Mark Tremonti

Mark Tremonti

Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is an Italian American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist, co-founder, primary composer, and backing vocalist for the American rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. Tremonti has also collaborated with many artists over the years and is currently working on a solo album.

Music career

Creed: 1994–2004, 2009–present

Creed formed after Tremonti and Scott Stapp, friends at Florida State University and high school classmates decided to form a band, recruiting Brian Marshall, Scott Phillips, and Brian Basher to complete the lineup in late 1994 (though Basher left in 1995). In June 2004, after one decade and three highly multi-platinum albums (My Own Prison, Human Clay, and Weathered), Creed officially announced that they had disbanded. Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips started a band with Myles Kennedy called Alter Bridge while Stapp opted for solo career. In November 2004, Creed released their Greatest Hits album. From that point on, Tremonti made several statements that Creed would never reunite, but later appeared open to the idea of Creed reforming. Finally, in April 2009, Creed announced their reunion after months of speculation. The band released a fourth album Full Circle in October 2009 and supported the album by touring throughout United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and South America during the summers of 2009 and 2010. A fifth Creed album is expected in late 2011 or early 2012.

Alter Bridge: 2004–present

Alter Bridge was formed in January 2004 by Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips after Creed disbanded. They asked Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the current touring vocalist for Slash's band, to be their singer. The newly formed band released their debut album, One Day Remains, in August 2004, followed by a second album, Blackbird, in October 2007. Their third album, titled AB III, was released in October 2010 and the band is currently on tour in Europe in support of the new record. Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips, owing to the reunion of Creed, now plan to alternate tours between Creed and Alter Bridge with Stapp and Kennedy working on their own projects while the other band is active.

Solo career: 2010–present

During the time that Creed was at the end of its career in the early 2000s, Tremonti had intentions to form a speed metal side project called Downshifter (with Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison), but the project never got off the ground. However, he has recently talked about doing a solo album. "The bands are so different," he said of his two current main projects. "And I write so much. I'm going to do a solo record because there are some songs that I'd hate to think wouldn't see the light of day because they don't work for Creed or Alter Bridge." He will be playing guitar and singing lead on all of the songs himself, and former Submersed members Eric Friedman and Garrett Whitlock will perform on the record as well. As of November 5, 2010, five songs for the album have been written. Tremonti describes the music as "melody driven".

Other work

Tremonti has worked with several artists over the years, since the beginning years with Creed, including Sevendust, Fozzy, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Angelo Batio, and Bury Your Dead. He helped produced several songs the 2004 Submersed album In Due Time.

In 2009, Tremonti released a guitar instructional DVD titled Mark Tremonti: The Sound & the Story through Fret 12, wherein he teaches all of his guitar solos from Alter Bridge's sophomore release, Blackbird. He also teaches warm-ups, alternate tunings, finger picking style, legato techniques, and other advanced exercises. His DVD includes special guest appearances from Myles Kennedy, Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley, Bill Peck, and Troy Stetina. In the Story portion of the DVD, Tremonti talks about his early years as a guitarist including discussions about his first guitar and his early lessons. He then takes viewers on a guided tour through his live guitar rig including his touring guitars as he gives an explanation of each guitar or piece of gear.

Personal life

Tremonti currently resides in Orlando, Florida with his wife, Shawn, and two sons, Austen and Pearson. He is close friends with many respected shred guitarists, particularly Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley, and Troy Stetina. Tremonti's brother, Michael, is Alter Bridge's fan liaison and publicist. His other brother, Dan, has created the artwork for all of the albums by both Alter Bridge and Creed and is the president and creative director of a design/marketing company called Core 12.

Equipment and guitar rig

Tremonti is known for his huge high gain guitar sound. He uses (as of Alter Bridge's October 2010 UK tour):

• Amps and cabs

• X4 Mesa/Boogie 4x12" straight-back cabinets all loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s
• X2 Fender Twin Reverb 1965 Reissue 2x12 Combos
• X2 Bogner Uberschall head
• X2 Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier (One for backup)

  Rack

• X1 Furman Power Conditioner
• X2 TC electronic G Force
• X2 Mesa Boogie Amp Switcher
• X1 Voodoo Lab CCX Audio Switcher
• X1 T-Rex Michael Angelo Batio Overdrive
• X1 T-Rex Replica Delay

  Pedal Board

• X1 Voodoo Lab Ground Control
• X3 Morley Mark Tremonti Wah
• X1 Voodoo Lab Pedal Power
• X1 T-REX Tremonti Phaser

  Monitor Rig

• X2 Behringer Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496
• X1 Mackie 1604-VLZ3 Mixer
• X1 Crown Macro-Tech 3600VZ Power Amp
• X1 Lexicon MPX-1 Stereo Effects Processor
• X1 Furman AR-Pro AC Line Voltage Regulator

  Guitars

• PRS Mark Tremonti & Mark Tremonti II Signature Models
• Taylor K-12

References

• Audio Interview with Mark Tremonti on Guitar Jam Daily

External links

• [1]
• Official website
• AlterBridge.com
• Creed.com
• Mark Tremonti at IMDb