SHIFTING GEAR
RICH ECKHARDT
Let’s Jump into the Fire
I recently recorded a new CD, Cottage City top artists I would lean strongly towards and
Firehouse, and wanted to share some of the dig deeply into my country boy roots on
experience and inspiration with the read- my solo projects. Not so my friends! I didn’t
ers of Premier Guitar. Most guitarists dream grow up with much twang in my life. I was
of putting in studio time, if they haven’t a rocker from the word go. However having
already done so, so this month I’d like to worked in the country music field for as long
talk a little bit about how these songs were as I have I’ve picked up a few things and
written and recorded and the gear I used to more or less out of necessity learned some
create some of these tracks. of the tricks of the trade. I’m sure you all
On this project I stretched out in a lot of
different directions musically. I covered
rock, jazz, country and even—dare I say it—
hip hop! I recorded this album over a two
year period and ended up learning a lot
about problem solving. The direction I wanted to take this venture changed a number
of times in the 24 months that passed since
its inception. But the most important thing I
relearned from this process was that there’s
nothing more gratifying to me than writing,
recording and performing my own music.
Without a vocal story
as I wanted. One of the coolest things this
allowed me to do was to change between
two guitars throughout the piece. In addition to the Super T, I used a PRS McCarty II
with the coil tap pulled to single-coil mode.
The tone differences are very subtle, but it
was enough to keep it interesting to listen
to. It let me sound almost like two guys
riffing back and forth. I even went as far as
to track one guitar with the delay going to
tape and the other dry so I could add a different type of delay later.
line to follow you have
to give them a rea-
son—besides burn-
On a record with all instrumental songs,
you have to use these tricks to keep listeners engaged. Without a vocal story line to
follow you have to give them a reason—
besides burning speed and boyish good
looks—to want to hear what you have to
say. Attention to detail will draw them in
and keep them interested.
One new thing I learned is that not everything you write or record is going to make
the final cut. Have you ever wondered while
listening to some of your favorite albums if
there were songs that didn’t make it on the
disc? Do you speculate over whether you
would have liked those songs if they were
there, or did the artist just not think they
were good enough for you to hear? Now
that I’m on the other side of the thin cellophane wrapping that separates the music
makers from the listeners I have a better
understanding of why some songs make the
record and some don’t.
ing speed and boyish
good looks—to want
to hear what you have
to say.
Okay, I’ve gotta talk about the hip hop. I
found a great hip hop groove on Acid Pro.
If you’re not familiar with Acid, it it’s a loop
based recording program that’s very simple
to use. I got it years ago and it gave me
the confidence to attempt to jump into
the world of Pro Tools. I practically built
the entire song called “The Hudson Strut”
around this beat. One unique thing I did on
this piece is pull the strings with my thumb
and index finger like a slap bass. It gave me
a very percussive attack. It was partly influenced by the funky beat and partly by Jeff
Beck’s no pick approach that he’s developed over the last 10 or 15 years.
I wrote a song with my long time friend
Bill Russell; I slaved over it for months. He
had this amazing percussive acoustic riff; as
hard as I worked trying to make a song out
of this intense guitar progression, I couldn’t
pull it together. I never found the inspiration that I needed to turn that monster riff
into a completed song. Any one of us may
be sitting on a guitar lick that’ll make us
famous someday, but we’re not ready for
it to turn to gold. I have a feeling that the
song will make it on to the next attempt.
I’m sure many readers would think that
because I play with one of country music’s
know that the style of playing that incorporates double stop lines, impersonates pedal
steel guitar and uses a nearly squeaky clean
tone is called chicken pickin.’ Not being
much of a chicken picker, I don’t have all of
the standard equipment used by the specialists of this technique, but I did what I could
using my U.S. Masters Super T plugged
into a Kustom Coupe combo. The Super T
is equipped with humbuckers, unlike the
traditional Fender Tele’s single coils. Since
I tracked my album at the house I was feeling no pressure to get it right on the first or
second take as I often do tracking at the big
studios downtown. I was able to experiment
with different things and do as many takes
I’m sure I’ll touch more on this project
over the coming months—and I know that
we all feel kinship in knowing that there
will never be anything better in our lives
than creating music.
Keep Jammin’
Rich Eckhardt
Rich Eckhardt is one of the most sought after guitarists
in Nashville. His ability to cover multiple styles has put
him on stage with singers ranging from Steven Tyler
of Aerosmith to Shania Twain. Rich is currently playing
lead guitar with Toby Keith. His new album Cottage City
Firehouse is available at his website and CDBaby.com
