# Sean Hurley

Sean Hurley (born September 23, 1973) is an American bass guitarist. Primarily a rock and pop player, he is a successful touring and session musician based in Los Angeles. He has been described as "a staple of the LA session scene" and a "session great".
Born in Massachusetts, Hurley began his professional career as Arlo Guthrie's bassist for two years. He then gained prominence as a member of the Boston-based rock band Vertical Horizon, playing on their number-one hit "Everything You Want" (1999). He moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to work with Robin Thicke and in 2002 began working as a general session bassist in the city. Hurley co-wrote Thicke's breakout single "Lost Without U" in 2006. That same year he began working with John Mayer, whose tours and records he continues to play on as of 2024. Other artists Hurley has worked with include Miley Cyrus, Colbie Caillat, Michael Bublé, Alanis Morissette, Ringo Starr, Gwen Stefani, Lady A, Annie Lennox, Melissa Etheridge, Rob Thomas, Jason Mraz, Lana Del Rey, and Lizzy McAlpine.

## Biography

Hurley was born on September 23, 1973, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He took up saxophone in the fourth grade before playing bass guitar at age 11. As a teenager Hurley played in local bands and worked in a music store, giving bass lessons.
Hurley's first serious gig was at age 16 when he was invited on tour with folk singer Arlo Guthrie. He had met Guthrie's son gigging at a local club. Guthrie wanted Hurley to keep working with him after the summer tour ended, but Hurley decided to stay in high school. After graduating, Hurley enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he replaced Matt Garrison in the school's Yellowjackets ensemble, but he left after one semester to go back on tour with Guthrie. Hurley spoke on how the experienced shaped his musicianship: "Arlo's body of work is big, and he'd start playing songs on stage that none of us had played before. I was serious about ear training, so I'd lay out for one chorus and listen, think I'm gonna get this, then dive in."
After two years with Guthrie, Hurley returned to Boston and spent a year playing on the local club scene. He eventually got the opportunity to audition for the rock band Vertical Horizon and was successful in joining. Shortly afterwards the band began work on their major label debut album. Released in 1999, the album included the surprise and slow-climbing number-one hit "Everything You Want", which launched the band into the mainstream. With further success from the hits "You're a God" and "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)", the album was certified double platinum. Lead singer Matt Scannell said of Hurley in 2014: "Sean is so stunningly talented ... His opportunities are better served for him to not be going out and playing tours with us. But we joke that his goal is to never have anyone else play bass on a Vertical Horizon record."
At the same time as his success with Vertical Horizon, Hurley and friend Bobby Keyes began traveling to Los Angeles to work with then up-and-coming artist Robin Thicke. Hurley moved there in 2000 and in 2002, as Vertical Horizon's popularity waned, he began working extensively as a session musician in the area. In 2006, Hurley received a co-songwriting credit for Thicke's breakout single, "Lost Without U", on which he also played acoustic guitar.
Also in 2006, Hurley began his professional relationship with John Mayer. He had met and been friendly with Mayer, as well as played with Mayer's guitarist David Ryan Harris, but the two first worked together on Alicia Keys's song "Lesson Learned". Mayer invited Hurley to play on his 2008 Summer Tour and his album Born and Raised in 2011. As of 2024, their collaboration is still ongoing.
In a 2010 interview, Hurley said he mostly plays on sessions for "rock, singer-songwriter, young artists pop," and occasionally film soundtracks. He has been described as a "renowned session bassist", a "session great", and "a staple of the LA session scene."

