Parsons' passion for his country rock vision was so contagious that he even convinced McGuinn to abandon his plans for the Byrds' next album and follow Parsons' lead in recording a country rock album. Parsons also persuaded McGuinn and Hillman to record the album in the country music capital of Nashville, Tennessee, as Bob Dylan had done for his "Blonde On Blonde" and "John Wesley Harding" albums. Although McGuinn had some reservations about the band's new direction, he decided that such a move could expand the already declining audience of the group. After long-time Byrds' producer Gary Usher, who had little interest in producing McGuinn's proposed concept album, indicated a preference for the country concept, McGuinn finally acquiesced. On March 9, 1968, the band decamped to Columbia's recording facility in Nashville, with Clarence White in tow, to begin recording sessions for "Sweetheart of the Rodeo".