Brad Paisley is back in the studio, recording with his band – and not much else. As Brad works on the follow-up to the 2011 album, This Is Country Music, he’s taking a very “organic” approach to the recording process. He told CMTrecently, This time the mode has been: “We’re not editing. If you hear something on a record, we played it.”

He explains that much of what we hear in recorded music today involves getting everything perfect, such as the timing of instrumental effects or adjusting the vocals for pitch. For this project, so far, it’s just Brad and his band, the same people playing with him on his current “Virtual Reality” tour.

As of last week, there were ten tracks cut, seven of which will definitely be on the album. Brad is extremely excited to do things “like they used to do it. And the energy to me feels different…it’s seven musicians. It’s the band that you’ll see tonight onstage with me. There are no additional musicians yet, which is really, really fun.”

This stripped-down purist approach to recording goes back to the classic country and pop recordings of the 1930′s – 1950′s. (One of the most famous examples of the technique was The Beatles “Get Back” project which evolved into the album and movie “Let It Be.”)

As for when the public might hear the results, Brad tells CMT “I’ve been really private about it until now…I didn’t really let anybody hear stuff, and I’m just now starting to play things for some people at my label. I’ve had the most fun making this record I’ve ever, ever had.”

Hear more from Brad Paisley with Carrie Underwood and Scotty McCreery tomorrow night, July 18th on Noteworthy At The Opry.

Stu Evans/KMLE Country 108