![Mike 'Slo-Mo' Brenner on SoundBetter](https://res.cloudinary.com/soundbetter/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,g_face:auto,h_533,q_auto:eco,w_763/v1720613973/assets/photos/619914/mike_slo-mo_brenner.jpg)
Steel guitarist from Songs Ohia's 'Farewell Transmission' provides tasteful steel guitar for Americana, indie, rock and twangy tracks.
Mike 'Slo-Mo' Brenner has cut numerous tracks with Jason Molina, Wild Pink, the Philadelphia Eagles Xmas records, Aaron West and the Roaring 20's, Susan Werner, Marah and more. Mike 'Slo-Mo' Brenner is ready to add a unique touch to your songs with pedal or lap steel and also bass/baritone lap steels, Indian steel guitar, string sounds and other special toys. Super pro and quick turnarounds!!
Send me a note through the contact button above.
Credits
Discogs verified credits for Mike Brenner- Saint-Saëns* - José Carreras · Agnes Baltsa · Jonathan Summers · Simon Estes · Paata Burchuladze · Symphonie-Orchester* & Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks · Sir Colin Davis
- John Train
- Slo-Mo (4)
- John Train
- John Train
- John Train
- Neil Nathan
- Neil Nathan
- John Train
- No Good Sister
- Chris Cacavas & Edward Abbiati
- No Good Sister
- Edward Abbiati
- Neil Nathan
- John Train
- The Low Road
- The Low Road
- The Low Road
- Various
- The Low Road
- Buzz Zeemer
- Marah
- Various
- Various
- Wood (3)
- John Train
- Burn Witch Burn
- Slo-Mo (4)
- Marah
- Nancy Falkow
- The Trouble With Sweeney
- Moment Of Release
- John Train
- Badly Drawn Boy
- Badly Drawn Boy
- Songs: Ohia
- Marah
- One Star Hotel
- Songs: Ohia
- Denison Witmer
- Paul Edelman And The Jangling Sparrows
- Flight Of Mavis
- One Star Hotel
- Nancy Falkow
- Marah
- Denison Witmer
- The Magnolia Electric Co*
- Various
- Trisha O'Keefe (2) / Matt Duke / Julia Othmer
- Slo-Mo Featuring Mic Wrecka
- Magnolia Electric Co*
- Marah
- Various
- The Shimmers
- The Rigbees
- Magnolia Electric Co.
- Antje Duvekot
- Magnolia Electric Co.
- G. Love
- Swivel Chairs
- Tom Rothrock
- Magnolia Electric Co.
- Star Folk*
- Melody Gardot
- Magnolia Electric Co.
- Solas
- Stark Folk Band
- The Asteroid No. 4*
- Gina Sicilia
- Numbers And Letters
- John Train
- Sunrise River Band
- Winifred Horan
- No Good Sister
- Chris Cacavas & Edward Abbiati
- The High Line Riders
- Lowlands And Friends*
- Andrew Cohen* And Light Coma
- Gerry McGoldrick
- No Good Sister
- Roger Harvey (4)
- The High Line Riders
- Goshen Electric Co.
- Edward Abbiati
- Heather Valley
- Underwater Robots
- Underwater Robots
- Travel Lanes
- Neil Nathan
- Maxwell Stern
- Underwater Robots
- Maxwell Stern
- Jefferson Berry & The UAC
- Neil Nathan
- Timeshares
- Brian Dillon
- Wild Pink (2)
- Wild Pink (2)
- Wild Pink (2)
- The Talking Kind
- The Tisburys
- Slaughter Beach, Dog With Anika Pyle & Trace Mountains
- Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, The Philly Specials
- John Train
- Wild Pink (2)
- The Natvral
- Edward Abbiati
- Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, The Philly Specials
- Tom Heyman
- Buzz Zeemer
- Nagasaki Swim
- Loose Collars
- Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties
- Pouty (2)
- The Acc
- Slo-Mo Featuring Mic Wrecka
- Various
- Various
- Various
- Melody Gardot
Languages
- English
15 Reviews
Endorse Mike 'Slo-Mo' BrennerWhen Mike puts his touch on a song it always elevates it. We first collaborated in 2018 for a live radio session, since then we have spent countless hours on the road, in rehearsal, and in recording sessions together. I highly recommend him to anyone looking for an expert player to uplift their music with intention. I feel that his playing always helps to establish sonically, the feeling of the stories I tell through the songs I write. He's done the time to understand how to fit in & get out of the way of a song.
