I'm J.J. Heller, and this is Instrumental, a show about the big and small moments that shape our lives.

In every episode, my guest and I start near the end of their story and work our way back to the beginning.

I hope our conversation reminds you that every second matters, because none of us knows which moment will be the one

that changes everything.

Welcome, friends.

I am here with my husband, Dave.

That's me.

Hi, Dave.

Hi, JJ. Hi, JJ.

Friends, you are in for an amazing story.

Our guest this week is Mitch Dane.

He's a music producer from Nashville.

He helped JJ and me make the first several records that we were legitimately proud of.

He has an incredible studio in Nashville,

and we had an amazing experience with him collaborating for several years.

JJ, do you remember the first time that you met Mitch?

I do.

I was really nervous because I had it in my mind that music producers were mean and intimidating.

Why is that?

Because we, so we were living in Phoenix at the time, and when we decided to make a legitimate

sounding record, I did some research to try to figure out who are the legit producers in Phoenix.

And so this guy's name came up and I called him and I said, I'm JJ and I want to make an

...