Brent Mason
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brent Mason is an American guitarist. He is primarily known as being a first-call Nashville session player, and has appeared on thousands of recordings worldwide. His extensive credits can be viewed on allmusic.com.
Brent Mason is one of the most recorded guitarists in history, playing on albums by Alan Jackson, David Gates, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Neil Diamond and Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, The Judds, LeeAnn Womack, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood, among many many others. He was born on July 13, 1959, in Van Wert, Ohio, into a musical family, which includes his talented brother, drummer Randy Mason. He taught himself to play guitar by ear at five years old by sitting on the floor and using a kitchen knife to play his father's acoustic guitar like a slide guitar, as the guitar was too heavy for him to hold and play correctly. Having never had a formal music lesson, and unable to this day to read music (he plays by ear), Mason came to Nashville at the age of 22 and was soon the talk of the town, and quickly came to the attention of the legendary Chet Atkins, who took him under his wing and gave him the opportunity to play on one of his albums and also helped him get his first work as a session musician doing demos in the studio. This led to his playing being heard by several well known producers of the time, and soon he was in the studio with legendary A-Team musicians like Reggie Young, Harold Bradley, Weldon Myrick, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Buddy Emmons and Charlie McCoy, working on albums for established Nashville superstars, and this paved the way to an astonishing recording career which continues today. Although his name is synonymous with country music, Mason is a unique chameleon, playing all styles with exceptional ability and depth and is actually more at home playing jazz, swing, rock and funk styles. He cites as some of his main influences Jerry Reed, Roy Nichols, Lenny Breau, Pat Martino, George Benson, Jeff Beck, and Larry Carlton. Taking a bit here and there from each of his influences and combining them with his own unique style, Mason is responsible for creating a new and innovative sound all his own.
A little known fact about Mason is that he is also an accomplished singer and songwriter. He was signed to a recording contract with Mercury Records in the mid 1990s, but at the last minute he decided to pull out of the deal, unable to face the touring and promotion that would keep him away from Nashville and his family. He opted to bypass a chance at possible fame and mainstream celebrity to continue his lucrative studio career as a session musician, playing music for other artist's albums instead of his own, which would allow him to return home each evening and live a normal life.
He has played on commercials for Budweiser, Miller Brewing, Betty Crocker, Sears, Michelob, Ford Motor Company and Wrangler Jeans to name a few. He can also be heard on countless movie and television soundtracks, like the popular television sitcom "Friends," and the opening to NFL Football telecasts ("Are You Ready for Some Football!") Mason released his instrumental debut album Hot Wired on Mercury Records in 1997, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. He released an instructional video through Hot Licks Productions in 1996 and in 2006 an instructional computer software program through PG Music entitlted Brent Mason: Guitar Star. In addition to awards by Billboard, Music City All Stars, and various songwriting honors, he has received twelve Academy of Country Music Guitarist of the Year Awards and two CMA Musician of the Year Awards, being nominated for both of those awards every year to date since 1992. His original playing technique and expression has been studied by colleges and universities around the world, including the prestigious Berklee College of Music, and his signature style has been copied or attempted by both professionals and novice players everywhere. In 2006 he was awarded the honor of being among the first group of inductees to be inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, which is dedicated to honoring and recognizing the most prolific and historically significant musicians of all genres in the world.
In 2003 Gibson Guitars/Valley Arts developed and released a Brent Mason Signature Model guitar designed to be a replica of his well known and well used 1968 Fender Telecaster, heavily modified by Nashville guitar luthier extraordinaire, Joe Glaser. http://www.gibson.com/whatsnew/pressrelease/2003/jul30a.html
Most recently, he has released a new solo cd with his brother, Randy Mason.[1] The newest album, Smokin' Section, was recorded using only 12 tracks. As Randy said, "No Pro Tools or tricks, just straight from my shed, like when we were kids growing up in Grover Hill, Ohio".
