Stephen Mason (musician)
Steve Mason | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Stephen Daniel Mason |
Born |
[1] Joliet, Illinois, U.S. | July 8, 1975
Genres | Alternative rock, folk, Christian |
Occupations | Musician, Songwriter |
Instruments | Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, mandolin |
Years active | 1993 – Present |
Labels | Essential/Silvertone, Gray Matters/Nettwerk |
Associated acts | Jars of Clay |
Steve Mason (born Stephen Daniel Mason in Joliet, Illinois, U.S. on July 8, 1975)[2] is an American musician most known for being the lead guitarist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay.
Biography
Mason was born in Joliet, Illinois[3] in 1975, however was brought up from age 8 in Decatur, Illinois where he attended Warrensburg-Latham schools.[4]
Mason joined Jars of Clay as a founding member in 1993 with singer Dan Haseltine and pianist Charlie Lowell while studying at Greenville College in his home state of Illinois. As a submission piece to get into college, Mason wrote an instrumental guitar piece entitled "Frail" which was later recorded and used as the namesake for the group's first demo Frail. The song later had lyrics added by Jars of Clay's lead singer Dan Haseltine for the group's second album Much Afraid.
Growing up in Illinois, Mason is a Chicago Bears football team supporter, but also now supports the Tennessee Titans, who play in his adopted city of Nashville.[3]
Personal life
Mason was married on October 24, 2009 to former BBC Radio Producer, Jude Adam.[5][6]
Guitars, amps, and pedals
Mason uses a range of different guitars for performing with Jars of Clay, both electric and acoustic. Some of them he uses exclusively in the studio and others exclusively for live performances.[3]
- "Grand Auditorium" Taylor twelve string guitar
- Gibson "Tal Farlow" series
- Baby Taylor guitar
- Martin Backpacker travel guitar
- Gibson "Chet Atkins" series
- Fender Telecaster
- Gibson Les Paul
- Matchless Chief Guitar Amp
- Vox AC-30
As for pedals, over the years Mason has been seen using a Boss Tuner, Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, Swell Pedals G-TOD, Tonephile Puredrive, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, DMB Pedals, and a Pedaltrain pedalboard.
References
- ↑ Stephen Mason on MSN Music. Retrieved July 23, 2007.
- ↑ NSAI Songwriter Achievement Awards. Full name noted. Retrieved 15 August
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kot, Greg: "Bridges to Babylon". Guitar World Acoustic, No. 25. Retrieved from http://www.jarchives.com/vault039.htm on 13 May 2006.
- ↑ Mannlein, Arelene: "Relatives of Jars of Clay member - and many, many more - plan to gather". Herald & Review, Decatur, Illinois, Thursday, August 4, 2005, 5:10 PM CDT. Retrieved from on 2006-05-13.
- ↑ Jude Adam Mason - Twitter page
- ↑ random acts of senseless beauty: Jude Adam blog page
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