Mike Porter

Mike Porter is the Facilities Manager at Belmont University in Nashville and a historian of the local recording studios. He set out to become a pilot but while attending Belmont in 1973 he enrolled in music business classes and connected with the courses on recording and engineering. He began working as an engineer at Woodland Sound Studio while still in college. Mike engineered dozens of iconic artists such as The Oak Ridge Boys, Ronnie Milsap, Charlie Daniels and he served as the tech for the Kansas album Point of No Return, which was recorded in 1977 and includes the hit “Dust in the Wind.” Mike later worked for Jimmy Bowen at Sound Stage Studios, which had four studios fully booked for the entire three years Mike was there. He also enjoyed his role at Sony Pro Audio as a salesman during the transition between analog and digital recordings. It was an exciting time with new and innovative technology that could be directly implemented into the studios Mike called on. A lifelong student of history, Mike fell into the role of instructor at Belmont University,
became an avid participant in the Nashville Audio Engineering Society chapter and Manager of the Quonset Hut and Columbia Studio-A locations for tours and the occasional special recording session.