I'm a guitar player, mostly electric, steel string acoustic too. I do session
work, songwriting, and production projects. I have a well-outfitted home studio
for songwriting and some production, and I also work with a nationally acclaimed
pro studio here in Seattle. I cover country, country/rock, blues and jazz, both
acoustic and electric, solo guitar and full-band arrangements.
I like working with songwriters and can take almost any songwriter's demo (even
face-to-face), turn it into a full-blown arrangement suitable for any studio in
Nashville, select and hire appropriate instrumentation, produce the project,
assist with artwork and duplication, and assist with marketing. If you're
interested, drop me some email.
I am a tone fanatic. I love Teles and Strats - have several. My main guitar is a
late-model Telecaster that has been modified with a humbucker in the neck, a
Duncan Nashville Strat pickup in the middle, and a Joe Barden Tele pickup in the
bridge.
I'm also using a late-model Dobro (for slide and fretted), a Larrivee C-19, a
Martin OM28V, a Music Man 6 string bass, an early '60s ES-175, a Music Man ASAT,
a Deering 6 string banjo, a Ramirez classical, and a Tacoma Papoose. I have
several other guitars but these are the ones that get used the most.
I own about 25 amps of both vintage and modern design. I frequently use a Groove
Tubes Soul-O 75, 1x12 combo and an early '60s Fender Princeton Reverb. I'm
pretty much a "straight into the amp" kinda guy (with high-quality cable, of
course).
The studio is also equipped with many, high quality vintage and modern
microphones.
History
I've performed with Charlie Pride, Willie Nelson, Conway Twitty, and the Jack
Jones big band. Based out of Dallas, Texas in the '70s, I played sessions for
films, commercials, and theatre productions and toured extensively throughout
the south.
I'm currently living in Seattle, Washington, collaborating with songwriters,
arranging and playing sessions for demos, commercials, and full-length CD
projects. I have production credits on several successful regional projects and
I try to play out, both solo and with others, whenever there is time. I also
work with a very gifted producer/engineer, Darin DiPietro (of Uncle Salty's fame)
who himself has many impressive regional projects to his credit.
Hand Picked started out as a demo for a project that I was going to do with a
live band in a "real" studio but I decided that if I wanted to get it done in
any realistic amount of time I would have to make it work at home. All tracks
were recorded on a Roland VS-840 and monitored on a pair of Alesis Monitor Ones.
I mastered through a TC Electronics Finalizer into Sound Forge running on a PC.
I used Sonic Foundry's Acoustic Modeler plug-in for smoothing out the highs (the
analog tape modeling is great).
I used a Roland R8 and a Roland DR-660 drum machine for drum tracks. Electric
guitars were recorded directly into the VS-840 using the 840's built-in
amplifier modeling. Acoustic guitars were recorded with either one or two AKG
C411 contact microphones through a JoeMeek VC3 or a pair of ART Tube PACs. The
Heritage Eagle was recorded with a Rode NT-1 through the VC3. All bass tracks
were cut with a Music Man Silhouette 6-string bass plugged directly into the VS-840.
I hooked up everything with George-L's cable.
Track Notes for Hand Picked:
Hand Picked - Hot country twang and snarl. Both electric guitars are a Fender B-Bender
Tele fitted with Duncan Nashville Studio pickups.
Afternoon in The Sun - A bit like the Allman Brothers' Melissa. Rhythm guitar is
a Larivee C-19. Lead guitar is the B-Bender Tele. I wrote and recorded part of
this sitting on the back porch at my father-in-law's cabin on Mason Lake in
Washington state.
Southern Flyer - Upbeat country rock with twin lead guitars. Rhythm and first
solo guitar is the Larivee, second solo is the B-Bender Tele.
Red Georgia Clay - Very pretty acoustic guitar ballad. I'm from the southeast US,
Florida and Georgia. The red clay in Georgia brings back very fond childhood
memories of going to visit my grandparents in Wrens, Georgia. Both guitars are
the Larivee using two C411s, one at each end of the bridge, through a pair of
Tube PACs. (There are notes on my website about this technique.)
Anything at All - Upbeat country-rock with twin lead guitars. Rhythm guitar is
the Larivee. Both electric guitars are the B-Bender Tele.
Nothing Lost - Solo, acoustic, blues guitar. The Larivee with one C411 through
the JoeMeek. I just sat down and felt like playing the blues
Off The Road - Country rock with slide guitar (Duane Allman's playing just
slayed me). Rhythm guitar is the Larivee. Slide guitar is a Gibson Les Paul DC
Standard tuned to standard tuning. Lead guitar is the B-Bender Tele.
Always On Time - Smokey blues with an acoustic feel. Rhythm guitar is a 1961
Gibson ES-175. Lead guitar is a Heritage Eagle.
She Walks - Swinging steel guitar on a six-string. Rhythm guitar is the Larivee.
Lead guitar is a Fender California Fat Tele with a Duncan Seth Lover in the neck,
a Duncan Nashville Studio Strat pickup in the middle, and a Joe Barden Tele
bridge pickup in the bridge.
Admit One - Acoustic jazz duet. Both guitars are the Heritage Eagle. This just
came to me one night. Both tracks are first-takes and, in fact, the only time I
played through the song. It just wrote itself as I played it the first time.
Coast Highway - Happy, Latin-jazz. Twin acoustic lead guitars. Rhythm guitar is
the Larivee. Both lead guitars are a Ramirez R3 cutaway.
Lake County (Prayer For My Father) - Country blues ballad. I grew up in Lake
County (Eustis), Florida and my mom and dad still live there. I live about as
far away from there as possible in Seattle but I really miss it. My father
recently underwent successful treatment for cancer and they are both in pretty
good heath, thank you God. Rhythm and first lead guitar is the Larivee. Second
lead guitar is the B-Bender Tele.