Tell us about your tour vehicle.
Well, I tour in a tour bus when I’m with Miranda Lambert so I’m very fortunate on that front. But with my own solo stuff or any pedal steel session work it was my Volvo 1990 240 wagon which had a hefty 250,000 miles on it and no AC. Unfortunately, I had to sell it due to the brutal Tennessee summers so I’m on the hunt for another personal vehicle hopefully with AC. I’m also a huge fan of a Mercedes Sprinter, the creme de la creme of touring machines.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
As much fruit and vegetables as possible. I’m on a vegan diet which is hard to navigate in some rural parts of America, so then it becomes French fry festival!
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I hardly break strings on the pedal steel guitar and I replace them usually once every 3 months. I say I like the sound of old strings but it’s probably more due to the fact I’m being lazy as it’s a long process to change a set of steel guitar strings.
Where do you rehearse?
I don’t have a rehearsal space but I have a little recording / music room in my house that I do overdubs in. Little square box room where the dog sleeps. If you turn up parts of my record you will hear a dog bark or Toast and Boots (my dogs) scuffling around.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Oh my word! I honestly can’t remember. Maybe something about a castle or magic, still working on that composition.
Describe your first gig.
First gig was in a Pub in Romford in East London called The Sun when I was 14. Kind of a rough boozer that my dad got me cause he worked for a brewery that delivered beer there. I played Chuck Berry and Beatles covers and thought I was on top of the world.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I’m really lucky that my current job is playing pedal steel guitar but my last day job was a music teacher and before that it was at a blood bank processing people’s blood in a laboratory in Brentwood, Essex. Very classy.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
I have no idea. If you want to be comfortable in the long run of playing music especially in today’s climate you have to be ok with making some money one month and then making pennies the next. The older you get the harder that choice becomes.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Play less notes. Listen to the melody. Turn your amp down or you’ll get ringing in your ears for life.