Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

-based recording studio guitarist and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, performing primarily

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". Discovered and mentored by

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

, Mason has been named "Guitarist of the Year" 12 times by the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

and was inducted into the

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville honors all musicians regardless of genre or instrument. The MHOF timeline starts with the beginning of recorded music and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Feder ...

in 2019. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter.> He is a Grammy Award winner (2008) and a two-time winner of the CMA Award Musician of the Year. A line of "Brent Mason" guitar models has been marketed by two different guitar manufacturers. The "Stories Collection Brent Mason Telecaster" was launched August 11, 2020.

Biography

Brent Mason was born on July 13, 1959, in

Van Wert, Ohio Van Wert is a city in and the county seat of Van Wert County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio approximately 77 mi (123 km) SW of Toledo and 34 mi (54 km) SE of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The po ...

. At the age of five years, he taught himself to play guitar by ear. After graduating from high school, he moved to Nashville to pursue a career in country music. Early Nashville gigs included a stint with the Don Kelly Band, a cover band who performed at a Murfreesboro Road Honky-tonk, ''The Stagecoach Lounge''. Eventually, he was discovered by noted guitarist

, who invited him to play on his ''Stay Tuned'' album. From there, Mason has gone on to play on well over a thousand albums, including those of George Strait,

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many ...

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Montgomery began singing with his brother Eddie, who would later become known as one half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, before beginning his major-label solo c ...

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts ...

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were so ...

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukul ...

, Scotty McCreary,

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

and Neil Diamond. Mason also co-wrote

McBride & the Ride McBride & the Ride is an American country music band consisting of Terry McBride (lead vocals, bass guitar), Ray Herndon (background vocals, guitars), and Billy Thomas (background vocals, drums). The group was founded in 1989 through the assista ...

's " Hurry Sundown". Mason signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

in 1997, releasing an instrumental album entitled ''Hot Wired'' the same year. This was his only major-label album. He made a decision to leave Mercury Records soon after to remain in Nashville and work in the recording studio as a session guitarist rather than spend most of his time on the road touring and away from his family. He and his brother Randy released a second album, entitled ''Smokin' Section'', in 2006. At the

51st Grammy Awards The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the b ...

, he and several other guitarists won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental, for the track "Cluster Pluck" from

Brad Paisley Bradley Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting with his 1999 debut album ''Who Needs Pictures'', he has released eleven studio albums and a Christmas compilation on the Arista Nashvil ...

's mostly-instrumental album ''

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

''. Although Brent works mainly as a studio musician, he has produced several albums to date for artists including Erin James, Tommy Dalton, Cindy Kvinlaug, and

Evi Tausen Evi Tommysdóttir Tausen (born 1981) is a Faroese country singer. She grew up in Froðba, Faroe Islands, and Kastrup, Denmark. Both of her parents are Faroese. Musical career Evi Tausen started her musical career in 2010 when she released a si ...

and co-produced an album with Byron Gallimore for Clay Walker. In November 2013, Mason collaborated with online education site JamPlay.com to put together a series of guitar lessons for aspiring guitarists and members of JamPlay.

Other contributions

From 2003 to 2010,

Valley Arts Guitar Valley Arts Guitars was an American electric guitar manufacturer. The company was taken over by Samick in mid-1993, and sold to Gibson in 2002, which used the brand "Valley Arts" to name guitar stores.Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...

design. In 2013

PRS Guitars Paul Reed Smith Guitars, also known as PRS Guitars, is an American guitar and amplifier manufacturer located in Stevensville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1985 in Annapolis, Maryland by Paul Reed Smith. Products manufactured by PRS inc ...

launched the Brent Mason Signature Model Guitar. Wampler Pedals manufactures and sells the signature Brent Mason "Hot Wired" guitar effects pedal, currently on version 2 Mason authored an instructional course entitled "GuitarStar: Brent Mason Country" published by PG music in Victoria BC. In 2020 Mason became an endorsed Fender artist with a production-line signature

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...

and a Limited Edition

Fender Custom Shop The Fender Custom Shop is a division of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, housed within their headquarters complex in Corona, Riverside County, California. The Fender Custom Shop produces special-order guitars for customers through a Custom ...

Heavy Relic version handbuilt by Master Builder Kyle McMillin. Brent was named one of the Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time in '' Guitar World'' magazine.
In the July 2016 issue of ''Taste of Country'' magazine, he was named one of the top guitarists in country music.

Awards

*Country Music Association (CMA) Musician of the Year - 1997 and 1998. *Nashville Music Awards - Guitarist of the Year - 1995. *Academy of Country Music - Guitarist of the Year - 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009. *

MusicRow ''MusicRow'' is a Nashville music industry trade publication which has been providing reviews, breaking news, and in-depth coverage for 40 years. The publication delivers online content in addition to six annual print magazines including its InCha ...

Session Guitarist of the Year 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2010 *National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame, 2011. *Music City Allstars Award (the musician who has played on the most top-10 songs on the radio for the entire year)

References

External links

Official websiteBrent Mason Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2018)
Partial list of Mason's album credits here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Brent 1957 births American country bass guitarists American country guitarists American male bass guitarists American country songwriters American male songwriters American session musicians Living people People from Van Wert, Ohio Guitarists from Ohio Grammy Award winners Songwriters from Ohio 20th-century American bass guitarists Country musicians from Ohio 20th-century American male musicians