Aaron Dessner, Taylor Swift Co-Producer and Member of the National, on Navigating Both Sides of the Mixing Board

variety.com:

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The latest episode of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast features Aaron Dessner — the man Swifties are indebted to for collaborating on big chunks of “Folklore” and “Evermore,” but who more than earned his keep for a quarter-century prior to that as a member of the exalted-in-their-own-right band the National.

Dessner’s Grammy-winning group has been one of the mainstays of rock ’n roll since the late ’90s. But when most musicians were taking a time-out early in the pandemic, Dessner got called in by Taylor Swift to help create her perception-changing “Folklore” album, soon followed that same year by “Evermore.” Ever since, he’s been one of the most sought-after producer/co-writers in the business — even as the National has gotten busier with the resumption of touring, and two albums of their own in 2023.

His production efforts just this year have included two new albums with superstar Ed Sheeran, and a breakthrough album with up-and-comer Gracie Abrams that led to her getting a best new artist Grammy nomination.

How does Dessner juggle these demanding roles? Partly by working with artists in his own home-adjacent studio (the name of which, Long Pond, has become famous in its own right, due to be the setting for a Swift special).