When Erica Fox first thought about turning her passion of playing guitar into a career, she planned on doing so with her own original music as an artist. But while that may still be in the cards one day, she’s carved out quite a name for herself as a session musician and touring guitarist for some of music’s biggest names across a variety of genres.
Self-described as “a rock chick in a pop world,” Fox has shared the stage with everyone from Maren Morris to Devon Cole to Fefe Dobson and played festivals around the world all at the relative start of her career. Carrying an array of PRS guitars and a fearlessness to take on any challenge on the road, the sky is truly the limit for the talented shredder.
SPIN caught up with the virtuoso from her hotel room on her latest tour to chat about life on the road, her favorite guitars and much more./
SPIN: How did you first come in contact with PRS guitars so early in your career?
Erica Fox: Well, I started with wanting to be my own artist, because playing music and performing was my favorite thing in the world to do. I started playing guitar before I started singing, and as I started releasing music, people would see me playing guitar either online or through my friends and ask me to play for them. It had a snowball effect, and the first artist that I was able to quit my job and play for was Devon Cole, who was already endorsed by PRS. I’d been playing with her for about a year when someone on her team came up to me and said “It would be really cool to have you on stage with a PRS guitar as well. Would you be interested in us setting this up for you?” I had never had a guitar endorsement before, so I was super gung-ho about it. PRS welcomed me with open arms and sent me a Custom 24-08 right away, which is still my favorite guitar to this day.
What is it about your PRS guitars that stand out to you?
The first thing that struck me was how light they are. I grew up playing a Gibson Les Paul Custom Lite, which is half the width of a regular Les Paul and considerably lighter, but even that is still quite heavy. I’m a small human, so it’s nice to pick up a guitar and not feel weighed down by it. I love the playability of my PRS. It plays like butter. It’s so easy to play; I just love it so much.
How do you balance playing for so many artists across all different genres?
It’s been an interesting challenge. When I get a new gig playing for a new artist that has a different style of music, I always try to approach it with an open mind. I just love music, no matter what genre. Obviously, I have my preferences, as I really grew up on rock music and ‘90s grunge. People always think pop music is so easy and simple, but it actually has influences from so many different genres. I had to learn some really funky licks for one song, and this other song was very jazz-heavy, and then one’s country-influenced. It definitely was a challenge, but I saw it as a way for me to improve my playing, which I completely welcome and love.
What do people not realize about being a session and touring musician?
A lot of people don’t realize that it’s a viable career path. I was met with a lot of skepticism when I first started out from certain family members or people I would talk to, because they’d never really considered it as a job. There’s actually so much work involved that it’s an around-the-clock scenario where you’re always putting hours in practicing, traveling, rehearsing, prepping for shows. There are so many elements that come into playing for artists that people don’t consider, and half of it is just being able to show up and be friendly and a good hang — or having the right gear and knowing what clothes to wear. It’s an interesting mix of skill sets that all come together to form this job and enable you to have success in this field.
Have you had any moments on the road that make you say “Wow, I can’t believe I’m doing this”?
I feel that constantly still. I haven’t given up on my own artistry at all, but playing for people on such huge stages, I realized that all of my dreams are actually coming true now — they just happened in a different way than I imagined when I was younger. I dreamed of my own headline tour, but now I’m on someone else’s headline tour fulfilling my dream of being on tour and playing all of these legendary stages and traveling the world through music. I got to be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon a few months ago, which was surreal!
Is there anything that surprised you about touring compared to how you dreamed of it as a kid?
There’s a much longer road to just being on the tour bus that I always dreamed of, and it took multiple years of touring in a shitty van and sleeping in motels to get there. Also, having to load all the gear in and out and carry all of your shit through the airport is a lot of physical labor. There is a lot of sacrifice involved in this job – it’s not as glamorous as people think it is!
You said earlier your PRS Custom 24-08 is your favorite guitar. What do you like so much about it?
Well, circling back to the conversation about playing multiple genres I chose that one because it has eight different pickup options for tone settings, so it’s super versatile in the sounds that it can make. I can totally rip a rock solo and shred on it, but I also get a really nice clean, sparkly tone that I can use for more jazzy stuff. They also recently sent me their newer NF3 model, which has three narrowfield pickups in it, so the bridge pickup can be very gritty and modern rock-sounding, whereas the neck pickup has this roundness to it that can almost sound like a Strat or Telecaster. They also both have whammy bars — which I love to utilize — and I’d never played a guitar with 24 frets before the 24-08. I’d only ever heard of Brian May doing that, and I love having access to the extra octave on it. Soloing higher up the neck feels a lot easier for me with the extension there – even if I’m not going all the way up to the 24th.
