The session musicians we use at Groove Tunes Studios are seasoned professionals, tops in their field, who work for very reasonable rates for Groove Tunes. In fact, you may be surprised by just how much experience they may have with nationally and internationally known recording stars. And you may also be surprised at the equipment some of these musicians provide to artists who record at Groove Tunes.

Take Derek Ferwerda, for instance. He is a session musician at Groove Tunes, but brings along a tremendous amount of experience as lead guitarist for Cyndi Lauper, The Spin Doctors, Marvin Gaye, Joe Cocker, Rick Springfield and many other famous artists.

Derek is also the owner of The Guitar Room in Duluth, GA, where he is a teacher, mentor, band trainer and professional music and band coach. He also specializes in artist development. Two of his students are Grammy winners - one has made it to the Top 10 on American Idol. And many of his other students are or have been signed with recording labels.

Derek is the host of the MicroMusic Festival (Open Mic) at the Grub Gastro Pub in Roswell, GA every Thursday evening. He is also a member of the trio called The Relics.

We recently asked Derek about his session work and working with Groove Tunes Studios. Here are his comments:

“I have been fortunate enough to play in most major studios in the United States as well as many in England and Germany. A lot of modern technology, modern instruments and digitation does not lend itself to the best sounds. This is why famous studios like Blackbird Studio in Nashville receive hundreds of dollars more per hour. It’s because of their old school gear.“

“Eric Tunison has a lot of old world gems at Groove Tunes. I’ll give you just two examples with Eric. His keyboard collection and his guitar amplifiers alone are sought after by collectors.”

“The other example is many of the musicians that he uses. When you hire me on the guitar at Groove Tunes, you not only get an authentic Trainwreck amplifier, you also get the best one ever made according to its inventor and designer. In the mid-80s, I charged record producer Bob Clearmountain (Bryan Adams) $200.00 a day to use this amplifier. That was 35 years ago.”

“Eric’s studio is a real gem and you don’t have to fight traffic and dangerous neighborhoods to get there."

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Our thanks to Derek for his comments and all the great music he has helped us produce over the years. We always look forward to working with him at Groove Tunes.

To learn more about Groove Tunes Studios equipment, click here. Is Groove Tunes the right studio for you as an artist or session musician? It’s easy to find out. For your next recording project, schedule a free private tour of the studio with Eric along with a complimentary consultation. Session musicians, learn more about working with Groove Tunes here.

Groove Tunes Session Musician Profile: Derek Ferwerda