Mark Tremonti

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Mark Tremonti
Mark Tremonti in 2007
Mark Tremonti in 2007
Background information
Birth name Mark Thomas Tremonti
Born April 18, 1974 (1974-04-18) (age 34)
Detroit, MI U.S.
Genre(s) Alternative rock, hard rock, alternative metal, post-grunge
Occupation(s) Musician, Songwriter
Years active 1994–present
Label(s) Wind-Up, Universal, Republic
Associated acts Creed
Alter Bridge
Website www.alterbridge.com
Notable instrument(s)
PRS Guitar

Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is a Grammy Award winning guitarist, is the lead guitarist for the American rock band Alter Bridge, and greatly known as the former lead guitarist for American rock band Creed. Tremonti writes music, lyrics and contributes backing vocals.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Mark Tremonti was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. He listened to hard rock and metal like KISS, Celtic Frost, and Metallica. At the age of 11, he bought his first guitar. It was a Tara, which was a Gibson Les Paul copy and cost about 25 dollars. Mark then attended music lessons but 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'." Instead, Tremonti learned guitar autodidactically with tab books. One of the first songs Mark wrote was called "Yesterday". Mark played in many bands before his venture into Creed, one of which was known as Night Stalker.

[edit] Creed era (1994-2004)

After high school, Tremonti went to Florida State University. At FSU, he met up with singer Scott Stapp, whom he knew from high school, and former guitar player Brian Brasher and started writing music. Contrary to the common belief, Tremonti and Stapp were not friends in high school, they knew of each other but hung out in different crowds. Together, Tremonti, Stapp and Brasher held auditions for a bassist and a drummer that resulted in the selection of Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall. They initially named themselves "Naked Toddler" (from an article title on a press clipping that Tremonti used to carry in his wallet. The band eventually settled on the name "Creed" at Marshall's suggestion (having previously been in a band called "Mattox Creed"). Creed went on to sell over 30 million records worldwide in seven years, and performed up to 5,000 live shows. Due to increasing differences between Stapp and the other band members, Creed split and Alter Bridge was born in 2004.

[edit] Alter Bridge era (2004-present)

Since Creed split up, Tremonti has worked with many different guitarists and musicians such as Michael Angelo Batio, Thomas Gospodareck, and Fozzy. He took extensive lessons from guitarist Troy Stetina. 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]. They reunited with ex-Creed bassist Brian Marshall and recruited former Mayfield Four vocalist Myles Kennedy to form Alter Bridge. The name symbolized going over and into the unknown, and while the new band mates decided collectively on the name for the new project, it was inspired by Tremonti's youth in Detroit. Alter Bridge is a real bridge in Detroit located near his childhood home. The children in the neighborhood weren't allowed to cross the bridge as it led to a bad section of town, and thus to them what lay on the other side was unknown. Since Alter Bridge's formation, the band has released two studio albums: One Day Remains in 2004 and Blackbird in 2007.

[edit] Influences

Mark Tremonti's all time favorite guitarist is Stevie Ray Vaughan. However, he has mentioned on several occasions that his favorite modern guitarist is Zakk Wylde. He is also influenced by Metallica, Celtic Frost, Audley Freed, and other hard rock & metal guitarists.

[edit] Discography

[edit] With Creed

[edit] With Alter Bridge

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Guitars

Mark Tremonti plays his signature Paul Reed Smith Tremonti Model Guitar. For touring, he has 3 or 4 Black, 1 Tribal, and 1 Tiger Eye models that have fixed bridges, while his Charcoal Burst, Black Cherry (24 fret), Black Cherry (22 fret), Blue/White, and Platinum guitars have floating vibrato bridges. He has only one standard made 2007 Tremonti in black cherry. He also has one black model that has only 3 knobs. He also uses Taylor acoustic guitars. He plays with Jim Dunlop Jazz III picks; he told Guitar One magazine, "I decided to play with only that pick for a couple of days, and after that my 1-mm nylon pick felt like a paddle. Now I can't go back."

[edit] Rig

  • Mesa Boogie 4x12 and 2x15 cabinets
  • Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
  • Orange amplification has been added to Mark's repertoire
  • 1968 Marshall "Plexi" head
  • Morley Mark Tremonti Power Wah
  • TC Electronic G-Force effects processor
  • Custom Audio Electronics Power Conditioner
  • VooDoo Labs Ground Control Pro
  • Ibanez Tube Screamer
  • Bogner Uberschall
  • Behringer EQ
  • Mackie Mixing Board
  • Avalon Mic Preamp
  • Fender Twin '65 Reissues
  • Fender Tone King
  • Occasionally uses Diezel amps
  • Mark told Michael Angelo Batio that "The MAB Over Drive is the best sounding over drive pedal he has ever used."
  • Klon Centaur overdrive pedal- Old

[edit] Present Life

[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.
  • Mark welcomed his first child, a son Austin Tremonti on May 24th, 2005.
  • A man called Kevin Eckenrod once impersonated Mark Tremonti in order to obtain free drinks at beach bars. He was arrested and released on bail.
  • Mark appeared on Fozzy's 2005 album "All That Remains" he did a guitar solo on their song called "The Way I Am".
  • Mark had a guest appearance on the song "Lord, I Apologize" By Larry The Cable Guy.
  • Mark produced Submersed album In Due Time
  • Mark has songwriting credits on the Jimmie's Chicken Shack song "Strange" from their album 're.present'
  • Mark had a guest appearance on the Deep Purple cover "Burn" by Michael Angelo Batio
  • Mark appears on Sevendust's seventh album Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow he appears on the title track called "Hope" while fellow Alter Bridge bandmate Myles Kennedy appears on the track "Sorrow".
  • Mark appeared on Bury Your Dead's 2008 self titled album "Bury Your Dead" he did a guitar solo on a track called "Year One".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tremonti and Phillips' return to making music together

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Creed
Scott Stapp · Mark Tremonti · Scott Phillips
Brian Marshall · Brett Hestla · Brian Brasher
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
Related articles
v • d • e
Alter Bridge
Myles Kennedy · Mark Tremonti · Brian Marshall · Scott Phillips
Albums
Singles
Related Articles