Michael Rhodes

Nashville giant….

Hailing from Monroe, LA, Rhodes took to music at an early age, playing guitar and later picking up the bass. Before settling in Nashville, Rhodes spent time in Austin during the late 1970s and then Memphis, working with Alan Rich. His move to Nashville turned out to be fortuitous as he began doing sessions for publishing companies and major label artists. As country music began to boom in the late 1980s, so did Rhodes’ career as a session player. He established himself as a first call bassist, playing on records by Reba McEntire, Hank Williams, Jr., Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, and Kenny Chesney, among others. With an intuitive feel for blues and soul music, Rhodes’ resume also includes countless artists outside the realm of country, including Larry Carlton, Aaron Neville, Joan Osbourne, and Brian Wilson.

Three decades later, Rhodes continues to be an active member of Nashville’s music community, lending his bass lines to records by Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker, and others. He currently tours with Joe Bonamassa and can be spotted playing around town with various side projects.

Michael has been a fan of Ashdown since our first NAMM show in Nashville way back in 1998 in fact Michael bought his first ABM head at the end of the show as Mark was selling off the booth as was done in the days. 

From that they started a very long friendship, Mark went on to make a cab designed specifically for Michael as he had just taken delivery of a new Porsche Boxter and he needed a cab that was small enough to fit in the boot (trunk) so we built him an ABM Boxter cab this was back in 1999ish we recall and was the first small light weight cab designed for bass players around town. 

Since then Michael has used a number of our amps for various sessions across town and recently after getting the gig playing with Joe Bonamassa, Michael wanted something special to stand behind him on stage, in keeping with Joe’s vintage Fender combos on stage we built him some vintage styled tweed 810’s and CTM-300’s with candy apple red front panels. Needless to say he loved them and ordered another two sets to keep up with the bands touring schedule across the US and the rest of the world. 

We are very proud to have Michael as part of our ever-growing family of bass players. Michael is currently enjoying a bit of down time before heading out for the next leg of the North American tour in a couple of weeks. 

Click HERE for more info on Joe’s tour dates and if you can get down to a show your in for a treat.