TIP SHEET

How did Peter Stroud become the right-hand man to Sheryl Crow, Don Henley and many others? It took talent - and these five rules.

- JOE BOSSO

YEARS BEFORE PETER Stroud set his sights on playing the guitar for a living, his father gave him a few non-musical pointers that would prove invaluable. "He told me, no matter what you do in life, be a good listener," Stroud says. "That always stayed with me, the idea that you don't always have to say something just because you can, and you don't always have to be the first person to talk. Learn to read the room. Try to understand the people you're dealing with."

For Stroud, communication skills are as important as musical chops, especially when it comes to his long-running role in Sheryl Crow's touring band as both guitarist and musical director.

"Sheryl is a dear friend, so we have that kind of relationship," he explains. "On the other hand, she's also my boss, and like anybody else who has to run an organization, she has a million things she has to deal with. There are days when she may appear upset about something and it comes across as she's being grumpy toward me. You start to think, Oh, I must be troubling her. But that's just a self-centered way to look at it, and that's when I have to take a step back and understand what it is she's really thinking about. Like my father said, you have to be a good listener, and that's really important in getting along with somebody and a group of people. You've got to pull back and allow everybody to be themselves around you."

In addition to his work with Crow, Stroud has performed with artists such as Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, Sarah McLachlan, Pete Droge and the Dixie Chicks. "Obviously, they're very different as artists," he says, "but my approach to working with them is the same:

I have to figure out what they need and want from me, which really comes down to helping them sound the way they want. It's not about me - it's about them. That's something that I always have to keep in mind."