Vice President of Production at Ardent Studios, Stephens joined the Ardent staff in 1987. He came under the tutelage of John Fry, Ardent's founder and Big Star's mentor/engineer. Then and now, Ardent's mission is to help new and established artists sound their best. The studio's 51st year is turning out to be a great one.Jody produced Austin's The Reputations LP this past June, inspiring the start of his new production focus at Ardent. Teaming up with Ardent engineer/producer Adam Hill, their relationship with the band clicked. Stephens was a founding member of the band Big Star. All three of the band’s 1970's releases are listed on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” While Big Star came to an end in 2010 with the death of bandmate Alex Chilton, he now performs with Big Star's Third Live. Conceived by Chris Stamey, this group of friends has performed a fully orchestrated version of Big Star’s Third album in London, Barcelona, Sydney and across the U.S. Its April 2016 performance at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA was filmed and released this past April 2017.His current band, Those Pretty Wrongs, released its debut LP on the Ardent Music label in 2016 and recently returned from a six date tour in England in May. Other performances include dates across the U.S. as well as Australia and Spain. Stephens co-produced with his band-mate Luther Russell the 2016 release and another LP is in the works.Stephens is a former board member and trustee of the Recording Academy, Memphis Chapter. He was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Memphis in 2011.