Two new staff members have joined The Blackbird Academy’s Studio Engineering faculty! Ernesto Olvera-LaPier and Lucas Glenney-Tegtmeier now round out the studio instructor team. Both have been members of the Blackbird Studio staff before joining the Academy as instructors/studio engineers. Get to know them through their bios below, and join us in officially welcoming them to the BBA team!
Ernesto Olvera-LaPier
Ernesto Olvera-LaPier's love for music began at an early age, as he learned to play piano and guitar. In his teenage years, he eventually discovered the world of recording on his first x86 Windows PC. A graduate of Full Sail University, Ernesto joined Blackbird in 2012 as a runner and worked his way up to an assistant engineering position within a few months.
Assisting in a Keith Urban session changed Ernesto's career forever. Lead Engineer Steve Marcantonio was unavailable and suggested Ernesto take the lead chair. The first song Ernesto recorded in that session was released a few days later as the first single from Keith Urban's 2013 chart-topping album, Fuse. The song "A Little Bit of Everything" – produced by the amazing Nathan Chapman – climbed to the number one position of the country charts! "Raise 'Em Up," an Eric Church duet and the second song Ernesto engineered in that Keith Urban session, also reached number one. Since then, Ernesto has also had the privilege to engineer for Lady A, Cam, Martina McBride, Mickey Guyton, Kesha, OAR, and Snoop Dogg.
Lucas Glenney-Tegtmeier
Lucas Glenney-Tegtmeier is a Connecticut native and a University of New Haven alum. After graduating, he moved to Nashville and became a member of the engineering staff at Blackbird Studio shortly after arriving in Music City. While in Nashville, Lucas has also worked as an audio technician at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. At the Schermerhorn, he has assisted the Nashville Symphony and their featured artists, including Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry, Branford Marsalis, Michael W Smith, CeCe Winans. He has also worked on a range of projects for recording artists such as Willie Nelson, Kane Brown, Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Justin Hawkins, JoJo, Yelawolf, Brian Kelley, Elle King, Carrie Underwood, Thompson Square, Lady A, Cam, and Sasha Sloan.
