Recording Connection graduate Devin Zorn launches his career

Talk to most of our students, and you’ll quickly discover that the mentor-apprentice relationship usually lasts well beyond graduation from the program. Take, for example, Devin Zorn, a Recording Connection graduate who apprenticed with music industry veteran Rick Rooney of January Sound in Dallas, TX. His time and commitment in the studio have led to paid gigs and a lasting relationship with his mentor as Devin works on building his career as an audio engineer.

“I did a lot of growing with this program with Rick,” Devin says, who adds that his mentor gave him a lot of leeway to figure things out for himself. “He kind of was laughing as we were going along, ‘Man, I don’t to have to teach you anything. You just have to go on,’… [I was] like, ‘Rick, tell me,’ and he was like, ‘Figure it out yourself.’ And then I’d figure it out myself and [say], ‘Why didn’t you just tell me?’ ‘Well, you figured it out yourself and you did it better than I could have told you.’”

Today, Devin’s clients include blues act Tommy Katona and Texas Flood, for whom he recorded and mixed a live-in-the-studio tribute album to Stevie Ray Vaughn; Lance Lopez (from Lone Wolf); and Kayla Reeves (of Trans-Siberian Orchestra). Thanks to connections made through his mentor, he also recently got to work live audio at the All-Star Jam at the Dallas International Guitar Show, where he got to meet legendary guitarists like Derek St. Holmes and Innes Sibun!

Of course, it’s not all just meeting and connecting with people—becoming an in-demand engineer requires a strong work ethic, and a love for music doesn’t hurt things, either. Thankfully, Devin has both.

“I was in the sixth or seventh grade,” he says, “and I had just gotten into Led Zeppelin…I quickly realized when I first started playing the guitar—man, I suck. That goes out the window. But I was watching VH1 Classic one day and Classic Albums comes on, they’re going over how they recorded U2’s The Joshua Tree….[I was] like, ‘Oh, I could do that. I can’t be the rock star, but I will make the rock star’s music for them.’”

Devin’s love for music and his passion for learning the craft of recording and mixing eventually led him to the Recording Connection—and that’s where the connections themselves began paying off. Today, with his ongoing relationship with his mentor Rick, Devin is forging a successful career in the Dallas area as a producer/engineer.