How old were you when you first started to play the guitar?
I started to play the guitar in 1964 when I was 10 years old. I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and that was it! When I was six, I took piano lessons with a couple of very progressive teachers who not only taught me how to play the piano, but also ear training and chord recognition. From the ages of six to 10, I was pretty involved with music via the piano. But one Sunday night in 1964 changed all that...
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What guitars do you use and is there a guitar you use the most?
I primarily play a custom Rick Turner nylon string acoustic/electic guitar in concert. It is an amazing insrument. I also play a couple of F hole jazz guitars - an old Gibson 175 and a Heritage 550. I love these acoustic/electric fat body guitars for their warmth and natural sound. I also use two (2) Takamine acoustic classical guitars in the studio, a Guild F50 steel string, and two solid body electrics, a Fender strat and a Kramer strat. The Fender has the original pickups which are some of the sweetest strat pickups I've ever heard and the Kramer (giddyup! - no relation to Seinfeld) has active pickups which give it a hotter rock and roll quality. I quess I would say that I currently play the Rick Turner nylon string guitar the most followed by the Heritage 550 but I really do play all of the guitars pretty equally with the exception of the Guild steel string guitar. Each one has a very different voice and a unique application for my music.
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How do you go about recording your albums?
I have the luxury of owning my own recording studio so the process usually takes about 3 months, not including the composing. Usually I take about three to four weeks where I do nothing but write 12-15 new songs. I use an Apple computer and digital audio software to aid in creating demos of the best of these new songs and then I give CD-Rs of these demos to the players who will be performing on the album. After the players have had time to learn the new music, I record the rhythm section - the drums, bass, and keyboards - over a period of about two weeks. I have temporary guitar parts on the computer and click track for the rhythm section to play with while I produce and engineer the recording sessions. Then I add the spice elements such as percussion, extra keyboard parts, rhythm guitars, background vocals, etc. over a period of about a week. Then I record all of my guitar parts. I am a recovering control freak/perfectionist and so I usually take about 2 weeks to record all of my guitar parts. Finally, I mix the album over the course of the next five weeks, taking about three 12 hour days per song. Then I bring the final mixes to the mastering studio where I assemble them in the final running order and add any final equalization touches, fades, limiting etc.. The recording process from start to finish is an exhausting, stressful, exhilarating one which involves giving it everything I have. I have never worked harder on anything as I do my albums. I love it and hate it all at the same time. Yet every year I can't wait to do it again!
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