Monte Pittman

Monte Pittman
Background information
Birth name	Monte Lee Pittman
Also known as	Montster
Born	19 November 1975 (1975-11-19) (age 36)
Origin	Longview, Texas, USA
Genres	Rock Pop Metal Acoustic Alternative
Occupations	Musician, Singer, Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Years active	1996 – Present
Associated acts	Madonna, Prong, Adam Lambert
Website	Official Site

Monte Pittman (born Monte Lee Pittman on November 19, 1975 in Longview, Texas) is an American musician, songwriter and studio musician, based out of Los Angeles, known largely as Madonna's long-time guitarist but has quite a diverse professional resume, including stints that range from glam-pop star Adam Lambert to metal legends Prong.

Career

Pittman started playing guitar as a teenager. His guitar teacher was Robert Browning. He also took music theory and piano lessons from Delores Rhoads.

Myra Mains

Pittman’s first band was called Insanity, but the project was short-lived. Eventually Pittman and the singer from Insanity, Chris Sheehan, started the 4-piece Myra Mains which was much more successful, releasing 2 demo tapes and 2 full album CDs. Headquartered in Longview, TX, Myra Mains Had fans from Dallas to Shreveport and all over East Texas.

Madonna

Monte Pittman and Madonna in the Confessions Tour (2006).

Pittman moved to Los Angeles in 1999 and worked at a guitar store as a salesman. He eventually quit to start teaching guitar lessons. Pittman’s third student was British film director Guy Ritchie, who had just received a guitar as a gift from his girlfriend, Madonna. Ritchie later returned the favor, buying Madonna her own guitar—and she began to take lessons from Pittman as well.^[1][2]

A month after Pittman started giving guitar lessons to Madonna, he was invited to join her on stage at the David Letterman Late Show to promote her album Music. The pair played guitar together on an acoustic version of the hit song Don't Tell Me.^[3] Subsequently, Pittman was invited to join the band for Madonna’s Drowned World Tour (2001). He has played in every incarnation of Madonna’s live band since then.

Pittman shares writing credits with Madonna on the tracks Easy Ride from American Life (2003), 2007’s Hey You charity single and It’s So Cool from Celebration (2009).

Additionally, Pittman has contributed performances to Madonna’s studio recordings, appearing on 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor (Like It Or Not)^[4] and 2008’s Hard Candy (Spanish Lesson & Ring My Bell).

Prong

Pittman was introduced to Prong’s Tommy Victor^[5] by White Zombie drummer Ivan de Prume; the two hit it off, and Pittman joined Prong in 2000. He played guitar on their 2002 tour^[6] that spawned the live album 100% Live. Pittman handled guitar and bass duties for the 2003 album Scorpio Rising.

On Prong’s 2007 release Power of the Damager, Pittman wrote 5 of the 13 songs and provided backing vocals alongside bass duties. He is also credited as an associate producer for both Power of the Damager and the remixed version Power of the Damn Mixxxer which was released on May 2009.

Adam Lambert

Monte Pittman and Adam Lambert in the Glam Nation Tour (2010)

Previous to Adam Lambert's audition on American Idol, Pittman, Lambert, Tommy Victor from Prong and Steve Sidelnyk formed a band entitled The Citizen Vein.^[7] For the promo tour of Adam Lambert's debut album, Lambert hired Pittman as his guitarist. Lambert and the band appeared on several TV shows as well as at the Gridlock New Year's Eve 2010 festival.^[8] Canada's Rock Star Weekly reviewed that "Pittman has a rock-god presence of his own, arising from his well-honed, skilled riffs that come from a connection of love and devotion to his instrument over a long and distinguished musical career" ^[9]

On June 2010 Pittman became the musical director, in addition to playing guitar for Lambert's Glam Nation Tour which toured North America, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

Solo

Pittman has been known to perform solo acoustic shows^[10] in between his responsibilities with Prong and Madonna. His debut solo album, The Deepest Dark, was released in November 2009 and features 11 songs all written by Pittman, except for The Circle which was co-written with Tommy Victor and Adam Lambert. All the songs are acoustic.^[11]

Almost a year after its digital release, due to popular demand, "The Deepest Dark" was re-released in hard copy CD, with 5 additional bonus tracks.^[12] 1 week later, it reached the #1 spot on the most selling albums (Acoustic genre) on CDBaby.com ^[13] and was #9 in the Top 10 Most Selling Albums on CDBaby for October 2010 ^[14]

Pittman managed to raise $65,500 for his second solo album "Pain, Love & Destiny" through Kickstarter ^[15] with the help of his fans. He recorded the album in the summer of 2011 and Noah Shain produced it. The album features Kane Ritchotte on drums and Kelle Rhoads (Randy Rhoads's brother) on piano. It was released on October 3, 2011 ^[16]

Pittman has developed into a fiercely capable musician-- equally able to hold his own in a giant pop stadium tour as in a dark and smoky club belting out brutal metal tunes. Pittman's solo work takes a giant detour from both of those avenues, venturing into melodic acoustic territory on his debut, and branching out into rock anthems.

