Like King Ghidorah, these rock fretmasters prove three heads are better than one.
After a five-year break in studio releases, Train came roaring back this year with AM Gold and a tour with dates stretching into 2023 that’s delivering their new songs and a sampling of the group’s 28 charting singles from their nearly 30-year history. PG’s John Bohlinger stopped in on the band’s two guitar players, Jerry Becker and Taylor Locke, and bassist Hector Maldonado, before their June 21 show at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater. They displayed the big bevy of instruments they use to recreate the Train sound live.
PS: Special thanks to techs Wayne Davis and Stephen Ferrera-Grand for help running down the rigs.
Brought to you by D’Addario Nexxus 360 Tuner.
Yellow Fever
Taylor Locke’s No. 1 is this all-stock, scarred Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Special in TV yellow. For the record, Locke uses Shubb and Kyser capos, strings his axes with Dunlops, and uses the latter company’s picks and slides.
Hum-Doozie
When the song calls for a guitar with humbuckers, Locke goes with his all-stock Gibson Custom Shop R7 Les Paul Goldtop. It’s essentially a re-do of a 1957 Paul right down to the chunky C-profile neck and Indian rosewood fretboard.
Double Trouble
Some of Train’s songs require both electric and acoustic tones, and for those Taylor employs an Epiphone Casino, which tech Stephen Ferrera-Grand has outfitted with Fishman’s PowerBridge pickup system. The jack on the Casino is stereo, which enables splitting the stock electric pickups and a piezo pickup to two separate wireless packs, mounted side-by-side on Taylor’s guitar strap. The piezo signal hits a Sound Sculpture Volcano expression pedal volume controller that routes to an on/off switch on his Line 6 HX Effects stomper. The piezo sound is sent to front-of-house and monitors via a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI preamp.
Fab Filtration Across the Nation
When it’s time to go Filter’Tron, Locke straps on this tuxedo’d G6128T Vintage Select ’89 Duo Jet with a trusty Bigsby. In case the colors aren’t shining though in the photo, it’s an impressive black with metallic green sparkle, and Locke keeps it tuned a half-step down and strung with Dunlop .011s
Old Frontier
Locke aims for a couple of classic acoustic guitar tones, and for vintage vibe he reaches for this 1964 Epiphone Frontier. It’s from the original ’58 to ’70 run, with a Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides. These days, the model has been restored to the catalog courtesy of Gibson’s acoustic builders in Bozeman, Montana.
Clydesdale Tone
The workhorse sound of the Gibson J-45 resonates in the Train catalog, and this is one of many the band keeps in their 6-string arsenal.
Reso-Phonics
When the language of roots guitar needs to be spoken, Locke grabs his Gretsch resonator—part of the company’s Roots Collection of guitars. This one uses Gretsch’s patented Ampli-Sonic biscuit cone.
Playing the Dozens
When it’s time to wrangle acoustic jangle, this all-stock 1971 Ovation Glen Campbell 12-string gets to shine and shimmer. Unlike modern 6-string Campbell signature Ovations, this guitar lacks a cutaway. It has a Sitka spruce top, a walnut bridge, and an ebony fretboard—and sounds killer.
It’s Pronounced Oo-koo-lay-lay in Hawaiian
The hit “Hey, Soul Sister,” which reached No. 3 on Billboard’s pop chart in 2009, is guaranteed set-list material for every show. So, of course, Locke always has a requisite ukulele onstage. Here’s a look at the pair of Godin ukes in his rack.
Lean, No Cheese, 35 Watts
Locke uses a Top Hat King Royal 2x12 combo kept slightly off stage but loud enough to be audible. The 35-watter has three 12AX7s and four EL84 power tubes, and a GZ34 governing the rectifier. There’s a fat-off-bright switch, too. How does he run it? See the next photo.
All Set!
Here are his settings for the Top Hat. Note the master volume riding at 1 o’clock and his preference for the hi-input jack.
Is That a Banana, or….
Locke isn’t monkeying around: If his Top Hat goes down, he’s got a Vox C4 tucked aside as a spare. And a banana—maybe to snack on while Ferrera-Grand powers the amp up?
The Great Switcheroo
Locke’s electric guitar signal hits a Shure Axient Digital wireless and zooms into a Radial SW4 switcher. Tech Stephen Ferrera-Grand does the wireless switching on the Radial unit, in his guitar rack.
Above the SW4, you’ll see, peeking out, the acoustic boss: a Countryman DI. The Godin ukuleles follow the same signal flow as the acoustics, but along a different path into a separate Countryman DI.
Treading the Treadles
From the rack, the signal is sent out to a Pedaltrain ’board, outfitted with a Best-Tronics patchbay. The board contains a Dunlop DVP1XL volume pedal to a Line 6 HX. A second DVP1XL controls certain effects parameters, such as delay repeats and Leslie speed. The signal is then sent into a Boss NS-2 noise suppressor and on to the Top Hat amp.
Each speaker gets its own microphone: a Shure SM57 and an Audio-Technica AT4040.
For the majority of the set, Taylor keeps his HX set up with the following effects models: a Tone Bender fuzz (for leads and solos), a Klon Centaur (primary overdrive sound, almost always on), an MXR Timmy OD (neutral volume boost), EHX Deluxe Memory Man (modulated slap delay), Boss DM-2 Delay (long delay), and a Fender Vibratone (rotary). Taylor scrolls to other pedalboard scenes for song-specific effects, using tremolo for “Meet Virginia,” a Small Stone phaser for “AM Gold,” and so on.
Butterscotch Bliss
Another entry from the realm of the classics: Jerry Becker’s 2011 all-stock Fender American Vintage ’52 Telecaster has an ash body, a large U-profile neck, and, of course, a maple fretboard. It is strung with Dunlop DEN1046 Electric Nickel Performance+ string sets, running .010–.046. PS: Becker uses Levy’s straps and wireless pouches, Dunlop custom graphic signature picks, and Kyser Quick-Change capos.
Red Horse
This Gibson SG Classic from 2010 is stock and strung with Dunlop Performance+ .010–.046 sets—as are all his electrics. It has P-90s, a rosewood fretboard, and pearloid dot inlays up the neck.
Guitar of the Beast
This second-generation Gibson Les Paul Special reflects the body style that led Les Paul himself to cut ties with Gibson in the early 1960s. Nonetheless, with their two P-90s and lighter slab bodies, these are killer guitars. The double-horn cutaways make this 1973 a rare beast. It’s stock.
All Stock and Ready To Rock
Here’s Becker’s 1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom, left as it came from the factory. As you may recall, this model comes with “banjo”-style fret wire, to earn their reputation as—as Gibson put it on the model’s introduction in 1954—fretless wonders.
Modern Classic
This Gibson ES-339 was built in the first year the model was issued: 2007. The company introduced this guitar as a smaller—Les Paul sized—take on the ES-335, with a laminated maple-poplar-maple body, a maple center block, and spruce contour braces.
One More 45
Here’s yet another of Train’s Gibson J-45s. This one is a 2013 Custom Shop model in a wine red finish, and it is strung with Elixir 11050 80/20 Bronze Polyweb lights, gauged .012 to .053.
Nashville Tuning
Becker’s 1966 Gibson B-25 is set up in Nashville, or high strung, tuning. In this tuning, the wound E, A, D, and G strings are replaced with lighter-gauge strings tuned an octave higher than usual. In the old days, this had to be done by raiding 12-string sets, but some modern string makers produce Nashville tuning sets. So, Becker uses D’Addario EJ38H Phosphor Bronze .010–.027s.
Canadian Nylon
This 2017 Godin Multiac Nylon Duet Ambiance Natural HG has Fishman electronics that allows the internal blending of four microphone settings. It also sports a slim nut width (1.9"), a Richlite fretboard, and a chambered mahogany body. The strings: D’Addario EJ31 Pro-Arté Rectified Nylon Hard Tensions.
In the Pedal Pond
Becker uses a Fractal Audio Systems FX8 MkII combined with a Mission Engineering SP-1 Expression Pedal. There’s a Lehle D.Loop SGoS Loop Switcher, a Boss TU-3 Tuner, a Radial JR-2 Remote, and a Lehle P-Split Passive Splitter. It’s all powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus.
But Wait, There’s More
Guitar tech Wayne Davis mapped out Becker’s signal flow for us. The electric guitars hit a Shure Axient Digital Wireless receiver and flow into a Radial JX62. There, the 6-strings can be directed into the Lehle D.Loop in and then out via a loop A send to the Fractal FX8. The loop A return then reroutes through a D.Loop out to the Radial again. Then there are amp options: a Matchless DC-30 or a Leslie combo preamp and 145 rotary speaker cabinet. Acoustic guitar arrives via the wireless and hits the PA via the JX62 DI out.
