Monte Lee Pittman (born November 19, 1975) is an American musician and studio musician based in Los Angeles, known largely as Madonna's long-time guitarist and for playing for heavy metal band Prong.[1] He has also worked as a solo artist.
Career
Pittman was born in Longview, Texas.[2] He started playing guitar as a teenager when he received his first guitar at age 13. His guitar teacher was Robert Browning. He also took music theory and piano lessons from Delores Rhoads at the Musonia School of Music in North Hollywood.[1]
Pittman's early musical influences came from bands and artists such as Kiss, Metallica, Slayer, Steve Vai, Jimmy Page, Pantera, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, and Radiohead, to name a few.[1][3]
Pittman's first band was called Insanity. 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 and truly blossomed under the unrelenting rhythm section of drummer Kevin Blalock and bassist TJ Carlson.
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][4][5]
A month after Pittman started giving guitar lessons to Madonna, he was invited to join her on stage at the Late Show with David Letterman to promote her album Music. The pair played guitar together on an acoustic version of the hit song Don't Tell Me.[1][6] 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) 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)[7] and 2008's Hard Candy (Spanish Lesson & Ring My Bell).
Apart from world tours Pittman has joined Madonna on stage in many special events, most notably at Live 8 where he played for thousands of people at Hyde Park in 2005 and at the 2007 Live Earth where he had the chance to jam "Big Bottom" with Spinal Tap, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett among a dozen of other bass players on stage.[1]
Pittman started his 5th world tour with the Queen of Pop, the MDNA Tour, on May 31, 2012, in Tel Aviv, Israel and stops in Europe, North & South America till the end of 2012. Paul Oakenfold who opened for Madonna in several US shows, invited Pittman on stage to jam together in the last N.American shows of the tour.
Between September 2015 and March 2016, Pittman toured with Madonna on her Rebel Heart tour.
Prong
Pittman during Prong's 2007 tour
Pittman was introduced to Prong's Tommy Victor[9] 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[10] 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 in May 2009.
Other artists
Previous to Adam Lambert's audition on American Idol, Pittman, Lambert, Tommy Victor from Prong and Steve Sidelnyk formed a band titled The Citizen Vein.[11] For the tour of Adam Lambert's debut album, Lambert hired Pittman as his guitarist and musical director. Lambert and the band appeared on several TV shows as well as at the Gridlock New Year's Eve 2010 festival.[12] 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"[13] Pittman also appears on the 'Beg for Mercy' album, the material of which was recorded before Lambert went on American Idol and is co-written by Pittman and Lambert.
Pittman has been known to perform solo acoustic shows[14] in between his responsibilities with Prong and Madonna. He 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.
The Deepest Dark
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.[15]
Almost a year after its digital release, The Deepest Dark was re-released in hard copy CD, with five additional bonus tracks.[16] A week later, it reached the No. 1 spot on the most selling albums (Acoustic genre) on CDBaby.com[17] and was No. 9 in the Top 10 Most Selling Albums on CDBaby for October 2010[18]
Pain, Love & Destiny
Pittman managed to raise $65,500 for his second solo album, Pain, Love & Destiny, through Kickstarter.[19] 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[20]
The album made it to No. 1 Rock Album, No. 1 Pop Album, and the Top 10 albums chart in its debut week.[21]
The album was also available at the Official Merchandise Booths of Madonna's 2012 MDNA Tour.
Pittman was nominated in four categories at Artists in Music Awards and by popular demand he was also invited to perform at the ceremony on February 10, 2012.[22] He won the Award for "Best Solo Artist". He is also the recipient of a "Career Achievement Award – Guitarist" for the Hollywood F.A.M.E. Awards![23]
On June 29, 2012, Pittman was invited to ZDF's Morgenmagazin morning TV show where he performed a solo acoustic version of the song "Lost" from his album "Pain, Love & Destiny".[24]
The Power of Three
Pittman in 2011
Pittman started working on new material on July 1, 2012, in Copenhagen, with Danish producer Flemming Rasmussen (the producer behind Metallica's old albums).[25] He first released an acoustic EP "M.P.3.: The Power of Three, Part 1" (released on November 19, 2012) and went back to Copenhagen in February 2013, with bandmates Kane Ritchotte and Max Whipple to record more songs with Rasmussen also producing it.
After playing the album to Metal Blade's CEO Brian Slagel, he got signed to the label to release The Power of Three in 2014.[26]
"A Dark Horse", the first single from The Power of Three, was released on October 14, 2013, by Metal Blade Records and marks Pittman's return to his metal roots. The second single is track No. 7 on the album and is entitled "Before the Mourning Son". It was released on November 25, 2013.[27] The final track on the album, "All is Fair in Love and War", features guitars by Testament's Alex Skolnick and additional vocals from Chris Barnes (ex-Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under).[28]
The album was released on January 21, 2014[29] and has received many raving reviews. Music blog "The Global Onslaught" has described it as "2014's sleeping giant in the echelons of Hard Rock and Metal".[30]
Inverted Grasp of Balance
On 2016's Inverted Grasp of Balance, Pittman joined drummer Richard Christy and bassist Billy Sheehan.[31]
Pittman uses 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. In 2015 he signed with ESP guitars
Jarrell MPS Signature Guitar
Pittman playing the Jarrell MPS during the MDNA Tour
In December 2011, Jarrell Guitars announced[33] that they are launching a new line, the Monte Pittman Signature Guitar and it will be presented at the 2012 NAMM. The Jarrell MPS features a custom Seymour Duncan pickup set making it one of the most versatile guitars in the market. "All together it seems Monte Pittman and Jarrell Guitars are hell bent on rocking the world – the sound of which is none other than simply amazing."[34]
Pittman comments on the MPS, "There are 13 different sounds you can get out of it. It's the most versatile guitar I've ever played. Jarrell guitars have a very unique and distinctive sound. We have three models. The regular MPS and the MPS-f which has a Floyd Rose. They are loaded with custom Seymour Duncan pickups. There is also the MPS Classic which is the least expensive."[35]
Like most guitarists, Pittman's effects change from show to show, but he has consistently employed the Roger Linn Adrena Linn, 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,[37] VoiceLive 2 by TC-Helicon[38] and Fishman effects pedals.[39]
