Al Schnier

Al Schnier
Al Schnier
	acoustic guitar; mandolin; Moog synthesizer; keyboard
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Fatboy Records; Basemental Records
Website	http://www.alschnier.com

Al Schnier (born January 9, 1968) is a musician most noted for being one of two guitarists for the American jam band Moe.

History

Schnier was born on January 9, 1968, in

Graphic Arts

. Al married his first wife Diane and had two children. He got divorced in 2013 and remarried in 2016.

Music career

As found at his website, Schnier wrote his first original piece of music in 1978, of which a part would later appear on his solo musical release

high school and college he performed in various cover bands. In 1990, Schnier was playing in a psychedelic rock band in Oneonta, New York, called Unclaimed Freight, when he discovered the first original recordings by Moe (period absent until 1992), a band based in Buffalo, New York

. "I heard that tape," Al recalled, "and I thought, 'This is the kind of band I want to play in.' ... Of course, I never thought I'd be playing with moe., but six months later I ended up moving to Buffalo, and my next introduction to the band was actually sitting in with them."

acoustic guitar, keyboards, and Moog to his contributions.^[1]

Schnier has also been a part of several

Analog

", and continues to play sporadic shows with the group, usually in or around his current hometown of Utica.

In July 2001, Schnier began work on an electronica project he named al.one. The name is a play on the fact that Schnier performs all instruments and duties on the album. The self-titled album was released in October 2001 and he has performed a few solo shows in support of the release.

In 2003, Schnier joined with his wife, Diane, to create an album based on her musical talents. Over the course of a year, they recorded the album "Before Cowboys", with Diane playing piano, drums, and singing while Schnier performed all other musical duties. After the release, Schnier toured with Diane and a small group, dubbed Before Cowboys.^[2]

Schnier has also been a part of

San Francisco, California, area. Schnier described collaborating with Lesh as follows: "I’m a big fan of the Dead, so it was a real treat for me to get to go to the Grateful Dead rehearsal facility and hang out with Phil. We rehearsed for like, I want to say four or five days, and then we did three shows. It was awesome."^[3]

Schnier is an aspiring engineer & producer. He has produced & engineered all of his solo work, as well as both of his wife's albums, along with several moe. projects (including some of the tracks on The Conch). He has also worked on projects for other bands including The Brakes & Okemah. Schnier owns his own studio, Basemental Studios, in upstate NY.[2]

Schnier is also a founding board member of the voter registration group, Headcount.^[4]

Gear

Moe:

Effects: Guitar /
Zvex
Fuzz Factory > Diamond Memory Lane > Analogman BiChorus > Diaz Tremodillo > Analogman a/b switch > Oldfield Marquis 30
Guitars:
Gibson ES335

References

^ ^a ^b "moe.bio". Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ ^a ^b "Basemental Records". Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ Brian D. Holland. (2007-05-16). "Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey of Moe". Modern Guitars. Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ "about Headcount". Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

Al Schnier collection on the Internet Archive's live music archive

External links

[moe.org-1] "moe.bio". Retrieved 2010-03-26.

[Basemental_Records-2] "Basemental Records". Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

[Interview-3] Brian D. Holland. (2007-05-16). "Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey of Moe". Modern Guitars. Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

[Headcount-4] "about Headcount". Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

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