Michael Britt

Bio:

Guitarist

I'm Michael Britt and I play in the country group Lonestar. We got together over 15 years ago and have been making records since 1995. We have a new cd, Party Heard Around The World due out in March 2010. For more info on the band, feel free to check out www.lonestarnow.com and read my blog regarding the latest news with Lonestar. You can check out The Official Lonestar Myspace page as well. Please visit and add the band as your friend!

Songwriter

I've been fortunate to have some of my songs cut on Lonestar records over the years. "Runnin' Away With My Heart" was on our first cd, "Noise" was on our Coming Home cd and "My Christmas List" was out on our My Christmas List cd available at Cracker Barrel stores last Christmas.

About the songs above:

"Anywhere With You" is the newest addition to my MySpace song selections. This is a song I co-wrote with my buddy Brian Nutter who's currently out on the road with keith urban. It's been a few years since this demo, so I can't remember all the players, but I know our old bass player Keith Horne played bass on it and my songwriting buddy Danny Myrick was nice enough to sing lead on it and I sang bgv's. I played all the guitars and there was a drummer and keyboard player whose names escape me at present. This mix is one I did myself in the back of the bus after adding an additional (dissonant-sounding) signature type lick on the intros and turns.

"Morning After" is another Hwy Jones session song written by John Rich and myself, featuring John on bass and lead vocals, Keech on drums and me on guitar with Reese Wynans on B3 Organ. It was just a fun song and an excuse to say "Lucky Charms" and "Andy Griffith" in the same song.

"If It's Already Over" is a demo of a song co-written with Derek George. Derek is singing lead and playing acoustic and features Lee Hendricks (bass), Bryan White (drums), and I'm sorry to say I don't remember the names of the piano and steel players. This was a "mailbox demo" in that after tracking, Derek gave me a stereo mix on a cd and I did all of the electric guitars in a hotel room with a Line 6 Pod. Then I dropped those tracks back in his mailbox to mix and he did an awesome job.

" "I Can't Forget" is another song from the Hwy Jones sessions in '97. I'm playing classical guitar and John is playing bass and Keech is playing drums. John Catchings is playing cello. It's one of my favorite songs that I've written. John Rich and I wrote it in about an hour one night.

"Untitled" is an acoustic thing I recorded one afternoon as an excuse to noodle on acoustic with my then-new ProTools MBox. Keech programmed the percussion loop on his Handsonic electronic drum on the bus and I put down the rhythm acoustic (my Taylor 614CE) direct into the MBox while we were on the bus going down the road. When I got to the hotel, I recorded the solo acoustic parts through a Studio Projects C1 microphone on my Epiphone 00 Masterbuilt prototype acoustic. It's all one pass, except for one punch towards the end where you can hear the tone change pretty dramatically due to slightly different mic angle after the punch.

Gearhead

As far as being a gearhead, here is a list of companies I endorse or, at the very least, highly value for their great stuff: Fender Guitars and Amps (EVH), Tom Anderson Guitars, Taylor Guitars, PRS Guitars, Seymour Duncan Pickups and Effects, Duesenberg Guitars, Divided By 13 Amps, Line 6 X2 Digital Wireless and Effects, Gibson Guitars, Cascade Microphones, Pedaltrain Pedalboards, George L. Cables, D'Addario Strings, Jim Dunlop Picks & Capos & Accessories, Celestion Speakers, Shure Microphones, Royer Microphones, and t.c. electronic effects.

Currently on the road, I'm using a Fender EVH 5150 III amp head into a Thiele-design 1-12" speaker cab with a Celestion Vintage 30. I'm using and loving the X2 digital wireless and from there go to my Pedaltrain 2 pedalboard with a Line 6 M13 and a Boss volume pedal. The M13 handles all of my fx and is programmed so the first 2 blocks of fx are pre- amplifier and the second 2 blocks are in the amplifier's fx loop so I can have my delays and reverbs after the amp's distortion, as God intended. This is, by far, the simplest setup I've used in years, yet it still gives me a huge sonic palette to work with, from 3 channels in the amp to just about any effect available with the M13.

My current road guitars are a Fender Roadworn Tele, a Tom Anderson Cobra with Duncan P90's, a Tom Anderson Hollow T Classic, a G&L ASAT with Hipshot B-Bender/D Tuner, a PRS Custom 22 w/McCarty pickups, a PRS SC245, and a Duesenberg Starplayer.

Most of the time is split between the Roadworn Tele (which sounds more vintage and twangier) and the Anderson Hollow T (which is a little more modern sounding due to the Jerry Donahue bridge pu). I use the G&L ASAT for the song "Heartbroke Everyday" from our first CD because it prominently features a signature B-Bender part with a Drop D. We've also started doing "Saturday Night" from the Lonely Grill cd and I use the ASAT on that as well. I use the Cobra for anything that needs more than a Tele sound or that needs a tremolo bar. The PRSs and Duesenberg get rotated in and out throughout the year as well.

Acoustic parts live are usually covered by my Tom Anderson Crowdster or one of my Taylors (a maple GS or 614CE). The GS records well, too, so it's often at home, along with my Bourgeois OM for recording.

Member Since:

June 30, 2006

Members:

.. Lonestar consists of Cody Collins (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Dean Sams (bgvs, keys, harmonica), Keech Rainwater (drums), and me (lead gtr, bgvs). Our current road band also includes: Michael Hill (bass, bgvs) and Brian Oaks (guitar, ganjo, mando).

Influences:

My musical influences are varied, but here are some players who've done things that make me go "damn they're good": Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mark Knopfler, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, Jude Cole, Dann Huff, Tom Bukovac, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Audley Freed, Edwin McCain, keith urban, John Mayer, Eddy Shaver, Mike Campbell, Michael Ward, Warren Haynes, David Grissom, Pete Anderson, Sting, Greg V, Jack Johnson, Little Feat, Cake, Maroon 5, Switchfoot, Los Lonely Boys, Train, Matchbox 20, Sheryl Crow, Steely Dan, John Hiatt, Paul Thorn, Bruce Hornsby.

Currently in steady rotation on my iPod: Maroon 5 "It Won't Be Soon Before Long", Marcia Ramirez "Life Goes On", Little Big Town "A Place To Land", Cake "Pressure Chief", Train "My Private Nation", and Los Lonely Boys "Forgiven".

And to United Airlines, who destroyed my Taylor GS back in February on our trip back from entertaining our troops in Iraq: And food for thought:

If we respected only what is inevitable and has a right to be, music and poetry would resound along the streets. ~Henry David Thoreau, from Walden, "Where I Lived and What I Lived For"

Sounds Like:

Depends on the song. The band's goal is to find or write great songs and my role as the guitarist is to complement the song. I try to find parts and tones that become part of the song.

Record Label:

currently shopping