Acoustic Session Guitarist

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

A: I usually work on pop, contemporary christian, and singer-songwriter original music. Most of the music I work on has elements of real-life instrumentation, and a nod to the classic rock band setup.

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

A: I recorded and produced my wife's acoustic hymns album. We essentially did everything from our home years ago. It was a large project to handle on our own, but has been great to offer when performing live at markets and churches. It features mandolin, cajon, bass guitar, acoustic guitars, piano, and vocals. We're able to cover the low cost of it ourselves and have plenty of margin.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I have a church that I record rehearsal tracks for their worship team, and also some original songs being crafted on the side.

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

A: Not that I know of.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Both. I prefer digital for the time-saving factor of recalling presets and plugin-chains. I can appreciate an analog piece of gear that has a unique fingerprint of tone, but I believe the choices today are mainly just about whatever gives you the most fulfillment as a creative person.

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

A: Each client is my most important client. You will be respected, and I'll always give my best effort.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love being creative and seeing a song become better because I had an influence on it.

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

A: How much do you charge? It depends on the project.

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

A: The unseen work of manually editing a performance in Melodyne, or using a certain mic to pair better with a musical track will be felt but also unappreciated.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What musical references do they have? What's the project deadline?

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

A: Be as detailed as possible. Share any reference tracks or inspirations that would be aligned with your ideal sound.

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

A: SM7B, UAD Apollo Twin, Beyerdynamic headphones, Martin OM21, and my Macbook Pro M5

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

A: I have been leading worship on a full time basis for 15 years. I record and mix music as a passion. I'm fortunate enough to have the time to help other creative people achieve their goals.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Less is more. Sometimes a song with just a small number of tracks can have the biggest impact because each track matters.

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

A: I would love to work with Ben Rector. He is a fantastic pianist, vocalist, and lyricist.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: A good tape emulation plugin on a acoustic track will go a long way.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My strongest skill would be finger-style acoustic guitar playing. My years of private lessons in college were primarily focused on developing my skills playing complex arpeggiated works.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music where I studied classical guitar. I can improvise musical elements that go beyond the most basic chords. I began as a musician on the drums so I have an experienced history of playing with a click track and creative rhythms.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I will create a chart, as needed, to accompany a demo or track provided by the artist. I create simple chord changes, and will finish with a more melodic/finger-style track for creativity. My mix is usually purposed to have the most polished/radio-ready sounding track.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I mainly use a Neumann TLM 103 large diaphragm condensor mic that records through my Apollo Twin X interface. I have many microphones to use as needed including the Shure Sm81 and the M160 ribbon mic from Beyerdynamic. I record from an acoustically treated home studio.

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

A: Most of my inspiration comes from modern artists that feature "acoustic" instruments such as guitar, piano, and bands. Music from John Mayer, to Ed Sheeran, and country artists such as Brad Paisley, James Taylor, and Dierks Bentley.

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

A: I specialize in providing pristine, mix-ready acoustic and electric guitar tracks that add organic warmth and professional polish to independent productions. The most common type of work I do is replacing MIDI mockups or basic scratch tracks with high-fidelity, expressive acoustic performances. Ranging from articulate country strumming to delicate fingerpicking for intimate ballads.