Slight introduction. I'm a singer/songwriter and I've got a solid
backing band lined up to record an album. Currently, I'm doing
pre-production in my home studio. I've got the songs worked out but
I'm hoping for some creative input from the session players,
especially the keyboardist.

I've been thinking a lot about how I can help make the process run
efficiently while not sacrificing creativity by setting too many
parameters on both the players and the recordist.

This is an independent release so I will be responsible for making
production decisions along with the engineer. Mark Plancke (who visits
this newsgroup) is currently the engineer I'm going with.

Your tips and advice will be of great value to me. Examples of what
veteran solo artists have done (right) in your studios would be ideal.
Thanks!