Mason signed to Mercury Records in 1997, releasing an instrumental album entitled "Hot Wired" the same year. This was his only major-label album. He made a decision to leave Mercury Records soon after to remain in Nashville and work in the recording studio as a session guitarist rather than spend most of his time on the road touring and away from his family. He and his brother Randy released a second album, entitled "Smokin' Section", in 2006. At the 51st Grammy Awards, he and several other guitarists won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental, for the track "Cluster Pluck" from Brad Paisley's mostly-instrumental album "Play".