Fort Worth's Collin Herring first appeared on the scene with the release of 2005's The Other Side of Kindness. His most recent release, Past Life Crashing, deals with the singer / songwriter's inner struggles and marks the move to a softer sound. His sound is stark and contrasts somewhat with the label(s) that have been applied to his music -- notably the dreaded "alt country" moniker. I had to ask Herring how he felt about that tag.

"I wouldn't describe myself as alt-country. I think I'd describe myself as folk -- simply put, music coming out of someone's spirit. I'm not trying to fit into any particular genre." says Herring.

When it comes to electric guitars Herring uses an interesting variety of instruments.

"I use a Gretsch White Falcon, Fender Telecaster and a Harmony Jaguar. My favorite is the cheapest -- the Harmony Jaguar. It's the newest addition to my collection. I got it, used, for $500. I use it because it's clanky; the pickups sound really jangly to me, and they just rock," says Herring. "The other one I use a lot is the White Falcon, which was given to me. I use that guitar just because it's so fuckin' expensive (laughs). I haven't bonded to it, really, but it's beautiful to look at."

He uses an interesting contrast of guitars when it comes to acoustics -- one high end and one further down the guitar food chain.

"For acoustics, I use my Gibson Southern Jumbo and also an Alvarez," he says. "I don't know the model for the Alvarez, but it's the absolute cheapest one out there. I use it for all my alternate tunings, and it sounds great."

You do not always need to spend a fortune to get a decent sounding guitar, especially if you use it for a specific purpose.

Herring says that he would love to have a Fender Jaguar because he loves the Harmony so much he would like to compare the two.

"I want to see the differences." he says.

Herring plays his guitars through an amp he just acquired -- an Orange Tiny Terror.

"It's only 15 watts and has one ten-inch speaker, but I love it. I also use a Vox AC-15 and a vintage 1961 Supro Amp," says Herring. "I absolutely love the Supro Amp -- it's got a separate channel for the tremolo, and you can adjust the wavelengths of the tremolo on it. I use it for all my tremolo work."

You can find the old Supro amps fairly cheap and they do have a unique sound. Some of them are so small you can carry them on an airplane.

Herring uses effects from a boutique effects maker -- Durham Electronics -- but overall he prefers to let the amp and guitar create his sound.

"I use a compression pedal called the Sex Drive, made by Durham Electronics, a local guy here in town. I use that so I can turn the amps really loud and use that for the adjustment," he says. "Other than that, I use a BOSS delay pedal for some extra reverb and a green Super-Overdrive. Generally, I don't use many effects -- I try to let the amps speak for themselves. I'll use more than one amp at a time, so I'll use an A/B box to switch between them."

Herring's most recent record, Past Life Crashing, was recorded on a computer using Pro Tools.

"For the most part, we recorded and mixed it on Pro Tools, and dumped it onto tape for extra warmth. That costs a little extra money, but we did it anyway," he says. "In my opinion, however, the Pro Tools effects for tape warmth have become so good that you don't really need to do that anymore."

The band and Herring rehearsed a couple of times before the session and laid the tracks down live. The only exception were the vocals which were overdubbed.

The next Collin Herring CD is already finished.

"It's in the can, all done, and ready to go," he says. "It was produced by Stuart Sikes and myself. So right now, I'm getting ready to release that."

Look for Herring on tour in support of the new record. . . "his best yet".