Multi-Genre Session Guitarist

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I promise to work diligently on whatever is sent my way and get back to you in a timely manner.

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

A: I produced, mixed, wrote, and played on my most recent song "Together" which is on all streaming sites. My friend Jonn Bostwick who plays drums for Parker McCollum reached out to me to ask if I wanted to record it. He coproduced it and played drums.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I am working on going from being a majority live musician to making a decent living recording for other people.

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Nicky Hines is a phenomenal guitarist and producer that I know from living here in Nashville.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: My answer to this depends on what I have available. Digital oftentimes now is so close to being as good as it's analog counterparts. The plugins from Universal Audio are almost exact replications of the real outboard gear for a small fraction of the price. The amp and effects simulations I have from my Fractal FM3 are indistinguishable to my ears when compared to real amps. It all depends on your budget and what you can work with. I would love to have a full studio of analog outboard gear and vintage guitar amps, but for now I do the best with what I have.

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

A: I think one of the biggest misconceptions about musicians is that we are lazy bums that are always broke. The latter is oftentimes true, but the professional musicians I have surrounded myself with in Nashville are some of the hardest working people I know.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What style are you looking for? Who are some of your biggest musical influences? What can I do to transform this song in a way that hasn't already been done? For mixing, are there any songs that you'd like me to reference?

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

A: I would take my Martin HD35, laptop, Apollo Interface, a pair of headphones, and my Slate ML1 microphone.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Alternative and classic rock are what I grew up listening to. I would still say I heavily am influenced by the alternative and indie styles.

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

A: I would love to work with Hozier. His live show is orchestral to put it mildly, and that translates even more-so to his studio work.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: I would say be patient and don't go crazy with plugins when you're in the creative process. Try to get the song sounding great before adding anything to it. Less is more most of the time.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill is being able to piece together different ideas to form a complete song.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I try to always serve the song depending on it's style and flow the best that I can, while still incorporating my own sound as well.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Once I receive a file from a client, I try to ask as many relevant questions so that I can tailor my sound to what they are looking for. I would then drop their track into my recording software, listen through to get an idea of the tempo, style, and cadence, then begin recording. Once recorded, I send a reference track to the client, which is a rough mix of my part(s) paired with the track they sent so that the client can hear how it sounds in context. I also send the isolated tracks of my playing.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a basement studio that I have setup to track everything except for live drums.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love the people I've had the opportunity to work with as well as doing what I love and being able to make my own schedule.

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

A: My career path has been moving to Nashville, getting plugged into the live/touring world, and using that skillset to build a session career.

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

A: I usually work on country and americana, but I love doing rock, r&b, and indie/alt as well.

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

A: Rick Rubin, Butch Walker, Chris Buck, and Dan Huff are all big inspirations of mine.

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

A: I mostly play as a live musician, but have a lot of experience recording and a great setup at home to do so.