Mandolin Player

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

A: I just finished the entire run of shows (nine months/ nine cities) for the first National Tour of "Bright Star", a musical written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. It was such an amazing experience! The band was simply beyond amazing and we had such a tremendously great time playing and hanging out together. In fact, everyone in the company became 'family' ... truly a beautiful experience filled with memories that I'll hold in my heart for a lifetime!

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently working on a show that ran in D.C. earlier this year and is getting ready to do a 'reunion' show in New York. It's a pretty cool book that will definitely keep me on my toes!

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

A: The most common requests are typically for either session work or live performances. But ... I've done everything from proof-reading notation for a series of mandolin books to arranging a Rameau ballet piece for a bluegrass ensemble - and then performing it in a movie!

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the fact - especially in the times we're living in - that when I'm playing music, I can get people of every sort of background, orientation and belief system to tap their feet to the exact same beat!! The world as a whole needs a lot more of those moments when we all come together like that. If I can play some small role in making more of those moments happen ... well ... it hardly gets better than that!!

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

A: That playing music is somehow a hobby or something less than a real business that I pour my heart and soul into.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: After the basic questions regarding the type of project, when and where it will happen, the duration of the engagement, union or non-union, etc. I'll ask for whatever materials (music, demos, etc) might be available. I'll also try to get some sense as to how the client likes to work - is there a specific workflow or process they follow or do they work more loosely towards achieving the result they want. Is the project strictly a "play the notes as written" type of affair or more of a collaborative effort where my input is expected. Either is fine but it's helpful to have as clear an understanding of the project as possible, so that I can deliver from the first downbeat!

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

A: I'd want to have my mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin and guitar for sure! Having a solar powered multi-track recording device of some kind would be nice so that I could lay some parts down to play to. That's already five pieces of gear so I guess I'd make picks out of sea shells.

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

A: I have a pretty advanced case of "musical ADD" - I love so many types of music that when I'm not working on specific project, I might be transcribing a Swedish fiddle tune one day, learning a Brazilian Choro tune the next day and rounding the week out with some Bluegrass or Old Time tunes. An on-going project for me is playing through the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. They work really well on mandolin and I swear that playing through them will absolutely make anyone a better musician!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Hopefully I'm the guy that people want to work with again. My goal is to always be prepared and professional, to listen first, and then play in a way that always serves the song well. Beyond that, I'm pretty good at leaving my ego at home, and being an all-around easy going, fun person to hang out and play music with.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I'll confess to being a bit of a preparation fanatic. To that end, I'll do as much research as I can on the the other folks that I'll be working with in order to get a sense of their musical sensibilities and styles. I've found that helps me to 'fit in' musically a bit better, right from the start of a project. If I can get my hands on the music or recordings of the material I'll be performing or recording in advance, I'll work on that pretty obsessively, putting it through a fairly disciplined, methodical approach that seems to serve me pretty well.

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

A: I can draw inspiration from pretty much any musician I encounter regardless of their instrument or where they are in terms of their ability. I love the enthusiasm of 'beginners' and the persistence and passion of musicians that make their living at it. Of course being a mandolin player, I am in awe of Chris Thile (pretty much convinced that he was sent here from the future in fact), but I *love* the playing of so many others too ... Joe K. Walsh, Matt Wittler, Adam Steffey, Mike Marshall, John Reischman ... the list could go on forever. If I was forced to pick one musician as a primary source of never-ending inspiration though, it would probably be Sam Bush. One day I hope to be good enough to just make the mistakes that makes, lol!