Country/Pop/Rock Guitarist

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

A: I recorded my first album at 15 (almost 20 years ago). I was 19 when I got my first consistently paying gig and I recorded on my first major album in 2014.

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

A: Lately I've been playing a lot of country music. I've been playing with a few artists and I'm in a 90's country cover band where I have too much fun with all those Brant Mason Licks

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

A: I played lead electric guitar on Zach Coffey's EP "Wildfire". This was my first time in the studio thinking like a country player instead of rock or pop. I wrote all my own parts and I'm really proud of where we landed. We hired the legendary Milo Deering on Steel and Fiddle which really elevated the project! Come to think of it, Dorn played drums for a few of those songs as well.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Synthwave. For no other reason than that it's fun.

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

A: Christian Dorn. I've known him personally for years and have hired him for some of my own projects. He's top tier.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Meh, if it sounds good it is good. Digital emulation has come such a long way these days. When it comes to amps, I can tell the difference but its just different not necessarily better or worse.

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

A: To run the lava lamp as I record your tracks. That's where the tone starts.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: When I play live, I love it when people dance. Especially in country music. I've seen restaurant patrons push tables and chairs out the way to create a space to dance and once the first couple starts spinning the rest of the venue joins in.

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

A: Q: African, or European? A: I don't know that!

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

A: Perhaps that I can be a bit of a perfectionist. Pursuing perfection can stop a project dead in its tracks. While I do expect excellence from myself, I fully understand that any work of art is never complete merely finished. So I catch myself when I get lost in the weeds redoing the same take over and over because I didn't execute the vibrato just so, or I wanted this dynamic or that pick stroke to be ever so much softer or louder. Stop, step back and listen in context. When I do, I usually find the music was there all along. If not, I've got a ton of takes to choose from before comping and sending off.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What is the air speed velocity of a swallow?

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

A: I don't know that it's advise so much as encouragement, but a lot of people never write, record, or release anything. You're doing something great and I'm excited to pull the music out of your head and get it into the air with you.

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

A: My acoustic, my RCA 35 (and the cab. that only counts as one), my Tele, My Mac (I'm cheating because it has a bunch of virtual instruments and effects), Suhr Shiba drive pedal.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Hairy. It's funny because in real life I'm bald.

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

A: John Mayer, of course! I really learned to play listening to his albums in high school.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Get it right at the source. Try to write your parts and dial in your tones with the final mix in mind so that each part is sitting within time and timbre where it will ultimately when the mix engineer gets their hands on it.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I'm pretty strong in terms of filling in the spaces. whether it's with an arpeggiation pattern or a counter melody, or even just a pretty rake with an interesting tone I try to fill in the gaps with musical textures.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: Energy. Guitars produce a lot of harmonic content, it's that magic you can't quite put your finger On but without the song sounds flat and lifeless. Even a gentle pianissimo passage played on guitar introduces this sparkly magic that dances over your head and provides huge energy to the song. I've always thought of playing guitar like riding a rocket, I can't drive it but I can guide it by leaning one direction or the other but it's gonna fly as fast as it flies.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I kind of laid it out in the type of work I do. I start by learning the song, charting it out and starting to internalize it. Then when it's time to start tracking I get dialed in and start with the foundational stuff first like rhythm electrics or guitar pads. I find when I start by filling in the simpler gaps the rest of the parts reveal themselves more readily. Sometimes the clients already know exactly what they want the guitar to play so then it's a matter of dialing in the appropriate tones for the parts and executing. I'm one of those people that always wants everything I do to be at the highest level of excellence possible so I always make sure to set down my guitar and listen after everything is done to make absolutely certain there were no timing flubs, weak executions or out of tune guitars.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I just got a new M1 macbook pro which is lightning fast! I run an Apogee Duet II into a couple outboard analog pres (Shadow Hills Mono Gamma and Vintech 573) but the real stars are my amps. I have two Morgan amps, the RCA35 and The AC20. What a pair! The breadth of sounds these two cover is mind melting and they just sit right. You don't have to over work the tones in post with a ton of comp and EQ, but if you wanted to you absolutely could and it would sound incredible. My go to guitars are my Fender Standard Tele and Gibson ES335, but I also have a couple Fender Strats and a Gibson Les Paul. For acoustic work I use my trusty Martin HD 28. The acoustic really sounds nice with the color of the shadow hills pre.

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

A: I've really been living with Lizzy McAlpines new album "5 seconds flat". I'm a sucker for a good singer songwriter and the production on this latest project is incredible. I've also been listening to Maddie and Tae's new record, the guitar work is so good!

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

A: I'm a layers musician, so I typically lay down several layers of electric and acoustic that all come together to create a really full soundscape. An example of this would be 2 passes of acoustic (maybe slightly different for that dancing stereo feel), doubled stereo rhythm electrics, If theres a lifted section I'll usually add a "histrung" (more like high capoed) pass of rhythm acoustics and electrics up higher on the neck, then it's lead electrics and ear candy which can be anything from pads to licks to synthy or chorusy lines and beyond.