Twelve years ago Monte Pittman was a young man with a dream.
He was living in an East Texas city called Longview and he’d just about used up all the lessons he could learn about playing guitar and performing in that locale in the middle ground between Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana.
So young Mr. Pittman decided to do what many young star-struck people have done and move to Los Angeles to pursue his dream to be a guitar hero. And you know what? He sort of did just that.
He had a bit of a slow start working in a music store, then decided he could make more money giving lessons to budding pickers, so he hung out his shingle.
Early on he got a call from a man seeking to hire him to teach another man all about strumming.
That other man turned out to be Guy Ritchie. At the time the British film director was just about to release his first real successful action film called Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Oh yeah, and Ritchie was dating a certain singer at the time. Her name was Madonna Louise Ciccone, yep that Madonna.
Pretty soon, Pittman was teaching Ritchie and he was teaching Madonna. In fact, the lessons went so well, she invited him onto her next world tour and the young man from East Texas was travelling the world, onstage, guitar in hand with one of the biggest music acts of all time, The Material Girl herself.
If that ain’t rags to riches, what is?
When he reflects back on that story, Pittman is frankly pretty humble about it all. He’s grateful for the opportunity and he’s still touring with Madonna. He’s done five world tours and several smaller ones. He was on stage at Scotiabank Monday night in the middle of the extravaganza that is the MDNA tour.
The thing about the Material Girl, says Pittman, is that she can play. She worked hard to learn and like everything else she does — working out, planning her music, the choreography in her shows — she was disciplined about it, says Pittman.
“You could tell, each time we would get together, that she had practised — hard.” A Madonna show is like a Broadway musical. It is planned to the ninth degree. It is rehearsed and polished until every tiny action is perfect, Pittman says.
“Nothing is ever ‘just done.’ That’s one of the many things I’ve learned from her, one of the secrets to her success over three decades.”
The MDNA tour began in earnest and in controversy in May in Israel. But the rehearsals began last February, he says, noting that the lead performer was involved in absolutely every possible decision. Depending on whether you believe the leaked concert rider that is flying around online (OK I’ll bite), Madonna travels with an entourage of 200 people while on tour, including an acupuncturist, a yoga instructor, a dry cleaner and a number of personal chefs. Apparently she has 30 bodyguards.
In her dressing room the flowers are said to be cut to exactly six inches in height; there are apparently 20 international phone lines; the fabric is said to be fragranced with pink roses and lilies; and all furniture is Madonna’s own — she has it shipped in. Details, details.
He was living in an East Texas city called Longview and he’d just about used up all the lessons he could learn about playing guitar and performing in that locale in the middle ground between Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana.
So young Mr. Pittman decided to do what many young star-struck people have done and move to Los Angeles to pursue his dream to be a guitar hero. And you know what? He sort of did just that.
He had a bit of a slow start working in a music store, then decided he could make more money giving lessons to budding pickers, so he hung out his shingle.
Early on he got a call from a man seeking to hire him to teach another man all about strumming.
That other man turned out to be Guy Ritchie. At the time the British film director was just about to release his first real successful action film called Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Oh yeah, and Ritchie was dating a certain singer at the time. Her name was Madonna Louise Ciccone, yep that Madonna.
Pretty soon, Pittman was teaching Ritchie and he was teaching Madonna. In fact, the lessons went so well, she invited him onto her next world tour and the young man from East Texas was travelling the world, onstage, guitar in hand with one of the biggest music acts of all time, The Material Girl herself.
If that ain’t rags to riches, what is?
When he reflects back on that story, Pittman is frankly pretty humble about it all. He’s grateful for the opportunity and he’s still touring with Madonna. He’s done five world tours and several smaller ones. He was on stage at Scotiabank Monday night in the middle of the extravaganza that is the MDNA tour.
The thing about the Material Girl, says Pittman, is that she can play. She worked hard to learn and like everything else she does — working out, planning her music, the choreography in her shows — she was disciplined about it, says Pittman.
“You could tell, each time we would get together, that she had practised — hard.” A Madonna show is like a Broadway musical. It is planned to the ninth degree. It is rehearsed and polished until every tiny action is perfect, Pittman says.
“Nothing is ever ‘just done.’ That’s one of the many things I’ve learned from her, one of the secrets to her success over three decades.”
The MDNA tour began in earnest and in controversy in May in Israel. But the rehearsals began last February, he says, noting that the lead performer was involved in absolutely every possible decision. Depending on whether you believe the leaked concert rider that is flying around online (OK I’ll bite), Madonna travels with an entourage of 200 people while on tour, including an acupuncturist, a yoga instructor, a dry cleaner and a number of personal chefs. Apparently she has 30 bodyguards.
In her dressing room the flowers are said to be cut to exactly six inches in height; there are apparently 20 international phone lines; the fabric is said to be fragranced with pink roses and lilies; and all furniture is Madonna’s own — she has it shipped in. Details, details.
Pittman won’t talk about such things. He says that for him the tour, which took him across Europe, to North America and finishes in South America, has been a “massive history lesson.”
And maybe a lesson in anatomy too, as Madonna has twice flashed her audiences, baring a nipple in Istanbul and showing her thong in Rome.
The band and the dancers arrive in Ottawa Monday afternoon, flying in from wherever they are. Pittman, for example, is came in from New York. Once they tear down from the Scotiabank show, the entourage heads to Toronto, where the annual film festival is running in high gear. Imagine that mix of star power.
For Pittman, it will be a chance to further his own independent music career. He’ll be showing off a new guitar made by Jarrell, who have named the axe after him — the MPS signature guitar.
He is pursuing his own musical career whenever Madonna doesn’t need him. For years he’s been touring with a heavy metal band called Prong. His musical influences are more than just metal, ranging from Bon Iver to Coltrane, but he’s pretty partial to Metallica.
And he’s been honing his own material, which he offers up with a band or without as a solo singer-songwriter. Pittman has a couple of albums: The Deepest Dark and Pain, Love & Destiny, and the requisite website at montepittman.com.
And maybe a lesson in anatomy too, as Madonna has twice flashed her audiences, baring a nipple in Istanbul and showing her thong in Rome.
The band and the dancers arrive in Ottawa Monday afternoon, flying in from wherever they are. Pittman, for example, is came in from New York. Once they tear down from the Scotiabank show, the entourage heads to Toronto, where the annual film festival is running in high gear. Imagine that mix of star power.
For Pittman, it will be a chance to further his own independent music career. He’ll be showing off a new guitar made by Jarrell, who have named the axe after him — the MPS signature guitar.
He is pursuing his own musical career whenever Madonna doesn’t need him. For years he’s been touring with a heavy metal band called Prong. His musical influences are more than just metal, ranging from Bon Iver to Coltrane, but he’s pretty partial to Metallica.
And he’s been honing his own material, which he offers up with a band or without as a solo singer-songwriter. Pittman has a couple of albums: The Deepest Dark and Pain, Love & Destiny, and the requisite website at montepittman.com.
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