Marty Walsh

Assistant Professor

Affiliated Departments

Berklee Online

Ensemble

Music Production and Engineering (MP&E)

mwalsh1@berklee.edu

617-747-8688

Marty Walsh's website

Marty Walsh's music website

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Marty Walsh is an assistant professor in the Ensemble and Music Production departments at Berklee College of Music. A veteran of the L.A. studio music scene, he has worked as a guitarist with some of the biggest names in the business. The early 1980s found him on the hits "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton, "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer, and "Heartlight" by Neil Diamond, to name a few. He also recorded with John Denver, Eddie Money, Kenny Rogers, Sheena Easton, and Julio Iglesias, among others. In 1985, Walsh was the guitarist on the Supertramp album Brother Where You Bound and then toured with the band from 1985–86 and again in 1988 after playing on its 1988 release Free as a Bird. Continuing to do recording sessions into the 1990s, he performed on three of LeAnn Rimes's albums, including the massive country hit "I Need You."

Courses Taught (10)

Directed Study – Jazz Performance Studies Ensemble

ENDS-401

Directed Study – Songwriting Performance Studies Ensemble

ENDS-408

Mixed Pop Rating 2 Vocal Ensemble

ENMP-121

Mixed Styles Rating 3

ENMX-200

Mixed Pop and Rock

ENPP-201

L.A. Studio Ensemble

ENPP-402

Classic Rock

ENRK-201

The Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen Ensemble

ENRK-221

Production Analysis Lab

MP-215

Music Production for Records

MP-320

Career Highlights

Performances with LeAnn Rimes, Supertramp, John Fogerty, John Denver, Seals and Crofts, and Eddie Kendricks
Recordings with LeAnn Rimes, Supertramp, Donna Summer, Eddie Money, Neil Diamond, Christopher Cross, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Sheena Easton, Julio Iglesias, John Denver, Air Supply, and Gary Wright
Songs recorded by Gary Wright, Air Supply, and Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA
Wrote and produced songs or cues for 20th Century Fox films, NBC TV, CBS TV, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Sister, Sister, and Roundhouse
Session musician with Dolly Parton ("9 to 5"), Donna Summer ("She Works Hard for the Money"), Eddie Money ("Shakin'"), Christopher Cross ("Arthur's Theme"), Neil Diamond ("Heartlight")
Toured with Seals and Crofts '76 and '77, John Denver '84, Supertramp '86 and '88, and John Fogerty '86

In Their Own Words

"I want my students in ensembles to better their rhythm skills. It is the most important aspect of being a professional musician in my opinion. In my music production classes I want my students to better understand how to build arrangement from the ground up and all of the choices that go into that in terms of record production."

"At a very young age I learned how time feel and groove were paramount. At 23 I was playing with session musicians from Detroit's Motown sessions. Then I went on to playing of records with the best of the L.A. session musicians in the '80s and '90s. To do that you have to have a great rhythm sense; it is such a crucial factor and many students are not taught how important that is. In terms of production I worked with great producers: Michael Omartian, Roger Nichols, Tom Dowd, and Andy Johns. Watching how they worked was a real eye-opener in how to go about productions."