It must be very difficult for any musician to be told to sit on a stool, wait for the red light, and then "go" with no direction, no guidance, no key, no sense of feel, "just noodle around and give us some licks". I have no idea how PG harvests those "Real Clips" as I call them when the player had no idea of what kind of feel to play. That may lend itself more toward studio guys who are tossed into the fire daily than the live music player who has the benefit of structure when his 8 bars of glory comes. That live band type has a melody he can play off of. Not so much for the guy who is told "go ahead. play." with no context. Think about how many of Mason's clips aren't even in any kind of stable, structured rhythm. Taste matters more to me than flash.

Tom Bukovac would be the guy, though I doubt he'd be either available or willing unless you REALLY paid him well. He is quickly overtaking Harold Bradley as the most recorded session guitar player in the history of Nashville session men.

Guthrie Trapp is another example of a great player who wouldn't make for good tracks. Flashes of "How many notes can I fit in here" don't necessarily make for good Real Tracks.

I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.