Green Sound Machine
This envy-shaded DC-30 is Becker’s big gun. It was the company’s first design and gets huff from four EL84s, with two preamp sections: one powered by two 12AX7s and the other by a single EF86. That’s a lot of tonal versatility.
The Understudy
This Vox AC30 acts as Becker’s back up.
Coming Up Roses
Bassist Hector Maldonado’s long search for an early ’60s P bass landed him this 1960 Fender Precision days before Train’s current summer tour. The gem was professionally refinished by Joe Riggio of Riggio Custom Guitars at some point, but other than that it’s as Leo intended over 60 years ago. Riggio helped connect Maldonado to the seller so he could acquire his dream bass.
No. 2
With the arrival of his new old P, this off-the-rack Fender American Vintage ’62 P bass reissue got demoted to the No. 2 slot. But Maldonado says it plays better than some of his vintage instruments, and this 4-string has been around the world a few times with Train. Both Fenders take D’Addario roundwounds (.045–.100).
Sir Paul’s Highball
If you’ve spent time with any of the last three Train albums, you’ve heard this limited-run Hofner Gold Label Violin Berlin model. It is made of German Nussbaum wood and has the company’s 511B staple pickups in a normal-spacing configuration. Hofner’s Gold Label instruments are highly limited editions.
Get Back!
For the ultimate Beatles’ vibe, Maldonado uses this Hofner B-Bass HI-Series Violin model. It provides the desired “pluck” sound of 1964. Both of his stage Hofners take D’Addario XL Chromes, flatwound (.045–.100).
Spanish Flair
“Cleopatra” off AM Gold has a flamenco guitar part. Maldonado is classically trained, so he was the obvious choice to handle it, plus Becker and Locke are already busy with their own guitar chores on the song. Hector’s setup on his Yamaha CG172SF is creative. He uses a blend of strings from his Fender Bass VI and nylon guitar strings to hold down the low end and shred fingerstyle.
Racked and Ready
A Mesa/Boogie Subway D-800+ powers his basses, while an Avalon U5 Class A Active Instrument DI give a clear signal to front-of-house. And like his compatriots, he’s running a Shure AD4D rackmount wireless system.
More on the Floor
Maldonado has more pedals on the floor than his fellow Trainmen. His stomp station consists of a trio of mini MXRs—a Carbon Copy, Phase 95, and Vintage Bass Octave—plus an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano reverb, a Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, a DigiTech Bass Driver OD, an Origin Effects Cali76 compressor, and a Mesa/Boogie Five-Band Graphic EQ. A Dunlop Volume (X) DVP3 and a Boss TU-3s mini Chromatic Tuner keeps his instruments reined.
For the first time ever, two guitar greats, John 5 and Richie Kotzen will be heading out on the road this year. The tour will launch October 16 and run through November, hitting markets across the U.S.
Find the full tour itinerary right plus a link for tickets & VIP, including additional dates featuring John 5 only. Reserved seating tickets will go on sale Friday May 16 though a fan presale will begin today at noon local time and fans are strongly encouraged to buy early to get the best seats.
Meet and Greets for both artists will be available. For John 5 please go to: https://john5store.com/collections/vip.
Today, John 5 also announces more details of his anticipated new album. Called The Ghost, it will be released October 10 and is led by the new track “Fiend,” featuring Kenny Aronoff.
John 5 continues running public tours this month for his Knights In Satan’s Service Museum of KISS Memorabilia in Los Angeles, California. Guided tours are open to the public for one month only (with a possible expansion). Current dates available are May 12-16, May 19-23 and May 27-30. Each will be led by John 5 himself who will provide tons of rich detail and answer any questions. Secure your place HERE.
JOHN 5 continues to tour with Mötley Crüe including an upcoming residency in Las Vegas in 2025.RICHIE KOTZEN &
JOHN 5 FALL 2025 TOUR
October 16 El Cajon, CA @ Magnolia
October 17 Riverside, CA @ Fox Performing Arts
October 18 Roseville, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post
October 19 San Jose, CA @ The Ritz
October 21 Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
October 22 Albuquerque, NM @ KiMo Theatre
October 24 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
October 25 Leander, TX @ The Haute Spot
October 27 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
October 28 Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
October 29 Nashville, TN @ Fogg Street Lawn Club
October 30 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
October 31 Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
November 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
November 2 Clearwater, FL @ Capitol Theatre
November 4 Richmond, VA @ The National
November 5 Leesburg, VA @ Tally Ho Theater
November 6 Patchogue, NY @ Patchogue Theatre
November 11 Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
November 12 Derry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall
November 13 Foxborough, MA @ Six String Grill & Stage
November 14 Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater
November 15 Lorain, OH @ Lorain Palace Theatre
November 16 Columbus, OH @ The King Of Clubs
November 17 Warrendale, PA @ Jergels
November 19 Wyandotte, MI @ District 142
November 20 Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
November 21 Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s
November 22 St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theatre
November 23 Belvidere, IL @ Apollo Theatre
November 25 Denver, CO @ Oriental Theater
November 29 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet's*
*John 5 only
Classic counterpoint techniques that work for surf.
