Meadow, the 2006 album bearing Richard Buckner's name, is not the record that the singer/songwriter would have made. But that was the point.

After his hands-on production approach to Impasse (2002) and Dents & Shells (2004), Buckner enlisted producer J.D. Foster to make the creative decisions for him.

As Buckner explained in a phone interview last week in advance of his September 20 Daytrotter.com show at Huckleberry's: "As an experiment to myself, I just thought, 'I need to see how much power I can put in someone's lap and just let it go. Even if I think it's wrong, just let it go. Every idea. Just give them what I have and see what they can do with it.' ... Give it away instead of driving myself crazy with production-y things."

As students sit around computers, microphones, and mixing tables, they ignore the technology and listen intently to Newton's laws of motion, learn an equation to find the frequency of a room, and see what a wavelength looks like. In audio engineering 101, on the second floor of the River Music Experience (RME) on the last Saturday in August, half a dozen beginners are being taught the fundamentals of acoustics.

Jesse Topping, 17, is one of these students. He grew up in a musical household; his mom played the cello since she was little, and Jesse plays piano, bass, and guitar. He has a computer recording program but is taking this class to better understand how to use it.

"I love the expression, the limitless possibilities of what you can do with sound as art," Topping said.

The class is a part of The Sound Lab, now in its fourth semester. The program offers three courses for aspiring music producers as well as for musicians who want to learn more about the recording industry.

Andrew Landers' online biography states that the guitarist, singer, and songwriter is "unafraid of complicated topics and looks beyond the easy sentiment."

So the lead track on Beautiful Depravity is titled "Not in My Backyard" and faults folks for keeping a safe distance whenever possible from the horrors of the world: "You might fall into / Someone else's bad day / 'Sorry I can't stay.'" And in the rush of a verse, he sings: "Tell me again / What would Jesus do? / In fact, what will you do?"

It's a risky directness, and the most confrontational track on the whole record. But it's sweet medicine - propulsive, funky folk led by Landers' detailed acoustic guitar and a bright piano - and it's nearly impossible to begrudge the man's preaching. Crucially, the lyrics don't exclude their singer, and in the brief liner notes, Landers writes: "These songs reflect both who I am and what I want to become."

That humility is evident in these 17 songs. On "Lowercase Prophet," for example, the narrator is honest and weary: "Laying here staring at the ceiling / So tired I'm awake / Trying to unravel my latest mistake."

The benefit compilation CD Moondances Chapter One begins with a song Ellis Kell wrote in memory of his daughter, and it ends with one written following his father's death. The second track, "You Can't Hurt Us Anymore" was penned for Sheltering Kevin, a documentary by Carolyn Wettstone about domestic violence.

That suggests a generosity not only of time and art but of spirit. Kell is not merely sharing his talents but also his difficult experiences and his heart. "I've always tried to draw something positive out of when these things happen, whether it was my daughter's passing or my father's passing," he said. "And we share these things with other people."