Multi-Genre Horn Arranger

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

A: I recorded trumpet on three songs on Dolly Parton's latest release, "Rockstar." I'm especially proud that I was able to deliver a record quality product for such an esteemed artist from my home studio.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I just finished producing the horn section tracks for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK8BZNEwVzg I wrote the horn arrangements/charts for the live performance, hired the players for the event, and engineered, recorded, and mixed the horn tracks for the video in my home studio.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I'm a "best of both" kinda guy!

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

A: You'll love my arrangements.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love getting to flex my creative muscles and work with a wide variety of artists and styles. I try to push myself and the people I work with on every project.

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

A: What are my rates? It just depends on what you need and how quickly you need it. But my typical jobs range from $200 to $1500 and up.

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

A: That horns are easy or cheap.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I like to know that a track is more or less "complete" before adding horns, as I use the other parts (and the vocal is there is one) to guide the direction of the horn arrangements and ensure that I'm utilizing the space within the song to the best of my knowledge.

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

A: Let's make it fun! If you have a track and an idea of what you'd like, we can make something happen.

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

A: My signal chain is pretty dialed in at this point, so it'd probably be what I'm using now: my trumpet/flugel, Royer R-122 into an API 512V preamp, into the Apogee Ensemble interface, and Mac Studio.

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

A: As a Nashville area native, getting into music just made sense. I started playing trumpet nearly two decades ago in school, marched and played in jazz band in high school, and went on to graduate college with a music degree. I've worked "in town" for years and toured across four continents with many different artists and eventually bought a house and set up a studio 10 minutes from downtown Nashville.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: My style is deeply rooted in Black American Music. I pay attention to groove more than anything and I enjoy making music that feels and sounds great.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Hard pan doubles are all you need.

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

A: Everything from CCM to Funk, Pop, Jazz, Latin Music, and more.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Recording Trumpet Tracks.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I am a deeply curious and creative person and I strive to make the best music possible whenever I am given the opportunity.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: Send me a track and a deposit, and I'll create a session and start working on the arrangement. I do this either by ear or by creating horn charts in notation software. If hiring others to record, I will send a rough demo (either MIDI or pre-recorded trumpets) before the session for client approval, and then I always send a reference mix after recording to approve before collecting final payment. Revisions requested after this point are subject to additional recording fees plus an hourly charge for my time. After receiving final payment, I deliver stems as unprocessed 24-bit/44.1 KHz mono WAV files through WeTransfer or Dropbox unless otherwise requested.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work out of my home just south of Nashville, TN. I have two professionally designed and treated spaces that I use to record anything from solo instruments to 4-5 musicians ranging from horns to strings to vocals, to full rhythm sections. I have several high end microphones (too many honestly), a rack full of outboard preamps and compressors, and top of the line conversion. I'm extremely meticulous in my recording process and I guarantee that my recordings will be as good as you'll find anywhere.

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

A: More often than not, I'm creating "trumpet stacks" arrangements by ear for clients, but I'm very versatile and can cover anything involving horns, from solo instruments, to horn sections, to big bands, and more.