Lyle Workman

To call Lyle Workman a "star of stage and screen" might sound a bit hokey, but to be honest, it's not entirely off-base. Workman first hit the public ear in 1986 with the debut of San Francisco band Bourgeois Tagg, a band that made a splash on the Billboard Hot 100 with the beautiful ballad, I Don't Mind At All. Since then, he’s carved out a remarkable career as one of the most in-demand session guitarists and film composers in the industry. His list of collaborators reads like a who's who of modern music—Frank Black, Sarah McLachlan, Sting, Beck, Jellyfish, Todd Rundgren, Michael Bublé, Sheryl Crow, and many more.

Over the past two decades, Workman has also made a name for himself in Hollywood, becoming a go-to composer for writer / director / producer, Judd Apatow. His scoring credits include box office hits like Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, all of which showcase his versatility and knack for enhancing storytelling through music.

In addition to his extensive work as a session guitarist and film composer, Lyle Workman has consistently released a rich catalog of solo instrumental EPs and full-length albums, starting in 1996 with his debut, Purple Passages, and continuing through to 2021’s Uncommon Measures—a symphonic, jazz-infused exploration that earned high praise from AllAboutJazz.com, placing it in a “rarified class, as there have been precious few orchestral forays of this depth by a guitar polymath of Workman's caliber since those most famously mounted by Frank Zappa and John McLaughlin.”

We were first introduced to Lyle by our common friend, Dan Steinhardt of TheGigRig and That Pedal Show. Daniel was putting together a new pedalboard for Lyle's upcoming tour with Sarah McLachlan. Eventually Lyle wound up with the Ventris Dual Reverb, EQ2 Programmable Equalizer and ZIO Analog Front End+Boost on his touring board. That board has remained consistent through an early 2025 tour with Pixies front man Frank Black, celebrating the 30th anniversary of his solo masterpiece "Teenager of the Year" - a record that Lyle recorded with Black back in 1994. Lyle sent us a photo of the Steinhardt constructed board soon after its completion.

Lyle Workman's 2024 - 25 Touring Pedalboard

Our friends at Vertex Effects recently sat down with Lyle to talk about his career as a session guitarist and film scoring artist. It's an in-depth video full of gear talk and thorough breakdowns of several career highlights from the recording studio including an exciting moment from the movie, Superbad, plus recordings with Bourgeois Tagg, Jellyfish, Frank Black and Todd Rundgren. Here is some very good news, we've partnered with Vertex to giveaway a Ventris Dual Reverb, EQ2 Programmable Equalizer or ZIO Analog Front End+Boost. All you need to do is follow @Lyle.Workman, @SourceAudio, and @VertexEffects on Instagram, then leave the words "Source Audio" in the comments section of any Lyle Workman video posted to by Vertex on Instagram. Good luck, everybody.

Vertex Effects Interviews Lyle Workman (Enter to Win a Ventris Dual Reverb and more)

While we're here, let's check out a some great live recordings from a few of Lyle's projects throughout the years, starting with this lovely performance of Possession by Sarah McLachlan on Jimmy Kimmel Live during McLachlan's 2024 summer tour.

Lyle Performing with Sarah McLachlan on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2024

Now we're going back to 1995 and the Teenager of the Year tour with Frank Black. We recently got to see Black and Workman perform this entire record at the House of Blues in Boston for the album's 30th anniversary. It was an electrifying set - we still believe in the excellent joy of the Pong!!!

Lyle and Frank Black Perform Songs from Teenager of the Year in 1995

In 2005 Lyle joined Sting's touring band, below is an excellent performance of "Message in a Bottle" from the Live 8 concert, the 20th anniversary of the original Live Aid concert. Sting put together a great, hard-edged band for this tour with Lyle sharing guitar duties with Dominic Miller and the great Josh Freese on drums.

Lyle performing "Message in a Bottle" with Sting and the Live 8 Benefit Concert