Kristin M. Hall Gena Johnson poses in her home studio in Nashville, Tenn. on April 8, 2021. Johnson, a recording engineer, is the first woman to ever be nominated for engineer of the year by the Academy of Country Music. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) April 13, 2021 - 12:17 PM NASHVILLE - Inside the Nashville basement studio of audio engineer Gena Johnson, she has mementos from many of the artists she's helped to record and who have also shaped her own career. A turn of the century upright piano that Ben Folds helped her find sits next to the entrance. Polaroids of her and singer Ashley Monroe are scattered on her mixing board, and a sign in the lounge offers a cocktail called Handsome Johnny, a signature vodka drink that the late John Prine named after himself.