Session Guitarist

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Slide in standard tuning a la Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks. Gypsy jazz. I’m the touring guitarist of One Vision of Queen featuring Marc Martel, and I’m also going to be featured in Tony Visconti’s upcoming Bowie show.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I co wrote and played on Jim Carroll’s last record. Nobody heard it but I had unlimited artistic freedom and made the most of it. Hell of a band, too.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. Unlimited flexibility.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The satisfaction of hearing it back and knowing it’s good.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: Want a coffee? (answer - always yes. I like a free cup of coffee!)

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: That I’m exclusively a rock player. My highest visibility gigs been in that genre, but I can play anything. I’m always adding to vocabulary.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is your favourite song and why?

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Know what you want. Know your audience and where you see yourself. Know what your strengths are and lead with that.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: A good Telecaster, a Blackface Deluxe Reverb, an OD pedal, an acoustic guitar and my phone. There better be electricity.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: I started out playing punk in New York’s CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City as a kid and somehow ended up playing sessions in some of the city’s biggest studios: Record Plant, Sony, Unique. I’ve been doing it for 35 years now. On the way I’ve also played in over a dozen hit musical theatre shows, toured all over the world with Cirque de Soleil and played with Queen. It’s been a hell of a ride.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Melodic. I try to make everything as memorable and “singable” as possible. Guitarist as storyteller. The vibe of the song is paramount and informs everything from the note choices to the tone and attitude. Atmospheric, abrasive, anything in between - whatever helps put it across. Feeling over acrobatics, always, although athletic playing is always available if required.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: The next one.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Use arranging first and foremost. A thoughtful arrangement will practically mix itself. Whether this takes the form of practicing on your own in advance of recording or having a firm idea of your desired result, this is absolutely crucial. Of course a session player is also an arranger. I pride myself on finding the perfect parts and sounds that complement the song. Who you bring into your project will have a big impact on the results.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: I’m best known as a rock player but I can literally play anything.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Melodicism, drama, and above all: tone.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I like to find the emotional content and amplify it. Build tension and release, sometimes functioning as a kind of Greek choir or second voice, answering and commenting on the singer/lyrics. I try to keep it interesting. But I value space, simplicity and silence. The song, the singer and subject matter are always paramount - sometimes the best thing to play is nothing.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I’ll chart the tune first. Then do a couple of passes to get ideas together. The content of the song and the style of the artist dictates what happens next, but that first pass becomes the bedrock, the raw material: if it’s a stripped down approach, it’ll stay much the same with the rawness intact. If it calls for orchestration, I’ll break it out into parts, layers of different instruments, sounds, registers, tunings.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Mac Mini running Logic Pro, UAD Apollo interface.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Nashville aces like Guthrie Trapp and Justin Ostrander, groundbreaking Polyphia mastermind Tim Henson (I don’t sound a thing like him, and I like that - he’s creating his own thing). Matteo Mancuso freaks me out, so does Ron Thal. Anyone who is so good they transcend genre, really.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: There isn’t anything common about it. Every situation is different, every client unique. I try to fit the needs of the situation right in front of me. There’s nothing else.