“When Nirvana showed up, I became the perfect studio musician." Celebrated session player Tim Pierce explains how Kurt Cobain changed the guitar landscape — and boosted his career

Few session guitarists have as many notches in their belt as Tim Pierce. The PRS artist has lent his talents to records by Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Crowded House, Hans Zimmer, Celine Dion, the Goo Goo Dolls and a dizzyingly diverse array beyond them.

He's been hard at it since featuring on Bertín Osborne's 1974 LP, Acuérdate de Mí, and during that time, he's seen the music industry change exponentially. One of the most notable changes came in the wake of Nirvana’s success in the early ‘90s. And he’s incredibly grateful for it.

By its very nature, session work is incredibly cutthroat. As musical styles and trends fall in and out of fashion — often in the blink of an eye — players can find their calling card no longer desired as producers scramble for their next hit record.

Pierce was nearly two decades deep when the '90s rolled around. He'd already proved an indispensable name in the phone books of producers and record label execs. Still, he felt the shifting landscape at the hands of Cobain’s against-the-grain success. Thankfully, it fell in his favor.

“I think it was when Nirvana showed up, the environment shifted to where I was the perfect studio musician," Pierce tells The Zak Kuhn Show. "Because I was the guy who could sound a little less polished, a little more like a band guy, but I could reliably deliver all the parts. It's just perseverance and time that brought me into the fold.”

The ‘80s, was an era in which Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen and acrobatic shredding were in vogue. Everyone wanted to dazzle and take the guitar to new heights. Grunge brought that to an end in favor of a more rough-and-ready musicality.

“When Nirvana showed up, and that changing of the guard happened, that's when I really started working it,” Piece continues. “They wanted guitar players to throw surprises, and you did not have to be perfect as a guitar player. So that's one thing that helped.”

Guitar Legend Tim Pierce on the golden age of studio sessions | The Zak Kuhn Show - YouTube

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While some players see Kurt Cobain as no better than an average guitarist, Joe Satriani has recently come to the defense of his talents. He believes Cobain doesn’t get his dues as a guitarist, going to lengths to explain why he was underrated.

As for Pierce, despite feeling that his warts and all playing style was winning him new gigs, he was far less humble when it came to the gear. Speaking about his 50-year career with Guitar Player, he explained why he needed to travel with as many guitars as possible.

“We had quite an arms race in our neighborhood,” he explains. “People would go, ‘Okay, that sounds good, but do you have a Fender Jazzmaster? Do you have an old Tele? How about an old Supro baritone? Say, what acoustics do you have?’ If I didn't bring everything and they asked for something, I’d have this sinking feeling because I wanted to say yes to every request. It was endless.”