Multi-Instrumentalist/Arranger

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

A: Jasmine Cain's Christmas single "Fairytale of New York" is one of my favorite sessions I have played. I played almost every single instrument on the recording: guitar, mandolin, fiddle & bass, and it was so fun to keep building off of my own ideas and shape an arrangement of such a unique song right there in the tracking room.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Writing string & horn arrangements for a top 40/pop cover band in Texas, touring with a couple country artists, and about to record a shreddy electric violin solo for a new artist coming soon out of Nashville.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: For me, digital. I love the authenticity of analog gear when you're in an elite studio, but for a home-studio operator like myself it's just easier to get more consistently clean tracks using digital gear.

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

A: You will always get the best performance I have to offer on your recording. I will never send out a product that doesn't represent the very best of my ability as an arranger or a performer.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Getting to create music that people around the world will hear.

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

A: How many strings are on that violin? (7) What is that instrument called? (electric violin) Do you really play all those instruments? (yes) Can you play Devil Went Down to Georgia? (begrudgingly)

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

A: Violin & Fiddle are actually the same instrument (HA!)

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Do you want this project to feel extremely polished or more raw? Do you prefer to have "more than enough" material on the track and edit/choose sections yourself, or do you want me to lay out on some sections more like a performance? Do you have a "hands on" production style or do you prefer to leave decisions up to the musicians?

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

A: Provide several clear references of similar artists & tracks to the vibe you're after, that always helps us dial in the sounds & licks you're after.

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

A: 1. My Kemper Profiler because I can play EVERYTHING through it 2. One of my custom made 7-string electric violins (don't make me choose which one right now...) 3. My Harper Guitars Comet. It's my go-to axe for almost everything 4. Eventide H9. I need to make space noises. It's cathartic. 5. A phrase looper (Singular Sound Aeros) because I wouldn't have any friends to jam with...

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

A: I have been working in Nashville for 10 years now. I studied violin performance at Belmont University and graduated in 2014. After that, I went on a world tour playing violin, mandolin & guitar with a classical crossover show called Barrage 8. Since then I've had the privilege of traveling to 3 continents and 47 US states playing shows with artists all over the map. Throughout that time, I have played on recording sessions & worked on arrangements any time I am not on the road, and I really ramped up my home-studio game during the Covid-19 pandemic so that I can record professional tracks from the comfort of my own home.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I try to approach each of my instruments in ways that "typical" players might not consider. So (for example) while I understand the idiomatic stylings of fiddle in country & folk music, I try to incorporate vocabulary from my favorite guitarists & wind/brass players whenever I can. Being a multi-instrumentalist allows me to look at each instrument from a lot of different perspectives, which can lead to some "fresher" kinds of stylings.

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

A: I would love to tour with Steve Vai. That collision of heavy rock and cinematic virtuosity is right up my alley!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Don't be afraid to leave spaces for your overdubbing musicians to fill. If they're professionals, they'll seize those opportunities and often give you ideas you may never have thought of yourself.

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

A: Being in Nashville, there's obviously a lot of country sessions on my resume, and I'm very comfortable in that idiom. Most of my string arrangements are for pop & rock songs. But I love pushing the boundaries of my own playing, and welcome the opportunity to explore new styles with your artistic direction.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: My background of playing more than 7 different instruments has given me a very good ear for exactly what "roles" need to be covered in a mix, and I can confidently work off of the ideas that other instrumentalists in the track are using to create parts that are cohesive and blend well with the existing parts on your track.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I have always lived by the mantra that no style is off-limits, so I have taken gigs everywhere from classical & jazz, to hard rock & metal, to world music, cajun zydeco, and more. I constantly look for new ways to uniquely blend styles in a new and tasteful way and am capable of going as "by the book" OR as "out of the box" as you want for your sound.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For remote overdubs, I will have you provide a rough mix and any notes you have on arrangement/stylistic references, then I will return a consolidated track that has been comped & edited for you to drop into your own session. For arrangements, I will send you a MIDI demo of the arrangement using sampled strings to get your approval before tracking the parts. If there are a significant amount of edits or revisions required before tracking, I will notify you before adding any overtime hours to the invoice.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I have a treated bedroom studio (foam & rock wool insulation batts), Antelope Audio Edge Duo modeling mic, and Antelope Audio Discrete 4 thunderbolt interface running into my MacBook Pro. My preferred DAW is Logic Pro X, and I have a wide array of plugins from iZotope, Waves, Eventide, etc. to ensure clean & clear output on all of my bounced tracks.

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

A: Too many to list, but to name a few: Zach Brock, Tracy Silverman, Zach Casebolt, Jason Roller (musicians); Dann Huff, Jay Joyce, Chuck Ainlay (producers).

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

A: Most of my work is remotely tracking violin, fiddle, & string sections from my home studio, as well as arranging strings for pop/rock/country tracks.