Equipment

Guitars

Pittman has been seen using various guitars over the years, including Breedlove ^[17] and PRS but seems to have settled into using the Gibson Les Paul as his primary guitar. He has also been known to play Gibson SGs and he has a number of custom made Gibson electrics, acoustics, and basses—frequently specially-built for use in Madonna shows.

Amplifiers

Pittman is endorsed by Orange Amplifiers.^[18]

Effects

Like most guitarists, Pittman’s effects change from show to show, but he has consistently employed the Roger Linn AdrenaLinn, the Emma DiscomBOBulator, and the Keeley Compressor. He has been known to use Eventide, Boss, MXR, Crybaby, Ernie Ball, Electro-Harmonix, Digitech, Line 6, Dunlop,^[19] VoiceLive 2 by TC-Helicon^[20] and Fishman effects pedals.^[21] He uses Seymour Duncan pickups in his Jarrell guitars, including his signature model MPS model.

Discography

Solo

• Pain, Love, & Destiny (2011)
• The Deepest Dark (With Bonus Tracks) (2010)
• The Deepest Dark (2009)

With Madonna

• Drowned World Tour (2001)
• American Life (2003)
• Re-Invention Tour (2004)
• Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)
• I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (2006)
• Confessions Tour (2007)
• Hey You (single) (2007)
• Hard Candy (2008)
• It’s So Cool (2009) (Celebration bonus track)
• Sticky & Sweet Tour (2010)

With Prong

• 100% Live (2002)
• Scorpio Rising (2003)
• The Vault (2005)
• Power of the Damager (2007)
• Power of the Damn Mixxxer (2009)

With Myra Mains

• Condition (1996)
• Buried (1999)

With other artists

• Melanie C – Reason (2003)
• Sophie Ellis Bextor – Shoot from the Hip (2003)
• Run Run Run – Endless Winter (2006)
• Run Run Run – Good Company EP (2007)
• Jes – Disconnect (2007)
• Nicki Richards – Nicki (2008) ^[22]
• In Extremo – Sängerkrieg (2008)
• Adam Lambert – Take One (2009)
• Steve Cooke – Radio (2010)
• Adam Lambert & Steve Cooke - Paramount Sessions (2011)
• Adam Lambert – Adam Lambert Acoustic Live (2010)
• Adam Lambert – Glam Nation Live (2011)

References

1. ^ Spring Hill graduate performs at Live Earth. Nl.newsbank.com (2007-07-07). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
2. ^ Monte Pittman: The Texas Trail to Prong and Madonna. Bossus.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
3. ^ Madonna & Monte Pittman at the David Letterman Show. Youtube.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
4. ^ Breedlove Festival. breedlovemusic.com
5. ^ Prong at Twisted Talent Concert. Twisted-talent.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
6. ^ Garry Sharpe-Young (2005) New Wave of American Heavy Metal (1st edition) ISBN 0-9582684-0-1
7. ^ The Citizen Vein – Discover music, concerts, stats, & pictures at. Last.fm (2009-02-11). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
8. ^ Gridlock 2010 feat. Adam Lambert. Dose.clubzone.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
9. ^ Adam Lambert's Orchestra Of Glitz Welcomes 2010. rockstarweekly.com
10. ^ Open Mic Night with Monte Pittman. Axestaticprocess.wordpress.com (2010-01-31). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
11. ^ Monte Pittman's solo album debut. Thezodiacshow.blogspot.com (2009-12-03). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
12. ^ The Deepest Dark to be re-released in hard copy CD^{[dead link]}
13. ^ The Deepest Dark reaches Top Acoustic Albums on CDBaby^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Top 10 CD Baby Albums: October 2010. Blog.discmakers.com (2010-11-01). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
15. ^ Top 5 Most Successful Kickstarter Music Campaigns. Montepittman.com (2011-08-10). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
16. ^ Monte's 2nd album release date. Montepittman.com (2011-08-07). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
17. ^ Breedlove Acoustics. Folkofthewood.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
18. ^ "Monte Pittman – Madonna". Orange Amplifiers. http://www.orangeamps.com/monte-pittman-madonna/. Retrieved 13 April 2011. 
19. ^ Monte Pittman's pedalboard. Axestaticprocess.wordpress.com (2009-08-02). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
20. ^ TC-Helicon Artists. Tc-helicon.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
21. ^ Fishman Artists. Fishman.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
22. ^ Nicki Richards ''Nicki'' Album Credits. Newsli.com (2009-02-25). Retrieved on 2011-11-13.

Notes

• Guitar guru helps get Madonna into the groove
• Madonna Makes Like Slash on Sticky and Sweet Tour
• Set-up interviews for Madonna's Guitarist on behalf of Orange Amps

External links

• Official Monte Pittman Site
• Monte Pittman on MySpace
• Monte Pittman Artist Website

Persondata
Name	Pittman, Monte
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 19, 1975
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death