Being on 'Nashville' and working with some incredible people like T-Bone Burnett and Buddy Miller - so many wonderful, incredible musicians that I've been blessed to play with and observe - that has continued to shape the process of arranging music, writing music.
I studied film scoring and orchestration and conducting and arranging in my twenties, and I scored a lot of television shows and other things.
I thought I might be a band instructor, someone who plays all the instruments and teaches others.
I actually grew up wanting to be a filmmaker. I wanted to make movies, and music was a detour, almost.
All my life, I had loved music and been in choir, and I have a degree in music, but I never planned on doing it as a job. I had a realistic perspective on that. I thought maybe work at a church or be a teacher if you wanted to work in music.
I think from the age of thirteen, I really wanted to be a producer and I've always thought that the producer was the top of the tree.
There's sort of an open offer to work with a guy in Los Angeles who does big band and orchestra arrangements who was at least an acquaintance to Les Baxter before he passed away.
There are lots of good producers out there.
As a youngster, I never dreamed there could be a career actually earning a living writing music.
I just play music by listening and responding, so I don't know anything about writing songs or arranging and all of this stuff. You know, it's in my head, but I don't know how to get it out.
I love Yamaha Clavinovas. I have them at home, in the studio and on tour with me. I find them ideal for all sorts of things: silent practice with headphones at home; writing; arranging and... just playing the blues!
I started out on an apprenticeship in Hollywood working as an assistant to Hans Zimmer and another composer Klaus Badelt. That's how I got my foot in the door.
I write arrangements. I'm sort of a wannabe composer.
