Jeff Trott

Originating from San Francisco, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jeff Trott performed with Wire Train and World Party prior to establishing his own projects, yet his profile rose highest through co-writing several of Sheryl Crow’s signature tracks. He first encountered music in childhood, receiving trumpet instruction during elementary school before taking up his older sister’s guitar. Involvement with a local theater ensemble brought him the role of junior musical director.

In the mid-1980s Trott joined the new wave outfit Wire Train, contributing to its 1986 self-titled album, Ten Women in 1987, and No Soul No Strain in 1992. For a short period in the early 1990s he also played with World Party on the 1990 release Goodbye Jumbo. Though Trott had long intended to begin a solo career, earlier obligations repeatedly delayed the plan until he settled in Portland, Oregon, in 1997.

There he recruited programmer Keith Schreiner, drummer Jeff Anthony, and James Beaton, Everclear’s touring keyboardist, to record tracks for a debut album. The project gained traction once Trott started working with Sheryl Crow, producing the hits “If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday is a Winding Road,” and “My Favorite Mistake,” an achievement that earned him the 1998 BMI Songwriter of the Year award.

His own solo debut, Dig up the Astroturf, finally appeared in 2001. Trott has additionally produced material for Stevie Nicks, Jeremy Toback, and Crow, and has served as touring guitarist for Tears for Fears, Pete Droge, and Crow.