Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is the lead guitarist for the American rock band Alter Bridge and the former guitarist for Creed.
Early life
Mark Tremonti was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan. He listened to hard rock and metal like KISS, Celtic Frost, Journey and Metallica. At the age of 11, he bought his first guitar. It was a Tara, which was a Gibson Les Paul copy and cost about 25 dollars. Mark then attended one music lesson but decided to quit because the teacher would not teach the style that he wanted, stating, "They were teaching me 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' or something, when I said I wanted to learn Metallica." Instead, Tremonti learned guitar by ear and with tab books. One of the first songs Mark wrote was called "Yesterday". Mark played in many bands before his venture into Creed, one of which was known as Night Stalker.
Music career
Creed (1994-2004, 2009)
After high school, Tremonti went to Florida State University. At FSU, he met up with singer Scott Stapp, whom he knew from high school, and former guitar player Brian Brasher and started writing music. Contrary to the common belief, Tremonti and Stapp were not friends in high school, they knew of each other but hung out in different crowds. Together, Tremonti, Stapp and Brasher held auditions for a bassist and a drummer that resulted in the selection of Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall. They initially named themselves "Naked Toddler" (from an article title on a press clipping that Tremonti used to carry in his wallet). The band eventually settled on the name "Creed" at Marshall's suggestion (having previously been in a band called "Maddox Creed"). Creed went on to sell over 30 million records worldwide in seven years. Due to personal issues between band members, Creed split and Alter Bridge was born in 2004.
However, in April 2009, it has been confirmed that Creed are to reform when the official Creed website was uploaded with a video stating that "Creed will rise again." Also, for the first time since Creed's disbandment, their official MySpace page has been updated. However, the terms and extent of the reunion are unclear at this point, as no one officially affiliated with Creed has yet come out with any official information.
Alter Bridge (2004-present)
Since Creed split up, Tremonti has worked with many different guitarists and musicians such as Michael Angelo Batio, Thomas Gospodareck, and Fozzy. He took extensive lessons from guitarist Troy Stetina. He stated, “After all Creed achieved professionally, I felt that I needed to refocus on the goals that I had personally. One of those goals was to get back to my rock and roll roots. After Creed took a break, band-mate Scott Phillips and I started to jam together again and realized that we both shared the same vision and were surprisingly anxious to get back out there and start doing it again."They reunited with ex-Creed bassist Brian Marshall and recruited former Mayfield Four vocalist Myles Kennedy to form Alter Bridge. The name symbolized going over and into the unknown, and while the new band mates decided collectively on the name for the new project, it was inspired by Tremonti's youth in Detroit, and eventually, they settled on a moniker named after a real bridge in Detroit located near his childhood home on Alter Road. The children in the neighborhood weren't allowed to cross the bridge as it led to a bad section of town, and thus to them what lay on the other side was unknown. Since Alter Bridge's formation, the band has released two studio albums: One Day Remains in 2004 and Blackbird in 2007. They are currently in the process of writing material for a third release, and they are planning on releasing their very first live DVD entitled Live in Amsterdam in April or May of 2009.
In the late 2008, Tremonti released his very first guitar instructional DVD titled The Sound & The Story. The DVD included in-depth lessons by not only Tremonti, but also had guest appearances from Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley, Troy Stetina, Bill Peck, and Myles Kennedy. The DVD can be purchased through the Fret12 website.
Influences
Mark Tremonti's all time favorite guitarist is Stevie Ray Vaughan. However, he has mentioned on several occasions that his favorite modern guitarist is Zakk Wylde. He is also influenced by Metallica, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Audley Freed, Neal Schon, Slash and other hard rock & metal guitarists and bands.
Discography
With Creed
* 1997 My Own Prison (Wind-Up Records)
* 1999 Human Clay (Wind-Up Records)
* 2001 Weathered (Wind-Up Records)
* 2004 Greatest Hits (Wind-Up Records)
With Alter Bridge
* 2004 One Day Remains (Wind-Up Records)
* 2007 Blackbird (Universal Republic Records)
* 2009 Live in Amsterdam
DVD
* 2008 The Sound & The Story
Equipment
Guitars
Mark Tremonti plays his signature Paul Reed Smith Tremonti Model Guitar. For touring, he has 3 or 4 Black, 1 Tribal, and 1 Tiger Eye models that have fixed bridges, while his Charcoal Burst, Black Cherry (24 fret), Black Cherry (22 fret), Blue/White, and Platinum guitars have floating vibrato bridges. He has only one standard made 2007 Tremonti in black cherry. He also has one black model that has only 3 knobs. He also uses Taylor acoustic guitars.
He plays with Jim Dunlop Jazz III picks; he told Guitar One magazine,"I decided to play with only that pick for a couple of days, and after that my 1-mm nylon pick felt like a paddle. Now I can't go back."
Rig
* Mesa Boogie 4x12 and 2x15 cabinets
* Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
* Orange amplification has been added to Mark's repertoire
* 1968 Marshall "Plexi" head
* Morley Mark Tremonti Power Wah
* TC Electronic G-Force effects processor
* Custom Audio Electronics Power Conditioner
* VooDoo Labs Ground Control Pro
* Dunlop EVH Phase 90- Old
* T-Rex Mark Tremonti Signature Phase Shifter
* Bogner Uberschall
* Behringer EQ
* Mackie Mixing Board
* Avalon Mic Preamp
* Fender Twin '65 Reissues
* Fender Tone King
* Occasionally uses Diezel amps
* Mark told Michael Angelo Batio that "The MAB Over Drive is the best sounding over drive pedal he has ever used."[citation needed]
* Klon Centaur overdrive pedal- Old
Tuning
Tremonti often uses alternative guitar tunings which give Creed and Alter Bridge songs a distintive sound and allow for heavier riffs than produced with standard tuning.
Personal life
* Mark Tremonti currently resides in Orlando, Florida with his wife and two sons.
* He is close friends with many respected shred guitarists, particularly Aric Town, Michael Angelo Batio, Rusty Cooley and Vinnie Moore.
* According to a recent issue of Forbes, Mark Tremonti possess a networth of around US$179 million.
(from Wikipedia)
