Ron Saltmarsh

 

From country to pop, Sousa marches to jazz and contemporary orchestral music, even the other-worldly sounds of multi-media's cutting edge, Nashville-based guitarist, composer, producer & arranger Ron Saltmarsh has covered nearly every conceivable musical base. You've heard his work on promo spots for CMT, A&E, ESPN, Disney, NBC, ABC and Fox Television, as well as dozens of major television and radio stations. Most recently he has been the lead composer scoring music for the TNN prime-time series "Life & Times", A&E 's "Biography" series and Specials for the History Channel. "Entertainment Tonight," "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," "Good Morning America" and "T.G.I.F." anchor a long list of high-profile credits that also includes corporate clients like PepsiCo, AVON, Big O Tires, Herba Life, Melaleuca, Nu-Skin, The Salvation Army and Help-U-Sell Realty. Ron's been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards and won prestigious Addy , Telly and Clio awards. He's long on live experience, too, having led his own jazz group and worked as a sideman in country, pop, jazz, and show bands. Wearing so many hats could easily cause some major headaches, but Ron takes his multiple roles in stride; after all, each is just one more way for him to realize his fondest dream. 

"Writing and performing my own music has always been the big thing for me," says the easy-going father of four. "My aunt gave me a guitar when I was in fourth grade, and that was pretty much it-I started coming up with my own melodies right away. I'd form rock bands with my friends and play in all the bands at school, and I'd arrange things for the orchestra and jazz band, even the vocal groups. I guess everything I've done has evolved as a way for me to write and play-the producing, the business side of things. I never have drawn a line between opportunities that came from other people and those that I create myself."

Ron's skills as a composer earned him a scholarship to Brigham Young University, where he studied and worked with Emmy-winning composer/pianist Sam Cardon. The pair eventually became partners in The Jazz Ranch, a state-of-the-art studio that was originally part of the Osmond Family complex. Ron also co-owned and operated a smaller facility, First Take Studios, and with a growing reputation as one of Utah's top producers and session guitarists, he still found time to earn an MBA from Brigham Young. Projects in his own studios afforded him the chance to work with music, sports and business luminaries; his own list of highlights includes Lorrie Morgan, Diamond Rio, Linda Davis, Marie Osmond, Phylicia Rashad, Andy Williams, The Osmond Boys and self-help guru Stephen Covey.

In 1993 Ron signed on as Vice President with Flashpoint Productions, a leading-edge software entertainment company. Under his direction, the software pioneer's Symphonix division was created to compose music and sound design for its CD-ROM and Cartridge (SEGA) products. "Noctropolis," "Amazon," "Blood & Magic," "SEGA Golf" and the award-winning "Martian Memorandum" games are some of his standout multi-media projects. 

Encouraged by Nashville's growth as a multi-format music center, Ron moved to Music City in 1992. His depth and versatility as a writer, guitarist, arranger and engineer quickly established him in this competitive setting; today Ron is a valued creative resource for many of the city's leading production houses, including 615 Music Productions. He's also active as a session player and engineer, and operates his own digital recording/editing suite on Music Row. Long familiar with PC and Mac-based recording, Ron feels that today's technology offers artists and corporate clients invaluable flexibility:

"Clients can use what I do as a complete, finished product, or they can use it to see what anything up to a full orchestra would sound like before they hire a roomful of musicians. A lot of times we start out that way, and they'll decide that what was intended as a 'working arrangement' should be the final aired version-the quality of what you can compose and program with a computer is really amazing. Of course, most any project is still a means to end for me-if you work hard at it, you can find all kinds of ways to write, play and record your music, and that'll always be the bottom line for me."

Ron's latest venture is the creation of an adult contemporary jazz project know as THIS WAY THAT. Along with co-creator Dan Truman, he has gone back to his early jazz influence and produced a record that he hopes will spring board him into the next century doing what he loves the most, performing the music he loves.

Rusty Russell
Entertainment Writer/Columnist