Intermediate
Intermediate
• Learn some time-honored guidelines of classical composition.
• Apply revered rules to more modern styles.
• Create interesting and complex surf lines.The term counterpoint scares many people who think it is a carefully devised process that strips you of creative freedom. This is partly true, because some individuals have pushed the practice of counterpoint as strict rules at some point without explaining its purpose. I disagree with the view that music theory is a rule. Counterpoint, like serialism or any other principle of harmony, is simply a recipe for an expected result. These music theory recipes are not baking recipes where exact measurements must be made; music theory is more like cooking, which is more malleable and open to in-the-moment modifications.
Species Counterpoint
Why was counterpoint invented? Counterpoint has two primary goals: first, to ensure parts are singable, and second, to keep each “voice” independent. Let’s discuss the intervals aspect first. Some intervals are challenging to sing. Tritones, for instance, are not easy for even professional singers to hear and sing when sight reading. Even when time is spent with a piece, getting used to tritones takes a bit of digestion. (This is the main reason tritones were avoided for so long in music. Music was primarily vocal-based for quite some time, such as in 16th century Italian composer Giovanni Palestrina’s music. Carelessly placing tritones would make the music very difficult to sing.) With guitar, we don’t have to hear the notes before we play. We should, but it’s not required (and sometimes that’s what gets us in trouble). The species counterpoint recipe is designed to avoid certain dissonant intervals that are not approached by step. In other words, we don’t jump to or from a dissonance.
When music changed and new instruments became available, the recipes of species counterpoint changed, which makes sense as the limitations of hearing a note weren’t as much of an issue. As baroque composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fuchs proposed, the series counterpoint method is a recipe that places us in a particular time in history. By understanding and using the recipe of series counterpoint, we can connect with the rich musical tradition of the past.
Independence
During this same period, one of the main ingredients of music was that each “voice” (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) was to remain independent. You should be able to hear the journey of each voice on its own. The recipes for counterpoint ensure we maintain independence. Playing two 5ths in succession or two octaves in succession sounds unified and thus makes us lose independence. Using counterpoint, we can ensure that we don’t weave in and out of independent and unified sounds. In the era of early counterpoint, say the Palestrina era, composers didn’t think in terms of a predetermined chord progression. They thought about each line and made sure they merged in harmony. The music was written horizontally to ensure the lines didn’t crash or lose independence. This is considerably different from how we often make music in the rock genres of the 20th century. Bach started incorporating the thought of a “vertical” chord progression. Even before the 20th century, the recipes for counterpoint had evolved. But the evolution didn’t make the earlier recipes irrelevant; it added more options to our recipe book.
Voice Leading
Another critical thing about counterpoint is the movement from one note to another. This is similar to the earlier discussion about intervals that are hard to sing. Voice leading is a crucial aspect of counterpoint. It’s the art of connecting one note to another, whether in a single line or with chords. It ensures that our musical lines flow smoothly, guiding the listener’s ear through the composition. Writing a herky-jerky line that jumps all over the place makes it hard to sing. The art of voice leading is writing lines to feel and sound like they unfold and take us on a ride, but not a ride on a road ridden with potholes—think of a newly paved road on a highway. Counterpoint instills in us how to create even motion. So, when you want to create unrest and a feeling of a jerky experience, you’re applying intentionally.
Power of Suggestion
Counterpoint rules are not strict guidelines but rather flexible recipes or suggestions. Composers have always been free to write what they wanted (well, aside from political and religious oppression), using counterpoint to enhance their compositions, and many composers have experimented with expanding the counterpoint recipes. There are times when we need an expected result. This is when you can use tools to help you achieve that outcome. Although counterpoint was most popular in eras that have long since passed, it still holds significant value in our modern music industry. Its recipes, while evolving, continue to provide a solid foundation for contemporary music composition.