## Playing style and influences

Hurley's earliest musical influences were classic rock acts such as AC/DC and Rush. When he started playing bass, he studied the likes of Jaco Pastorius, Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, and Billy Sheehan. Stylistically, Hurley said in a 2010 interview that he most often plays on sessions for "rock, singer-songwriter, young artists pop," and occasionally film soundtracks, further saying, "I haven't worked much on the hip hop, modern R&B side, other than with Robin Thicke. The bass guitar hasn't really reemerged to supplant synth bass in those circles yet."
Writing for Bass Player magazine, Chris Jisi describes Hurley as "[a] focused, detailed, root-raving bassist"; Hurley himself has said, "I like playing the roots". Bassist and writer Ryan Madora says: "If three words could describe Hurley’s playing, ... feel, intent, and class are what come to mind. As a session player, he has a deep understanding of groove and how to adapt to the feel of a song. ... There are never too many notes, never something out of place, and always respect for the direction and production of a song." Hurley has stressed in interviews the importance of close listening to and relationships with drummers.
Hurley has been noted for his ability to play simple, effective basslines as well as busier parts in the same song, adapting to the feel of different sections. Bassist and writer Ryan Madora says: "He can be reserved and supportive by playing simple parts that gracefully elevate a section of a song. He can just as easily play with a busier and more aggressive attitude to drive a verse or open up a chorus." She cites Hurley's work on "Wildfire" by John Mayer and "Smithereens" by Annie Lennox as examples of this. Another example is John Mayer's "A Face to Call Home", on which Hurley calls his work "almost like a through-composed bass line". In 2000, Alan Goldsher wrote in Bass Player on Hurley's playing with Vertical Horizon: "Hurley tends to shy away from look-at-me melodic runs, letting his on-point lines hover in the lowest range. That makes his periodic midrange flights—like his winsome countermelody on "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)"—that much more effective."
Hurley's work on Born and Raised, his first album with John Mayer, has been the subject of attention. The album was largely inspired by 1970s singer-songwriter rock, namely "early Neil Young albums like After the Gold Rush and Harvest"; Hurley also referenced Bob Dylan records from the time. Writing for Bass Player, Chris Jisi describes Hurley's playing on the album as a "modern take on a classic, minimalist form"; similarly, John D'Auria writes that Hurley "step[s] out from the traditional roots role with some bass flair." According to Hurley, throughout the album's development Mayer "would occasionally encourage me to step out more and 'take a moment.'" As a result, many of Hurley's lines are busier, more melodic, or more riff-based than usual. This is perhaps most clear on the song "Queen of California", where he draws heavily from Paul McCartney. He explained: "I'm always looking for a McCartney-esque melodic line. Even though the song has a bit of an Allman Brothers vibe, I'm still channeling Paul. ... I just played my adapted version of [the Beatles'] "Tomorrow Never Knows". For his riff-based playing, Hurley has also cited as influences Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" and the Beatles' "Taxman" and "Come Together" ("Is there a way to play a root, a flat seven, a fifth, and kind of twist around those notes?"). "Shadow Days" and "If I Ever Get Around to Living" off the album also show Hurley's busier style of playing.

## Equipment and signature bass

Hurley's first bass was "an SG-shaped Hagstrom" before buying a Fender Precision Bass in his teens. In 1998, he bought a Lakland 5-string active-pickup bass that sounded very bright; he used it on "Everything You Want" and Mya's Fear of Flying (2000) before returning to a rounder, deeper P-bass sound in light of hearing Pino Palladino on D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), though he kept the Lakland and later used it on Miley Cyrus's "Fly on the Wall" (2008). Hurley said in 2010, "while I mostly played my [1969 Fender] Jazz Bass when I broke in, now it's predominately a P-Bass world." He used an Epiphone Jack Casady Signature Bass on the Robin Thicke song "Oh Shooter" (2002), which was an "attempt at a song that revolved around the bass". Hurley plays both roundwound and flatwound strings and has expressed fondness for well-worn flats, even using Vaseline to deaden them more. He praised the Ampeg B-15 amplifier in 2010, saying he used it "on almost every recording these days"; he used it on Born and Raised and on tour with Mayer in 2014.
In 2012, while working on Born and Raised, Hurley found himself putting pieces of foam under the strings by the bridge of every bass he used on the record. This was in order to mute the strings and replicate the short decay of the basses he had heard on the reference records for the album. That December, Hurley was invited by Mike Eldred of the Fender Custom Shop to have his main 1961 Fender P-Bass recreated. Built by Paul Waller, the Sean Hurley Signature Precision Bass was unveiled to the public the following year. To address Hurley's muting technique, the bass includes a built-in muting device similar to that of a Fender Jaguar guitar; it is the first Fender bass with such a feature. Hurley presented his bass at La Bella String's "Lords of the Low End" event on September 28, before playing with Mayer at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park.

## Selected discography

Alanis Morissette
* Havoc and Bright Lights (2012)
Annie Lennox
* Songs of Mass Destruction (2007)
Arlo Guthrie
* Alice's Restaurant: The Massacree Revisited (1996)
Colbie Caillat
* Breakthrough (2009)
* All of You (2011)
* Christmas in the Sand (2012)
Gwen Stefani
* You Make It Feel Like Christmas (2017)
Jason Mraz
* "More than Friends" (featuring Meghan Trainor)
John Mayer
* Born and Raised (2012)
* Paradise Valley (2013)
* Sob Rock (2021)
Lady A
* Heart Break (2017)
Lana Del Rey
* "Beautiful People Beautiful Problems" (featuring Stevie Nicks)
Lizzy McAlpine
* "All Falls Down" (2024)
Lukas Graham
* "Share That Love" (featuring G-Eazy)
Melissa Etheridge
* Fearless Love (2010)
Michael Bublé
* Nobody but Me (2016)
* Higher (2022)
Miley Cyrus
* Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus (2007)
* Breakout (2008)
* Can't Be Tamed (2010)
Ringo Starr
* Liverpool 8 (2008)
Rob Thomas
* Cradlesong (2009)
Robin Thicke
* A Beautiful World (2002)
* The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006)
* Something Else (2008)
Vertical Horizon
* Everything You Want (1999)