Session/ Touring guitarist,

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

A: An album with the progressive rock band NITE LITE. I did all the guitar work and got lots of writing credits in my contributions and toured with them. It got me to meet Rick Wakeman, of YES, whom is a childhood hero of mine, and whom I wound up having a sort of brief musical association with for his Hope Records label and it allowed the band to open for Eric Johnson, who was complimentary about my guitar playing. That was quite special.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A cover of an Aerosmith song for a female artist. Putting down a lot of guitars

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

A: I don't know anyone at the moment

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I lived through analog age,cutting tape with razor blades, over saturating with the meters hot , etc, etc... So i know what the analog sound is. It's embedded in my DNA by now, so when digital came along, and I finally got a grasp, I was able to still incorporate what I learned from living in the analog age and come to enjoy both

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

A: a finished guitar track/tracks in a timely manner, that will be executed perfectly in technique, played in an inspired manner, produced pristinely for their use, and within the parameters of the song that they were hoping for

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: In any capacity which I may pick up my guitar for, I feel the closest to G-d and it makes me know that something wonderful is going to happen and that anything is possible

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

A: Why do you own so many guitars and stringed instruments? I tell them because in order for the artist to paint on the canvass, he needs many different brushes to fully express what he does, to his satisfaction and his client's

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

A: In music I learned, There are only misconceptions when people don't clearly communicate what's on their mind to one another, from the conception of a project right down to misunderstood expectations at it's completion. Thank goodness nowadays for texting and email, for it's clarity and proof of intent.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: (1) Genre, (2) how the music may be used ( I wouldn't want to play on something that ended up on something morally wrong - ie: Kim Jung Un's porno flick) (3) is it a complete song or do they need assistance in writing/arranging which i'd gladly do (4) what their vision for the vibe of the song is (5) if they'd enjoy more than one type of guitar on it (6) discuss a time frame (7) negotiate a fair compensation (8) If they're interested in also having my services to perform in their band live for them

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

A: Judge the musician you hire by actually how talented his/her influences are, because if their influences are really great players it mean that person had a high bar to live up to when trying to play their stuff, in essence it makes them better players, and if you want only the best people to play on your records then you can weed out the weaker players by knowing who their heroes are

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

A: Iphone with all my fav music, My old Gibson J45 acoustic, My mandolin, my 59 les paul, even though it's a "desert island" and i can't plug it in anywhere, I just love to stare at it, it's so beautiful :) and lots of strings

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

A: Started violin at age 3 moved to gtr at age 7, started recording on a cheap 4 track reel to reel at about 10, played recorded albums and toured in original bands, played in cover bands to keep income coming in. Over 35 years experience

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: versatile strong right hand that likes to match each note the left is playing

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

A: Jon Anderson from YES. His lyrics and musical approach are inspiring on a spiritual level and I'd have to say Robert Plant because of his versatility to cover any type of music

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: don't mic your acoustic gtr at the sound hole, mic it at an angle and point it at where the neck meets the body

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

A: original and cover songs in most genres

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Playing and writing and orchestrating multiple guitar parts and song's structure if needed

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: whatever the artist wants and hopefully enough of myself that's suitable to the artist/writer

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Either record tracks at my studio room and send them to clients or go to studio with clients

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Pro Tools

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

A: Steve Howe, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Keith Emerson, Al DiMeola, Chet Atkins

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

A: Play all kinds of guitars for them on their albums or demos