Broken Traditions
At some point, composers grew weary of the sounds they had heard for many years and started expanding. They stopped caring about losing the independence of voices and used parallel 5ths and octaves. Sometimes, they stopped caring about voice leading and wrote pointillistic music. Composers even started composing with noise (such as John Cage), or experimenting with electronic means of composition (Delia Derbyshire and Karlheinz Stockhausen). However, counterpoint still existed, and many of these composers, even though they strayed from some of the recipes, still deeply understood its structure, such as Arnold Schoenberg, who invented a system to avoid tonal harmony.
Lesson
I will give you more than just a dry recipe for species counterpoint in this lesson. Instead, I’ll focus on key elements that can be directly applied to your rock and pop compositions, making your music more dynamic and interesting. For each of these examples, I will live in the land of surf music, one of my favorite genres.
Imitation
In fugues, which are species counterpoint-based, we use something called imitation. Imagine we have two guitarists. Guitarist 1 plays a riff or melodic phrase, and then Guitarist 2 plays that same riff right after Guitarist 1 finishes. Guitar 2 is imitating Guitar 1. However, we can adjust the octave and pitches on which the imitation starts to add more variety to its performance.
For Ex. 1, I created a three-measure phrase for guitar 1 that I will imitate in measure two with Guitar 2. Guitar 2 is an exact copycat of Guitar 1, but they don’t play the part at the same time.
Ex. 2: For this example, I will drop the imitation for Guitar 2 an octave lower.
Ex. 3 is where the fun begins. As I mentioned earlier, we can start on different pitches for our imitation. If the theme (measures one through three) implies a key signature (we’re using the key of E minor for each of these examples to keep it simple), we can imply another key for the imitation but keep the same interval relationship and shape of the theme. We will outline the V chord (Bm) for measures four through six. The result is a conversation between two instruments that can move through a chord progression in a song or a couple of key centers for variety. We can use the same idea with guitar and bass or any other combination of instruments.
In counterpoint, we call the first riff or melodic phrase the “theme.” You may wonder what Guitar 1 is supposed to do while Guitar 2 (or in my recorded examples, bass) imitates the first riff. We have two options: One is to play free—you devise a harmony that works on top of the riff, but you don’t have to play this harmony on every imitation. It’s just an accompaniment that happens at that given time, as in Ex. 4a. Ex. 4b uses the same free accompaniment but moves bars four through six to B minor.
The second option is a countertheme. You can write a second riff that plays every time the imitation plays. The theme and countertheme are interconnected. They swap parts back and forth, as we see in Ex. 5a. Ex. 5b uses the same free accompaniment but moves bars four, five, and six to the key of B minor.
We already have a fruit-bearing tree. This technique prolongs material, using the same parts to lengthen and ornament the music you’re making. Johann Sebastian Bach was a master of this, and I highly recommend studying his music if you like imitation, canons, and fugues.
Consonance and Dissonance
Okay, now that you understand the basic concepts of imitation, theme, and countertheme, it’s time to start digging deeper into the concepts of harmony and voice leading. For counterpoint, we have two categories for interval organization. Consonant intervals are unisons, 3rds, 5ths, 6ths, and octaves. We also have dissonant intervals, such as 2nds, 4ths, and 7ths. Ex. 6 features consonant intervals, Ex. 7, dissonant.
In counterpoint, we only use dissonant intervals step by step. We never jump into them or leave them by leap. Jumping into dissonances can be off-putting. Yes, there are times when you want that sound, but there is a difference between knowing how to use dissonance and using dissonance that isn’t working. Ex. 8 is an example of jumping into dissonance. Many guitarists don’t know how to deal with dissonance when soloing, and songwriters sometimes can’t hear poorly approached dissonance when writing melodies. I know … it sure sounds like I’m talking about rules here! But really, it’s about using tools to achieve a desired result or fixing issues rather than strict regulations.
Strong Beats
In classical music, beat 1 is the strongest in the bar, followed by beat 3, the second strongest. Beats 2 and 4 are the strong beats in jazz. We will focus on beat 1 as the strong beat right now. It’s generally essential that beat 1 of each measure is consonant. The recipe states not to use dissonance on strong beats. There is more tolerance for dissonance on weak beats (2 and 4).
