How challenging is the SNL gig?
It requires knowledge of multiple genres of music that must be played with a certain amount of authenticity. You can’t be ripping Jimi Hendrix-style over, say, a jazz or Motown song. Also, the band includes some of the highest caliber musicians in the world, so you need to be able to hold your own. I played with the entire rhythm section during the second audition, which made me really nervous, but they welcomed me with open arms.

How critical was sight-reading?
I had to run down eight songs, with only a minute in between to look at the charts. Those included chord charts, tricky rhythms, ensemble rhythm hits, exact chord arpeggios and chord voicings, melodies, etc. Once I got the gig and had learned more than 150 songs from studying the music and listening to CDs, however, the sheet music served more as a guide.

What gear do you use?
I’ve been a Fender guy my entire life, and my main instrument is a black ’90 Fender American Standard Stratocaster with a maple neck. But to get the variety of sounds required by SNL I use a Nash ’50s Strat-style guitar that is olympic white and sports a maple neck, a Dakota red KLH Custom Relics Telecaster-style guitar with a rosewood neck, and a First Act Delia custom—all strung with D’Addario Pure Nickel roundwound .011s. My amp is a two-channel Bruno Super 100 that gets good Fender-style clean sounds in addition to a searing-yet-articulate lead tone.

How about effects?
I configured a pedalboard specifically for SNL because the gig requires certain pedals that I might not use otherwise. They include a HomeBrew Electronics Medicine Bawl wah and Uno Mos preamp, an Analog Man Sun Face fuzz and King of Tone overdrive, a Sweet Sound UltraVibe II, a Keeley 4-Knob Compressor and modified Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a Cusack Tap-A-Whirl tremolo. I use Pedaltrain boards because you can rearrange the pedals and wiring so easily.

Walk us through a typical day on the set of SNL.
I arrive around 10:30 Saturday morning and leave around 1:30 a.m. There is a two-hour rehearsal in the morning, after which we take some time off before returning around 4:00 to do a monologue with the host. Next we play music for the audience before the dress rehearsal, do the dress rehearsal, and take a short break. Then we do it all again for broadcast.