Buster Allen
producer l engineer I studio owner
Matthew “Buster” Allen started as a musician (trumpet and guitar) and later discovered a love for the studio during his time under the mentorship of the legendary pioneer of "Nashville Sound", recording engineer Bill Porter (Elvis, Roy Orbison and the A-Team session players at RCA Studio B).
In 2006, he moved to Nashville, to follow his purist approach to recording. "I was searching to authentically reproduce artists' sound," says Allen who found work at Garth Brooks’ Allentown Studio, first as an assistant to Mark Miller, and then as the head engineer. During his time there, he worked on every session for the seven-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, Brooks, including his best-selling albums -- “Time Traveler” & “Live Live Boxed set for Caesars Palace" 2023 and Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event on CBS - 2020 as Recording Engineer and Mixer.
Other projects include: John Prine, Trisha Yearwood, Don Henley, James Taylor, Natalie Prass and more. In 2009, Allen took his deep knowledge of 3M tape machines and hands-on experience repairing consoles and outbound gear and founded Allen Sound, which has quickly established a worldwide reputation for both production and technical service.
Buster takes a thoughtful and studied approach to his projects, preferring a multifaceted approach to both recording the music and maintaining the equipment, sometimes venturing off into experimental territory. In an audiophile adventure, Buster bought ten (10) 3M tape machines, and 20 plus boxes of original factory parts while working with Randy Blevins of Blevins Audio in 2009. With this move, he has helped numerous 3M owners, resurrecting their machines, all over the world. "In 2024 I made an agreement to sell my 3M parts and machines to Matt DelVecchio in Los Angeles, California. Matt had become a good client and friend over the years. He is one of the best technicians I have met," adds Buster who was at Coachella in April of 2026 collaborating with Ian Charbonneau and recording acts like Laufey, Los Hermanos Flores, Dijon, David Byrne, Big Bang, Sombr, and Labrinth.
Allen's production credits include: John Lomax III - “American Folk Songs”, Leah Grams Johnson - “For The Wintertime", and Jonathan Timm - “Grayman.”
Enjoy this interview with Buster Allen for studioexpresso
SE: Talk about your background - your music or audio education. I see you play the guitar!
BA: My musical journey began with the trumpet in 5th grade, followed by playing the guitar in 8th grade. In high school, we had a wonderful music department and our teacher Cliff Kaminsky really inspired a lot of people to continue on with music. I played in a few bands in high school and that lead to playing around St. Louis with an original band and some cover bands. I couldn't imagine getting into engineering and production without a musical foundation. When I came to Nashville I would go down to Broadway and watch all these incredible guitar players. Honestly it made me really focus on engineering and mixing as I thought that would be more obtainable for me and thankfully I was right!
SE: Your speaker of choice in the control room?
BA: My current monitoring setup includes a set of Westlake Lc3w12, Yamaha NS10s and Acoustic Energy AE-1. All powered with Bryston amps. The Westlake monitor was a later choice of Bruce Swedien. It's a very flat and neutral sounding monitor. These 3 pictures of the mix have been very helpful on dialing in results I've been very happy with.
SE: What other gear besides ProTools is in your audio tool box?
BA: My Quad Eight Coronado mic preamps have really just been magical for doing overdubs. They are incredibly hifi and dynamic sounding. I have a very special Sony C37a tube mic that always sounds great on any singer. This may not seem like a clear winner but I have a passive headphone system powered by a Bryston and fed from the Quad Eight and the cue system sounds very good. The singer and players make all of their decisions based off of that sound so the cue mix should be the best it can be.
SE: You were at Coachella this year. Tell us about artists you recorded and what you did?
BA: Ian Charbonneau of The Recording Project asked me to come help him record at Coachella and Stagecoach in April after our tour with My Chemical Romance we did together in 2025. Years before, I would hire Le Mobile for stadium and area shows for Garth Brooks, so it's nice to be asked to come and help him on his projects with his new set up. Coachella is about 15 bands in 3 days, so I was working on stage interfacing the analog or digital feeds from each group to Ian's Prodigy MC convertor on stage. Same as MCR, I would be micing up the audience and making any changes we needed to achieve a great audience sound to get the live feel correctly presented. There were some great acts like Laufey, Los Hermanos Flores, Dijon, David Byrne, Big Bang, Sombr, and Labrinth. The scale and production of Coachella is unmatched. It was really a great opportunity to be apart of the one of the biggest musical events of 2026.
SE: You have a long work history with globally celebrated American country music singer-songwriter Garth Brooks.
BA: I engineered and mixed his Triple Live album that has sold 13 million albums since it's release in 2019. . Other Albums recorded and Mixed were: 777 Jackpot Boxed Set, Time Traveler, Legacy Vinyl boxed set Vol1, Fun, Gunslinger, Christmas Together, Man Against Machine, Anthology boxed sets 1-6, and Blame It All On My Roots boxed set.
SE: Any other artists you've recorded/mixed?
BA: Trisha Yearwood - Prizefighter, John Prine . My production work includes: John Lomax III - American Folk Songs 2024. I have some upcoming Indie productions/mixing that are just getting completed.
SE: Where or what studio do you usually work at?
BA: Lately I have been working on projects at Blackbird Studio D, Club Roar and my own home studio, Allen Sound. .
Matthew "Buster" Allen at Creative Workshop - Nashville, TN Photo: Courtesy of Artist
Contact: Allen Sound Services
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