This means we must have an overview of our lines and how they meet at each bar on beat 1 (and beat 3). Beats 1 and 3 should be consonant using a unison, 3rd, 5th, 6th, or octave. Using species counterpoint allows us to tell a functional harmony story more clearly, making the story more apparent to the listener.
The Dreaded Parallel Perfect Intervals
If your head isn’t already spinning, get ready. Earlier, I mentioned that we want to maintain independence with each line in the counterpoint. We don’t want to hear them collapse into each other. Unisons, perfect 5ths, and octaves are perfect intervals. They are the most unified-sounding intervals, which means you lose the most independence when using them. Using two back-to-back octaves is a parallel motion of a perfect interval. This means the line’s independence is wholly lost, which we want to avoid in counterpoint. For this reason, we avoid placing parallel perfect 5ths and octaves successive to each other and adjacent strong beats. Check out Ex. 9 to hear parallel octaves and Ex. 10 for parallel 5ths. Bear in mind, of course, that some genres and periods completely disregard this, such as minimalism.
Shapes of Things
We have most of the basics laid out, except one more topic regarding the independence of lines. We want to maintain the independence of the line with interval choice rather than the direction of each line. When we think of musical lines, we want each line to have its own journey but not unfavorably crash into the other. To achieve this, we want each line to have a different shape and follow each other in parallel motion. We have options for variety.
1. Parallel motion: Each line moves in the same direction with perfect intervals (Ex. 11).
2. Similar motion: Each line moves in the same direction with constant intervals (Ex. 12).
3. Oblique motion: When one voice stays in the same position, the other voice moves (Ex. 13).
4. Contrary motion: When both lines move in opposite directions, offering the most independence (Ex. 14).
The idea is to have a variety of shapes to maintain independence of direction.
Final Thoughts
I know this is a lot to take in. Studying counterpoint is no small task. But I hope that this introductory lesson into the concepts of counterpoint illuminates its power as both a creative tool and a troubleshooting device for composing and building solos. Understanding counterpoint means only sometimes considering it in the composition process. You can write as you always do, but if something doesn’t sound right, it’s much easier and faster to diagnose and fix the problem. There are times when composing with counterpoint in mind can be a fantastic tool. It’s up to you to decide when to use the creative recipe.
Dive into the ART Tube MP/C with PG contributor Tom Butwin. Experience how this classic tube-driven preamp and compressor can add warmth and clarity to your sound. From studio recordings to re-amping and live stage applications, this time-tested design packs a ton of features for an affordable price.
Art Tube Mp Project Series Tube Microphone/Instrument Preamp
Designed in Rochester NY and originally released in 1995, the Tube MP is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025.
The Tube MP/C is the most fully-featured member of the Tube MP family, designed for recording guitarists and bassists. It is a tube mic preamp and instrument DI with advanced features including an optical compressor/limiter and switchable line/instrument output levels for use as a re-amping device.
Guitarist Scott Metzger and his Lollar P-90-loaded Creston T-style onstage with LaMP, next to organist Ray Paczkowski.
The guitarist, who splits his time between the groove-driven jam band supergroup and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, energizes the Tele vernacular on One of Us.
“Night after night playing next toDean Ween was really my foundation for learning what it means to be a lead guitarist, and how to do a gig, and the pacing of a gig, and a lot of things that I still consider really, really important lessons,” says guitarist Scott Metzger. He’s thinking back to his formative years in the small town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of Philadelphia and across the river from his hometown of Lambertville, New Jersey. It was there, on the intimate, low-ceilinged stage at eclectic musical outpost John & Peter’s, that the guitarist cut his teeth next to the Ween co-founder—real name Mickey Melchiondo—as a member of Chris Harford’s Band of Changes, which Metzger joined at just 17 years old.
“They treated me like a kid, man,” he continues. “They really put me through the paces. There was a lot of hazing, and there was some tough love on a lot of those nights.”
Metzger estimates he left it all on the John & Peter’s stage hundreds of times, forming an old-school style of musical apprenticeship that can be heard in his playing today, three decades later. In any of the improv-heavy settings where he tends to find himself—such as his collaborative trio, LaMP, with members of the Trey Anastasio Band, the transformative Grateful Dead tribute Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, or in freelance situations—Metzger takes the patient and complementary approach of someone playing the long game. He’s a supportive and colorful collaborator who, to make a baseball analogy, always seems to have a good read on the musical ball, equally adept as a finely attuned rhythm player or commanding lead voice. For that, he offers a lot of credit to those early days.
