Brent Mason

Brent Mason
Born (1959-07-13) July 13, 1959
Origin Van Wert, Ohio, United States
Genres Country
Occupation(s) Guitarist, songwriter
Instruments Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, gut string guitar, six-string bass guitar
Years active 1986–present

Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959)[1] is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter based in Nashville. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music.[2] In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter.[3][4][5][6][7] He is a Grammy Award winner (2008) and a two-time winner of the CMA Award Musician of the Year.[1] He has released two albums and has produced a number of artists.

Biography

Brent Mason was born on July 13, 1959, in Van Wert, Ohio.[1] At the age of five years, he taught himself to play guitar by ear.[2] He moved to Nashville, Tennessee after graduating from high school, in order to pursue a career in country music. Early Nashville gigs included a stint with the Don Kelly Band, a cover band who performed at the flinty Murfreesboro Road Honky-tonk, The Stagecoach Lounge.[8] Eventually, he was discovered by noted guitarist Chet Atkins, who invited him to play on his Stay Tuned album. From there, Mason has gone on to play on well over a thousand [9] other artists' albums, including those of George Strait, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, David Gates, Brooks & Dunn, Zac Brown Band, Scotty McCreary, Blake Shelton and Neil Diamond.[1] Mason also co-wrote McBride & the Ride's "Hurry Sundown".

Mason signed to Mercury Records in 1997, releasing an instrumental album entitled Hot Wired the same year. This was his only major-label album. He made a decision to leave Mercury Records soon after to remain in Nashville and work in the recording studio as a session guitarist rather than spend most of his time on the road touring and away from his family. He and his brother Randy released a second album, entitled Smokin' Section, in 2006. At the 51st Grammy Awards, he and several other guitarists won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental, for the track "Cluster Pluck" from Brad Paisley's mostly-instrumental album Play.[10]

Although Brent works mainly as a studio musician he has produced several albums to date for artists like Erin James, Tommy Dalton, Cindy Kvinlaug, Evi Tausen[11] and coproduced an album with Byron Gallimore for Clay Walker. In November 2013, Mason collaborated with online education site JamPlay.com to put together a series of guitar lessons for aspiring guitarists and members of JamPlay.[12]

Other contributions

From 2003-2010 Valley Arts Guitar (a division of Gibson Guitars) joined with Brent to create and manufacture the Valley Arts Brent Mason Signature Model Guitar.[13] In 2013 PRS Guitars launched the Brent Mason Signature Model Guitar.[14] Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals manufactures and sells the Brent Mason "Hot Wired" guitar effects pedal.[15]

Brent was named one of the Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time in Guitar World Magazine.[16]

In the July 2016 issue of Taste of Country Magazine Brent was named one of the top guitarists in country music.[17]

Awards

Country Music Association (CMA) Musician of the Year - 1997 and 1998.

Nashville Music Awards - Guitarist of the Year - 1995.

Academy of Country Music - Guitarist of the Year - 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009.
MusicRow Session Guitarist of the Year 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2010 [18][19]

In 2011 he was inducted into the National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Brent Mason biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  2. 1 2 Fabian, Shelly. "Brent Mason - 2005 CMA Nominee Profile". About.com. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  3. ↑ Charupakorn, Joe (January 10, 2012). "Brent Mason: A Chameleon in Tune Town". premierguitar.com. Gearhead Communications (LLC).
  4. ↑ Summer 2011 @ All Star Guitar Night
  5. ↑ Brent Mason
  6. ↑ Sweetwater welcomes Brent Mason and Eleven Rack presented by Avid Archived December 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ GuitarStar: Brent Mason Country - Features
  8. ↑ Cooper, Peter. "Don Kelley knows how to pick 'em". Dec. 19, 2009. The Tennessean. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ Brent Mason | Credits | AllMusic
  10. ↑ Nicely, Lisa (2009-02-09). "Former area resident Brent Mason gets Grammy; Napoleon's Scott Bauman missed out on $5,000 "Grammy Moment" prize". Crescent News. Retrieved 2009-02-17..
  11. ↑ Theguitarfiles.com Archived December 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Brent Mason Biography
  12. ↑ "Brent Mason's Profile on JamPlay". JamPlay.com. Retrieved 2013-11-01.
  13. ↑ GuitarPlayer: Valley Arts Brent Mason Signature Custom Pro
  14. ↑ PRS Guitars | Brent Mason Signature
  15. ↑ Wampler Pedals | Hand Made Boutique Guitar Effect Pedals | Signature Series | Hot Wired v2 Archived April 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ Past Musician Award Winners : MusicRow – Nashville's Music Industry Publication – News, Songs From Music City
  19. ↑ MusicRow Readers Name “House” Song of the Year : MusicRow – Nashville's Music Industry Publication – News, Songs From Music City
  20. ↑ NTPHF living inductees

External links

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