Guitarist/Pedal Steel/Mixing

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have complete isolation in my control room from my live room which allows me to really dial in my sound. My mic cabinet has everything I need to get great guitar sounds: Flea U48, Royer 121, Coles 4038, Neumann KM84's, SM57's, SM7B, Capi VP28 pre's. I have a ton of outboard gear including Manley Vari Mu compressor, Smart Research C1, Chandler RS124's, AML 52F50's, Audioscape: Opto, 1176 Rev A, Stereo Pultecs, Lexicon PCM70, Roland Space Echo RE 201, my DAW is Pro Tools. As far as gear, my list is extensive and mostly comprised of vintage equipment. Some of what I have is: Guitars: 1967 Fender Telecaster 1977 Fender Coodercaster 1967 Guild T100D 1961 Silvertone H44 1964 Silvertone H603L Acoustic 1965 Gibson Barney Kessel Gibson 335 Waterloo Acoustic Bluesman Vintage Telecaster Amps: 1950's Filmosound Film Projector Amp 1967 Fender Deluxe Reverb 1961 Gretsch 6161 1950's Kay 703 Peavy Nashville 112

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

A: That you'll be satisfied, and I really mean that. I'm not going to settle for a subpar track, it's just not in my nature. I'm going to work as hard as I can to make your music come to life the way that you want it to.

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

A: I'd love to be in a Bon Iver session and be a part of their work process. I'm fascinated by the production on their albums.

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

A: A range of styles: singer/songwriter, americana, folk, jazz, blues, funk, soul, rock, country, bluegrass

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

A: I like to think of what I do as adding flavors to the musical bed. Usually I get a track that needs something more. If I'm playing pedal steel, I like to use it to glue all the pieces together. Guitar is such a versatile instrument that I can be adding rhythm, colors, slide guitar, solos, or sometimes all of those elements to a track. That's what I love so much about what I do, it's always different!

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

A: I started playing guitar, singing, and writing songs at the same time. I was nine years old and was completely obsessed with Nirvana. I wanted to be like Kurt Cobain. As time went on I got more and more obsessed with guitar, writing, and music in general. That led me to Berklee College of Music where I studied for 4 years. After graduating I moved to NYC where I was an active member of the music scene for 5 years. Two years ago I moved down to Nashville, TN and I've been really loving it here.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't forget about recording the sound of the room!

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Listening! I don't touch my instrument for the first few listens when I'm recording in my studio, I just listen and take notes.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I always try and bring tastefulness to a song and never ego. I want to play the song and give it what it's asking for. My goal is to fill the gaps that need to be filled and never anything more.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I listen to the song and get to know it before touching my Instrument. I do this because I want to know what the song is asking for before my muscle memory kicks in and my hands take off. I get the sound in my ear and then I start chasing it. I want to bring the best possible sound to the music that I can, because that's why I play music! I chase sounds and parts until they feel totally right to me.

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

A: So many! Some big ones for me are, Ray Charlies, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Bill Frisell, Ry Cooder, Blake Mills, Adam Levy, Rich Hinman, Julian Lage, The Mills Brothers, Greg Leisz, T Bone Burnett, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan.