Owner of Ritter Music Company, Trace is a native of Huntington, West Virginia and moved to Los Angeles in 1988. He started at ground level working as a runner at the legendary Sound City Studios (in the center of beautiful Van Nuys, Ca). There he worked with producers and engineers such as Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stoneage, Tool, Pennywise, Bad Relgion, etc.), Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Johnny Cash, etc.), George Drakoulias (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Donnas, The Jayhawks, etc.), Brendan O'Brien, (Pearl Jam, The Black Crows, Train, etc.), Mike Stone (Journey, Y&T, Whitesnake, etc.), James Stroud (Boy Howdy, etc.), and artists such as Tom Petty, The Black Crows, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Redd Cross, Masters of Reality. While at Sound City, Trace got lots of tips from some of the greats. How to mic amps, record vocals, and which mics are best used for what.

“Joe Barresi was most monumental in helping me become aware of the importance of knowing how to be a great engineer”. Trace said, “We became friends back then. I’ve learned so much from him and still learn from him today!”

After two years of working at Sound City, Producer Keith Olsen approached Trace and asked if he would like a job. Keith owned the studio right next door to Sound City called “Goodnight L.A. Studios.” There he became more familiar with recording techniques.

“Keith was a total genius,” Trace points out. “If anything technical would ever go wrong he could fix it”. Keith has produced some of the greatest records of all time:Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Rick Springfield,Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, and ELP just to name a few. While there Trace became Mr. “what do you need at the time” guy. There he guitar teched for George Lynch, Vivian Campbell and for a year, was the sole tech for all of Emerson, Lake & Palmer(in the studio and live shows). He worked next to Eddie Money, Lou Gramm (Foreigner), Ozzy Osbourne and the Scorpions.

“I would come in at around 8:00am, clean the place, get breakfast for everyone, set-up mics, run cables, take calls, get lunch, take more calls, clean, get dinner, etc. Just do everything - except produce. But what I heard and observed was priceless. I apply all of those things today. It takes a lot more than being just good at one thing. To work with  artists and bands you have to be on top of it all, and have a good rapport.”

During all this work Trace was hitting the clubs, playing guitar in bands, and writing songs. One of his first bands was with Shawn Klaiber. A very skilled singer songwriter. “We would play Clubs in L.A., like Café Largo, The Palomino, and Molly Malone’s. Soon after that I was playing with many different acts.”

He was hired to play with Tia Carrera supporting her “Dream” record for Warner Bros. Also, playing rhythm guitar for top L.A. session guitarist Tim Pierce, supporting his independent release “Guitarland.” He also played with Cindy Alexander an up and coming pop singer. All the while he was playing in a band with co-writer Paul Trudeau. At one show, at the club Bourbon Square in Van Nuys, CA, Trace met founding member of the band “Chalk FarM,” Michael Duff. Duff asked Trace if he knew any guitar players that might fit their band and he suggested himself! Trace joined the band days later.

He stopped playing in all other projects and focused strictly on “Chalk FarM.” After writing a bunch of songs, the band was signed to a recording contract with Columbia Records. They recorded their debut record with producer Matt Hyde (Porn for Pyros, Ednaswap, Perry Farrell, Monster Magnet, etc.) and it was mixed by mixing great Tom Lord Alge. They toured with acts such as Dishwalla,Tonic,Better than Ezra,Matchbox 20,Marcy Playground,Days of the New and many more.                                   

Trace said, “We did it all. Toured like mad dogs, did videos, TV shows, acoustic performances. In just about ever city we did live morning radio programs, and I think we even played at a puppet show?”

After touring the band came back to L.A. and wrote a good 40 songs for their next record.   

But, as occasionally happens in this business, there was a huge personnel turnover at the label and eventually, at the band’s request, they were let out of their contract. “We tried to shop the band around, but nothing panned out. So, a while later we disbanded”.

Soon after, a solo artist from DreamWorks records named Kina had guitar auditions. Trace soon found himself on tour with her for a year. Playing huge arenas, theaters and clubs. “Kina is an unbelievably talented singer.” Trace boasted. Time ran out on much needed album sales and the tour soon came back to L.A.

Since playing guitar live was his number one ambition at the time, he played out as much as possible in the L.A. club scene. “I actually hooked-up with a great singer songwriter, Hutch Walker, from a band on A&M called ‘Ten Speed’.” Ten Speed & Chalk Farm were both produced and mixed by Matt Hyde & Tom Lord Alge.

“We started playing every Thursday night at the Cat Club in Hollywood. We’d open for ‘The Star F*ckers’. It was a band made up of Glibly Clark (Guns and Roses), Traci Guns (L.A. Guns) and Slim Jim (The Stray Cats). It was a blast. That’s when Hutch and I started writing together. Some good songs started cooking. Writing as been a huge passion since Chalk Farm. Not that I didn’t like doing it before, but ideas never formed as fast and clear until then.”

It was during this period that Trace got a call from Kevin Martin (former lead singer of Candlebox). He asked Trace if he would like to join his new project and play on the record. The record was produced by Kelly Grey (he produced the first Candlebox record that went mulit-platnium). “We recorded the record at Can-Am studio in Reseda, CA for the record label Gold Circle.” The label also had on its roster Pat Benatar, John Waite, Meredith Brooks, etc. They toured to support the record with acts such as Kid Rock and Stone Temple Pilots.“I realized during this time that I had to start writing, producing, and working with more than one act at a time,” remembers Trace. So he decided to build a studio and start by writing with great writers he already knew and also finding new artists in the L.A. scene.                                                                                             

“Ritter Music Company" It’s all about the music and not anything else. The music business has changed since I started out here in L.A., but one thing is still the same - people like great songs. The industry wants great songs. And I’m working with my clients to create the best songs we can.”