Brent Mason Fanpage

Sol was born in England in January 1990. Raised in the quiet rural county of Norfolk until the age of 18, he started playing drums at the age of five; instantly becoming a child prodigy and winning competitions nationwide and garnering attention from friends and profess...ionals alike. He stopped playing aged 14 after residential restrictions finally took their hold, and his interest in playing the guitar and songwriting took over. One day at this tender age, his mother brought home a copy of the rare Prince blues bootleg tape 'The Undertaker', and his fascination with the blues began. Sourcing it back through Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton all the way back to Hendrix, the Three 'Kings', Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and finally to Robert Johnson; he began his journey and never looked back. He worked all spring illegally in a garden centre to buy a Korean-made Fender Stratocaster and began recording demo tracks in his bedroom on stolen software and borrowed microphones; which began his facination with studio production, equipment and tone. Never taking a single lesson or being encouraged/pushed by family in any way, he instead chose to learn from local guitarists, schoolfriends and anything music-related he could get his hands on; even going so far as meticulously learning the licks from the free pedal demo CDs he collected from guitar stores. He still credits local player and winner of UK guitarist of the year award Ron Sayer as being one of the best players in the world, and one of the main reasons he started playing. Sol began applying his musical knowledge to everything he could find. Throughout his high school years he formed and played in punk bands, hardcore bands, skiffle bands, rock bands, jazz bands and of course, blues bands; often learning the entire guitar style for that genre in just a few days or even hours. It was this creative diversity and phenomenal passion and understanding for all existing forms of music that first got him interested in the world of session playing and production. Still in school and with little direction or encouragement, Sol didn't truly find his calling until his curiosity into studio playing led him to find Nashville session legend Brent Mason. This being the moment of epiphany, Sol immersed himself in the country chicken picking guitar style; and within just a few months of doing so he became arguably one of the best in the UK at it, aged just seventeen. Throughout 2008 Sol continued to make a living gigging with bluegrass bands and teaching lessons to budding young guitarists part-time from his home. He joined UK top grind/noisecore band Wreck Of The Minotaur and played with them for several months, contributing guitar to their debut record 'A little Roy One-on-One'. After dropping out of college and barely coping with the pressure that his obssession with music was putting on his life, it was fate that eventually came into play when Brent Mason himself emailed Sol from his home in Nashville after hearing him play on youtube, inviting him to stay with him and study and learn the ways of the town and the recording industry. This was on offer he had never made to anyone in his entire 25+ year career, and Sol sold his 1979 stratocaster and most of his posessions so he could make the trip in August 2008 to meet his hero and see the world he had always dreamed of from his bedroom in rural England. Nashville was everything Sol had dreamed it to be, and he instantly fell in love with everything about it. Sol recieved various recording job offers and endorsements deals within just a few weeks of being there, and Brent subsequently made the decision to manage Sol and help him obtain an artist visa so he could live in Nashville and persue his dream. Sol now resides in Nashville, and since first arriving in early 2009 he has already recorded with artists and producers such as Clay Walker and Keith Steagal; released instructional guitar DVD packages with guitarcontrol.com; and gigged with legendary Nashville songwriter Jim Lauderdale. He plans to continue his career, and eventually produce artists himself, release his own solo records and continue towards his goal of playing music with anyone and everyone he can possibly find.