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He has been called “one of the Top 10 Guitar Players in the World” by Guitar Magazine. In his 50-plus years of playing the instrument, he has created a wildly successful, multi-faceted career. He is a critically acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator with 16 albums and two live DVDs released worldwide. He is commonly regarded as a guitar virtuoso capable of playing any style of music with remarkable mastery and conviction. He has been one of L.A.’s elite “first call” session players for the past 38 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks, and television shows. He became a member of the British rock group Supertramp in 1985 and he has played to millions of enthusiastic fans in sold out arenas worldwide. He plays live regularly, including shows he’ll be doing in Europe in October and November, as discussed in this interview.

Notable Guest Quotes

“Around 9:30 at night I get a call from Supertramp’s front of house engineer, mixer engineer… and he said they’re auditioning, they’ve heard 18 guys, would I like to come down and audition tomorrow morning at 10.  I said, ‘Sure.’  And I really wasn’t a fan.  As a matter of fact, I didn’t like some of the music so much.  I wasn’t a big fan of Roger’s voice.  But I am now.  I really got to love it later.”

“As I was walking in to do the audition one of my favorite guitar heroes was walking out.  I go, ‘Oh, what am I wasting my time for.  He’s gonna get it.  He’s a famous guy.’  So, I won’t tell you his name because he didn’t get it!”

“I’ve always thought of myself as having three careers.  One is, a member of Supertramp, where the musical vision of the leader of the band is something that I need to follow, contribute to, and make as good as I can… Another one of my careers is studio musician, and that, you’re always following the musical vision of the composer or the producer or the solo artist, whoever it is.  So, your job is to make that guy sound better… But it’s still not the peak of creativity, which is writing and playing your own music and there’s nothing, I think, nothing more rewarding than that.”

“I learned so much by playing in the studio for all these great composers and playing on people’s records and film composers and everything.  I just learned so much about music and playing and skills that I never would’ve gotten had I been, like, a singer-songwriter guy.”

“Even Rick Davies from Supertramp always said, ‘It’s too bad the record is a demo for the tour,’ ‘cause the songs always get better when you take ‘em out on the road.  They get better, the parts become more honed, and you’re not just making ‘em up and playing ‘em right on the spot like we do in the studio.”

“I just find that if you’ve got music in you, it’s gotta come out.”

“With the Academy Awards I was playing in the orchestra, on stage there.  And at some point, somebody came up to me on Saturday night’s rehearsal, saying, ‘Can you learn a solo acoustic version of Moon River by tomorrow?  … We would like you to play down on the stage, literally at the foot of the stage.’ … So, I said, ‘Well, sure.’  So, I got home around midnight and learned it, learned how to play Moon River, and made a nice little arrangement.”

“I like trying to play like Joe Pass, sure, Wes Montgomery, but I also like to play like Duane Allman.”

“I try to play Europe every year and I usually do four or five weeks there.”

“Years ago, I was reading this article with Chick Corea where he said, ‘The best of us are only truly improvising 30 percent of the time.  The other 70 percent, we are stringing together lines and ideas that we’ve worked out.’  And that changed my life.”

Songs on this episode

“Kaningie”
“Sundial”