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."
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Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Guitar Player.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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PRS
PREVIOUSLY PART OF PRS's Maryland-built guitar line, the SE NF3 was recently reissued in the company's offshore-produced SE series. The SE NF3 is so named for its Narrowfield Deep Dish (a.k.a. DD) \"S\" pickups. These unique PRS-design units have deeper bobbins to accommodate more windings and extra metal pieces between the magnets to yield a more powerful \"single-coil\" tone, while remaining noise-free because they are in fact humbuckers. A control set consisting of master volume, tone and a five-way blade switch allows the usual selections of bridge, middle and neck pickups by themselves and the neck-plus-middle and bridge-plus-middle combinations that allow the SE NF3 to veer into Strat-like territory in switch positions two and four.
EPIPHONE
Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Firebird V and 1959 ES-355
Dobro 101
A look at the iconic bluegrass slide box.
CERTIFIED GREATNESS
Fingerstyle master Tommy Emmanuel combines unique musical instincts and breathtaking technique to become an acoustic tour de force.
MASTER OF HIS OWN JOURNEY
For more than 50 years, David Lindley graced albums and concert stages with his singular talent on a vast range of stringed instruments. In this Guitar Player exclusive, his musical friends — including Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder and Bonnie Raitt - pay tribute to an original.
TRANSCENDENTAL MAN
Luther Dickinson interpreted a priceless work of art in music. In the process, the blues guitarist wrote his own next chapter.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Together with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai join forces for a Robert Fripp-endorsed revival of King Crimson's groundbreaking 1980s music.
I'M 100 PERCENT HAPPY WITH THE WORK I'VE DONE WITH PINK FLOYD. BUT...'MY FOCUS IS DIFFERENT RIGHT NOW'
Leading a rock group and being a solo artist were \"not what I asked for,\" David Gilmour says. For Luck and Strange, he assembled a team that shared the weight of his creative efforts. The result? \"The best album I've made since The Dark Side of the Moon.\"
DOUG GILLARD IS INDISPENSABLE
His six-string genius has proved vital to the music of Guided by Voices, Nada Surf and other indie-rock favorites. But all he really wants is to make good music.
Sol Salvation
The genius of Sol Hoopii is preserved in 16 timeless cuts on Master of the Hawaiian Guitar.