Guitarist Scott Metzger and his Lollar P-90-loaded Creston T-style onstage with LaMP, next to organist Ray Paczkowski.
Photo by Andrew Blackstein
“I kept my mouth shut and my eyes open,” Metzger explains, “and I learned what it takes to become a good, competent guitarist and what it means to have a distinct voice—Dean Ween has one of the most distinct lead guitar voices in rock ’n’ roll as far as I’m concerned. But not only that, also how to support a singer, and how to play a song, and when not to solo, which is just as important as knowing when to.”
Metzger remembers his early teen years, learning tunes by the Ramones—his first concert—and Jersey’s own Misfits, and getting turned ontoHendrix bootlegs and Boredoms records at New Hope’s Now and Then shop. Later, Melchiondo expanded his psychedelic worldview, hipping him to P-Funk— specificallyEddie Hazel’s guitar work—and theAllman Brothers.
Metzger at home in Brooklyn, surrounded by an inspiring array of gear and posters.
Photo by Andrew Blackstein
It wasn’t long until Metzger put all those early lessons to work on the road. At 19, he was playing with his experimental trio F-Hole at Princeton, New Jersey’s Small World coffee when Phish guitaristTrey Anastasio wandered in. “As soon as we get done playing,” Metzger recalls, “he makes a beeline to me and basically started interrogating me about who I was listening to and what I was into gear wise and what kind of guitarists I was into. What I didn't realize was that he was basically auditioning me in real time to be in his friend Tom Marshall's band, who writes all the lyrics for Phish and was putting together a band at the time.”
Metzger scored the gig with Marshall’s Amfibian, playing sold-out shows on the road and opening him up to a whole new musical world. “I wasn’t that familiar with Phish at all,” he points out. “But I knew I liked being up in front of all those people and being able to just play all night. I was really kind of a focal point of the band, and that was my introduction to what is now considered the jam band scene.”
Fast-forward to the present: Metzger is a formidable member of the jam scene. He’s led and collaborated on a host of projects, including WOLF!, with bassist Jon Shaw and drummer Taylor Floreth; the blazing country-swing trio Showdown Kids, with his wife, violinist Katie Jacoby, and guitarist Simon Kafka; and his resplendent, forward-thinking 2022 acoustic-focused solo record, Too Close to Reason. In 2013, he teamed up with his longtime pal drummer Joe Russo, along with guitarist Tom Hamilton Jr., bassist Dave Dreiwitz, and keyboardist Marco Benevento, in forming Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. Colloquially known as JRAD, the group, in a sea of reverence, treats the Grateful Dead’s songbook almost as if it’s an edition of the Real Book—the shorthand jazz-standards tome—cracking open the large catalog and infusing their own voices with every improv-heavy performance.
Scott Metzger’s Gear
Guitars
- Creston T-style
- Ronin Songbird
Amps
- Headstrong Verbrovibe 1x15
- Victoria 35210
Effects
- Bearfoot Putting Green Compressor
- Benson Germanium Fuzz
- Paul Cochrane Timmy overdrive
- Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive
- Analog Man-modded MXR Phase 90
- Ibanez Analog Delay
- Keeley 30ms Double Tracker
- Benson Delay
- Wilson Wah pedal
- Line 6 DL4
- Voodoo Lab power supply
Strings and Picks
- D’Addario NYXL .011s
- Dunlop Prime Tone 1.0 mm
Being a part of a Dead tribute act was never part of Metzger’s plan. In fact, he says he wasn’t all that familiar with the band’s catalog. “I wasn’t sure I was the right guy for the band,” he says. But with exploration and personal vocabulary so paramount in JRAD, Russo knew Metzger was the right guitarist for the job.
“You have to be willing to get in there and do your thing and make your mark unapologetically,” Metzger muses. “That's something that's made us stand out in a world of bands that are playing those songs.”
JRAD has developed a large, dedicated following, rising to the top of the Dead tribute scene. “The size of the audience that we have is mind blowing,” Metzger points out, “and the fact that the audiences are willing to go to the places musically with us that we take it, it almost feels like we're testing how much we can get away with a lot of the time.”
Metzger and LaMP bandmates Paczkowski and drummer Russ Lawton. “Those two guys are kind of celebrities up in Burlington,” he says, “so it's like doing a gig with the mayor or something.”
