imageBall at the “day job,” devising cool tools for Ernie  Ball/Music Man. Sterling ball has evolved and grown the family business his dad started—as well as bringing his own brood into
imageBall at the “day job,” devising cool tools for Ernie  Ball/Music Man.

Sterling ball has evolved and grown the family business his dad started—as well as bringing his own brood into the enterprise—but designing guitars and basses for Ernie Ball is just one element of this modern Renaissance man’s current lifestyle. He has also become a bona fide star in the BBQ world with his Big Poppa Smokers company and competitive-grilling career. (Ball is the brand ambassador for Smithfield Pork, and the “face” of summer grilling for Walmart and Tabasco.) And, as if he didn’t have enough to fill his time, he recently released his second solo album, The Mutual Admiration Society [Mascot], that features guests such as Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Steve Lukather, Albert Lee, and Steve Morse.

How did you and your team—John Ferraro and Jim Cox—approach the sessions?

Basically, we went into this thing really pure with no expectations. I think when you do that, you don’t try to overthink or oversteer, and some really good things can happen. The two of us would just sit down and play, because there’s a certain feel that we have together, and that feel would always lead us to certain musical directions. The only thing I might have told John was not to be a session guy and play things too safe. He is very capable of going for it, and that’s what I wanted to hear.

Excepting the melody line, what do you feel elevates an instrumental into something special?

imageIn Big Poppa Smokers hoodie jamming  with John Petrucci, who contributed a Disney medley to The Mutual Admiration Society.

The textures—the parts and the layering—is critical. It’s like creating a recipe. You add a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, you listen to how it all

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