right to continue on to Vin Downes.