Slo-Mo has been my partner and co-conspirator in John Train for the past 30 years. I would have no musical life without him. Slo-Mo has produced all 7 of John Train's albums which have been critically acclaimed and taken us as far as Italy and Holland as well onto the stage of the late lamented Bottom Line in NYC. He also produced five albums for my band, the Donuts. Make no mistake: Slo-Mo is a killer musician. But there are many of those. What makes him so great is his incredible taste and unerring ability to arrange (including when not to play). Hire him!
Mike has worked with me as a producer, band director and steel player. I trust him completely with my music, my projects and my artistic neurosis! He comes to the table with great ideas and with the flexibility to hear what else is possible. When working in a group, he brings a cool, calm presence to the dynamic which creates an easy working environment to get a lot accomplished quickly. He puts in the time and is wholly committed to every project he touches and I look forward to each opportunity to work together!
Mike is a Philly legend and a longtime favorite guitar player of mine from his work with Marah. He recently cut steel tracks for my rock n roll band The Ditches and gave our songs the exact balance of fire and twang we hoped for. He was timely and professional and turned in parts that made the songs Technicolor. Above and beyond brilliant work and we’d love to do more in the future.
It’s hard for me to say enough about the quality of Mike’s incredibly masterful and tasteful playing, whether on lap steel or pedal steel or dobro or bass lap steel (which I have mistakenly credited as “slide bass”). I’m beyond pleased and honored to have had him record on several of my songs and to continue to play on what will become my third album. Mike’s playing fabulous and his taste is impeccable. He has recommended other fabulous session players. Moreover he’s prompt and accessible! To my ear, the player who most closely resembles Mike is Greg Leisz. Mike is that brilliant! 10 stars!
I can't say enough good things about working with Mike. He's a talented craftsman with incredible patience and ears, all of which were needed for my project. Mike took my raw songs and tranformed them into credible americana/folk tunes that are now being played around the world. In addition to adding his own gorgeous/memorable steel guitar parts, he brought in top session players to finish what he knew was needed for each song. Mike takes great pride in his work, has great communication throughout, and his attention to detail is second to none. We're already working on our next project!
I had the pleasure of working with Mike on a record I was producing for an artist. We were in the overdubbing stage of the record process and looking for additional instrumentation that could make the artists songs pop when the artist brought up Mike to my attention. To say he created and recorded parts that gave new life to the record is a massive understatement. The songs had a new sense of 3 dimensional attitude with the addition of his beautiful pedal steel, lap steel, and dobro tracks. Additionally, Mike is very organized and his files are clearly labeled making loading tracks a breeze.
Mike is solid in any key, with any song, no matter what genre. He'll elevate your sound whether you have a full band or 1 person. He also responds pretty quickly and lets you know what he's able to do. Pretty much, he'll make your songs sound fairly magical.
Besides having played on some of my favorites bands ever, I've had the chance to collaborate with Mike and he's a top bloke. His tasteful playing elevated my songs by a step or two, adding that extra sauce that's usually the difference between an average and a great production. He's easy to get in touch with, quick in understanding what the job needs and delivers the best results you'd ever expected. If you need anything with steel strings and a tonebar in your project, Mike is the man for you. I look forward to get in touch with him anytime a new recording session starts. Highly recommended!
Mike is a monster of taste, creativity, professionalism, adaptability, and efficiency. He's produced and played lap steel, pedal steel, dobro, bass, lap bass, acoustic and electric guitar on countless tracks in many genres for me. Work with this man!
The dude is an absolute murderer on the steel. Just knows what to play instantly and makes it sing. He's great in studio. He's great on stage. He can jump into a song and improvise on the fly. His work on our latest record, In Lieu of Flowers, elevated the songs while managing to not step on anyone's toes, a true feat considering we had 16 people playing on the album. I've got nothing but good shit to say.
