Mark Tremonti
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| Mark Tremonti | |
|---|---|
 Tremonti playing a Gibson Les Paul |
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| Born | April 18, 1974 |
| Genre(s) | Rock Hard Rock Metal |
| Affiliation(s) | Creed Alter Bridge |
| Label(s) | Wind-Up Records - Former |
| Notable guitars | PRS Guitar |
| Years active | 1994 - Present |
| Official site | mark-tremonti.com |
Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan) is the current lead guitarist for the band Alter Bridge. He formerly played lead guitar for the band Creed. He also does background vocals and has contributed backing vocals to songs performed by both bands, and in Creed's song "My Own Prison" he sings the chorus. While with Creed, Tremonti primarily wrote the music alongside Scott Stapp, who primarily wrote the lyrics.
During his time as the Creed lead guitarist, the opportunity to solo wasn't available due to the lack of a second guitarist, and also because Creed wasn't a heavy metal band. But Tremonti often wanted to have a heavier sound, with extended solos and plenty of shredding. However, Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy - formerly of The Mayfield Four - is an accomplished guitarist and provides backing for Tremonti in live shows, and Tremonti is given a fresh start in this band to develop his sound the way he wants.
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[edit] Early life
Mark Tremonti was born and raised in Detroit with a Christian background, although he admittedly never cared to go to church. He went to Detroit Public School where he made many friends, while obtaining grades that were acceptable to pass. Later, because of several reasons, Tremonti and his family moved to Wilmette, Illinois, where he had to start making friends all over again. At the age of 11, he started to listen to hard rock and metal music like KISS, Celtic Frost, and Metallica. He bought his first guitar around 1985. It was a Tara, which was a Gibson Les Paul copy which cost 25 dollars. Mark then attended a music school but later he decided to quit because the teacher would not teach the style that he wanted, "They were teaching me Mary Had A Little Lamb when I wanted to learn Master of Puppets." So instead, Tremonti learned guitar autodidactly with tab books.
While in his teens, Tremonti's mother was diagnosed with Lupus. He was devastated and this affected him, as he began to "go part gothic" at his new school after moving again in 1990 to Orlando, Florida. He started to smoke cigarretes and wore a Megadeth shirt under his school uniform. It was at this time when he and Scott Stapp first met.
[edit] Musical Life
[edit] "Creed" Era
After high school, Tremonti went Florida State University, which really contributed to his musical life and where he met Stapp again (they had been separated after high school for a brief time when Stapp's family moved to Tennessee). Fortunately, his guitar skills had improved a lot since the last time they met each other and they had many jam sessions in Scott's dormitory. Together, Tremonti and Stapp held auditions for a bassist and a drummer which resulted in the selection of Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall. They named themselves "Naked Toddler" which came from a news paper clipping Mark kept in his wallet. As Brian Marshall had reservations at the name, he made the suggestion of Creed instead, as he had been in a band with the word "Creed" in its title and thought it suitable. Hence they named themselves Creed.
They recorded the album My Own Prison and released it in 1997. The album ended up spawning 4 number one hits and was a surprise success.
Due to their debut success, they signed onto Wind-Up Records. With Wind-Up, they had:
- 8 #1 singles
- 3 Multi-Platinum albums:
- My Own Prison - 6 times platinum
- Human Clay - 10 times platinum (Also known as Diamond)
- Weathered - 6 times platinum
[edit] "Alter Bridge" Era
Since Creed split up, Mark has worked with many different guitarists and musicians like Michael Angelo Batio and Fozzy. He took extensive lessons from shred master Troy Stetina. However, Tremonti was still thinking about forming a new band. He stated, “After all Creed achieved professionally, I felt that I needed to refocus on the goals that I had personally. One of those goals was to get back to my rock and roll roots. After Creed took a break, band-mate Scott Phillips and I started to jam together again and realized that we both shared the same vision and were surprisingly anxious to get back out there and start doing it again” [1]. So then he got together with his fellow ex-Creed members (with the exception of Stapp) and recruited Myles Kennedy to create Alter Bridge.
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Guitars
Mark Tremonti plays his signature Paul Reed Smith Tremonti Model Guitar. There was a stage when his signature guitar was discontinued due to Gibson's copyright lawsuit against PRS guitars, but then the guitar production was continued in September 2005. He also uses Taylor acoustics as his non-electric guitar part.
[edit] Rig
- Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
- Mesa Boogie cabinets
- Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
- TC Electronic G-Force effects processor
- Custom Audio Electronics Power Conditioner
- Bradshaw RS-10 MIDI Switcher Floorboard with Mark Tremonti Power Wah and Klon Centaur overdrive pedal
- Bogner Uberschall
- Behringer EQ
- Mackie Mixing Board
- Avalon Mic Preamp
- Fender Twin '65 Reissues
- Fender Tone King
- Diezel Amplifier
- 1968 Marshall "Plexi" head
[edit] Present Life
Mark Tremonti today resides in Florida after moving from the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.
[edit] Trivia
- Alter Bridge's "In Loving Memory", which was written by Mark Tremonti, is dedicated to his late mother.
- After an invite by UK's Total Guitar magazine for Mark to provide a guest lesson, the song 'Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad' was born. While initially supposed to solely involve Mark, the rest of Alter Bridge also got involved. The result is the band's first instrumental track.
- Mark's nickname is Tru.
[edit] References
- ^ Tremonti and Phillips' return to making music together