Photo by David Gray
These days, JRAD makes up about half of Metzger’s current gig commitments, and LaMP fills the other. The trio was formed one night in 2018 at Burlington, Vermont’s jam nexus Nectar’s, when the guitarist joined forces with keyboardist Ray Paczkowski and drummer Russ Lawton, both longtime members of Trey Anastasio’s solo band, who also work as the psych-funk duo Soul Monde. “Right off the bat, there was a chemistry that was going to work,” Metzger recalls. “Those two guys are kind of celebrities up in Burlington, so it’s like doing a gig with the mayor or something. The whole town came out to see us, the place was packed, and I think it was very clear to everybody there that night, including us, that it would be a crime not to do it again.”
LaMP builds on the long history of the organ-trio tradition, referencing ’60s ensembles helmed by Grant Green and George Benson, the Meters’ soulful funk, more modern jammers like Medeski, Martin & Wood—and most notably their late-night groove collabs with guitarist John Scofield—as well as thrill-seeking, forward-leaning groups like John Abercrombie’s Gateway Trio and Tony Williams’ Lifetime, all while embracing the spirit of rock ’n’ roll abandon. As unabashed and freewheeling as that might suggest, Metzger and company shoot for a tasteful sonic experience more than a barn-burning blast-off, and at the fore of the band’s sound is a shared improvisational language built upon close listening just as much as any influence. “The real thing that we’re focusing on,” Metzger shares, “is having a good feel, a group sound, and some catchy melodies. Those things are enough to carry the thing without having to worry about ripping some blazing solos every song.”
This year, LaMP released One of Us, the follow-up to their self-titled 2020 debut. It’s filled with live-off-the-floor energy, or as Metzger puts it, “fresh tension.” The mostly first and second takes heard on the record, with barely any overdubs, successfully capture the band’s collaborative heart, making One of Us a ferociously spirited listen from beginning to end. “I like records that are made really quickly on low budgets with the clock ticking,” Metzger conveys. “You can feel that a little bit on the record. It’s not too polished. It's like you can feel that it’s three guys in a room playing together.”
LaMP’s One of Uscaptures the band’s effervescence with a set of mostly live-off-the-floor first and second takes.
Throughout One of Us, Metzger showcases his deep fluency in the Telecaster vernacular. With his Creston T-style, a chambered all-black affair loaded with Lollar P-90s, he slings lyrical licks that offer nods to the masters of the form, all the way back to the first Tele virtuoso, Jimmy Bryant through aces Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Jim Campilongo, and Steve Cropper’s deep pocket. (In JRAD, Metzger calls on a Ronin Songbird loaded with DeArmond gold-foils, but his vocab and approach remain much the same.)
Metzger’s take on the tradition is less virtuosic gunslinger than most of those maestros, instead favoring a more complementary approach with an ear toward supporting the group. To that end, he keeps his sound mostly on the cleaner end by reserving a load of potential sonic energy. “I crank the amp,” he says, pointing out he prefers to set his combo—either a Victoria 35210, a 2x10 Fender tweed Super copy, for LaMP, or a Headstrong Verbrovibe 1x15, a replica of a 1963 Fender Vibroverb, which he favors for JRAD—to 7 or 8 so it’s fully opened up. A self-described “minimalist pedal guy,” he keeps four punch-packing pedals—a Bearfoot Putting Green compressor, Benson Germanium Fuzz, Paul Cochrane Timmy, and an Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive—on at all times. As hairy as that may suggest, Metzger maintains clarity, he explains, by keeping his guitar volume set between just two and four. That means that when he wants, he’s just a crank of the volume knob away from a wide-open, full-throated sound.
YouTube It
LaMP deliver the knotty mid-tempo groove of “Jasper’s World” from One of Us from a concert in fall 2024 at Boston’s Wilbur Theater.
His approach to pedals says much about Metzger’s playing style in general. There’s always a load of possibility on reserve, and you can sense it. He’s not one to frequently lay sonic waste with a technical assault, but, rather, a massive map of potential musical avenues is perpetually close at hand, with his ear in the driver’s seat.
Listen to Metzger in just about any situation, whether as a bandleader, bandmember, or just sitting in, and there’s an obvious musical set of ethics in place—and it’s probably been in effect since his early days at John & Peter’s. The responsibilities are something like work hard, support others, be ready to deliver at all times, and, maybe above all, be yourself.
“I was told in no uncertain terms,” he recalls, “that the important thing about being a musician was to find your own thing. You’ve got to stand on your own feet. The ultimate goal that we’re all still working on is to sing our own song with our own voice.”