There's a moment that happens when someone walks into a well-considered recording studio for the first time. They slow down a little. They look around. And then they say some version of the same thing: I don't know what it is, but I just want to make music here. That reaction isn't accidental. And it isn't the gear.

I grew up about a mile from Les Paul's childhood home. We went to the same public school system. I didn't really understand what all of that would mean to me until I'd already given my life to this.