Slo-Mo is the real deal. He thinks like a producer and plays like a virtuoso. Slo-Mo immediately understood what we were going for and contributed in ways that elevated and transformed the songs; his contributions made us think in new and exciting ways about our music. His involvement helped us make a better record, no question. He's a pro of the highest caliber and we can't wait to work with him again.
Mike is a truly great partner, no matter what role he takes on in a project. As a player, he always has a producer’s ear for the perfect part(s), that will serve the song in the best way. In a production role he has clear vision, is completely unflappable, diplomatic, and focused.
He will make your song, or your project, better!Mike is a very soulful steel player and his work is worth every penny. I can tell he listened and dove down to the bottom of my songs and then reacted the them authentically to himself. He enriched my songs deeply. Also he is fast! Very glad I found him and excited to work with him again in the future!
Mike is one of those rare musicians who can make everything he touches sound better. Whether it’s a blistering solo or tasteful, atmospheric pedal steel, he’s the man for the job. I especially love how lyrical his playing is - never stepping on the vocal, always complementing it by listening and finding his spots. We’ve worked on probably 20 songs at this point and I look forward to many more!
Interview with Mike 'Slo-Mo' Brenner
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I wish I could work with the late great Prince, the most talented, creative, funky, surprising, unstoppable, etc etc. I'd love to work with anyone who digs slide guitar and enjoys taking chances and making cool music.
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Susan Werner's last record "Halfway To Houston" has great playing, writing, singing, everything. I played some pedal steel that I was proud of and, as the producer, hired the rest of the band and production crew, who all did a phenomenal job.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: an ambient soundtrack record, a couple cuts for singer songwriter in upstate NY, practicing material for some live gigs w Maxwell Stern
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: na
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: digital. that's all i got!
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: That they will be pleased. I try very hard to make that happen.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I working out of my home where all my instruments are. I can choose from so many different tools and colors, listen to it the next day and try something else.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: They ask 'Does remote tracking work well?' My answer is always yes. So much better of a use of time and funds than renting studio time and bringing specialists to do in-person tracking. My tracks are edited and ready to be dropped into a project.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: That it's too expensive. I like return customers so I don't want $ to be obstacle.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Usually about the style and feel the they want the tracks to project. How dark or light? how heavy or bluesy?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Listen to samples. I have a ton of samples.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: national tricone, dobro, martin acoustic guitar, weissenborn acoustic slide, cello
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been playing in bands for many years. Became obsessed with steel guitar in the mid-1990's and began playing bluegrass dobro and lap steel. I've become pretty busy doing remote session work in the last decade or so.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I'm all about melody and arrangement; space and tension. I can play in the various idioms of steel guitar, but I also know when just one note or pad is enough for the tune.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: My wavs are super clean and typically without any massive fx (unless I've been instructed to use heavy gain, phaser, etc). I want to hand in material that an engineer is happy to plug into a project without editing or clean up.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Americana, indie rock, singer/songwriter, rock
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I'm a strong steel guitarist but I believe my arrangement skills are what make my tracks connect with very few changes or re-do's. I feel I am a good judge of hearing where my spots should be. I don't overplay or need to cut licks or solos on every track, only what it needs.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I think the steel guitar, in its many incarnations, is able to bring so many different emotions to the table: searing drama, fragility, sadness, twangy fun, mystery, everything! That's my goal: to provide the right emotion using whatever skills are necessary.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I like to work on a track as soon as I listen to it and run a couple passes of my first ideas and impressions coupled with any direction I've been given (usually in the morning after coffee!). These ideas are often the most on point.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Very modest recording gear, Mullen pedal steel, lots of different laps, Beard dobros, bass and baritone lap steels, Indian 22-string Chaturangui (acoustic steel guitar)
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Anything from straight-up rootsy acoustic guitar and vocals to hip hop loops and grooves. I'm always inspired by using the steel guitar in atypical situations (in place of strings or horns, for example).
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Most of my work is cutting various kinds of steel guitar on artists' songs and projects. I have also done commercial TV and soundtrack work.
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I was the lap steel player in this production
- Pedal SteelAverage price - $100 per song
$100 per song; $75 each for 3 or more; multiple instruments per song ok, 3 revisions
- Greg Leisz
- Jerry Douglas
- David Lindley
- lap steel
- pedal steel
- dobro
- bass lap steel