Good ole Benjamin Franklin said something to that effect. Well, ole Ben, I still don’t know what is enough as far as solo bass is concerned. As of yet, I haven’t had too much of it. I just drove a roundtrip of almost 1500 miles to go open for Trip Wamsley in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Of course it was completely worth the journey aside from making the oil barons that much richer and polluting the world in which we live. I must say, though, I had a complete and utter blast. Utter blast--that sounds painful.

 

I left on Wednesday night after finishing up lessons (I teach private bass lessons for those of you who don’t know) and drove until I reached Mobile, Alabama. It must have been around 3AM. Although the hotel I stayed in was well past its prime years of being described as seedy (I lack the words to adequately describe its current state), I was really grateful for the place to crash. I was too wired to sleep after getting all my gear up to the room, so I dabbled around on my basses and read a bit of The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. That’s a friggin’ good read by the way. Pick it up if you get the chance. After only two hours of sleep, I got up, loaded my car, tracked down some coffee and hit the road.

 

The scenery was very lovely on the trip over. I got to drive over this gianormous bridge that spanned some of the south Louisiana marshland. It’s odd that we build bridges through wetlands to “preserve” the wetlands. Of course it screws ‘em way up. Funny how we ruin almost everything we touch regardless of how we tiptoe around it. Anyway, at 4PM on the dot I rolled into Lake Charles and gave Trip a call. He suggested I just go over to the venue and unload my stuff, and he’d meet me there in about an hour. I drove over to the venue, but it was closed until 7PM. To make matters worse, my cell phone had lost reception, so I drove around in search of signal. I found it when I pulled into a Family Dollar parking lot, so I parked my car in order to walk around a little while I made my calls.

 

Dang it was hot when I got out of my car, but I loved it! While I was making my phone calls, I decided to check out this big ditch by the road. I was hoping to see some crayfish track—I’ve been obsessed with tracks since Wootcamp. Anyway, there was boo coo mudbug track as well as tracks of birds, raccoon, and several things I didn’t recognize. When I moved up to get a closer look I noticed a butt load of minnows and pollywogs in the shallow pool of water in the bottom of the ditch. Then I noticed about four water moccasins chowing down on the fish and frogs. Glad I didn’t hop into the ditch!

 

I talked to Cindy for a while as I paced the parking lot. This was the first of my solo bass gigs that she ever missed. We both were kinda bummed by that, but that’s the way it goes I guess. I’m sure she’ll hit the road with me again someday.

 

After I finally got Trip on the phone we decided to meet back up at the venue. Shaky Ground is a groovie place by the way. It’s got this kinda grungy laid back vibe that’s very inviting. Trip’s got it made having a place like that to play. Anyway, I loaded in quickly and set up. My basses made the journey without needing a tweak (Warwicks rock!). Trip had a good PA, so we ran our rigs through it. That man can really manipulate a PA. He had it sounding kickin’ and the speakers were Peavey even! After setting up we had several hours before show time, so we hung out and chatted with folks. You know, Lake Charles is full of some cool folks. I met some of Trip’s life long friends. It gave me a better perspective on that man.

 

Trip’s wife, Sarun, showed up with their two-year-old son, Xander. This was my first time meeting Sarun, and she is pretty darn cool. We chatted about archetypes in Star Wars and parallels to works of Shakespeare. Cindy would have enjoyed it. Sarun and Cindy would get along great also; they’re both Buffy the Vampire Slayer freaks. I just don’t get it.

 

Xander, aka X-man, is a bundle of unbridled distruction in the coolest of ways. He came barreling in pushing his toy walker jobbie with a look of a young man obsessed with destroying all in his path. That kid is punk rock! It’s had to believe he was born severely premature, because he is so full of life. I couldn’t help but grin at him.

 

Show time rolled around, and I was dragging tail. I had very little sleep for the past couple of days, and it decided to catch up to me right then. I played a pretty good show though. There were only a few hiccups, one being my loops not running through the PA. Trip and Keith (one of Trip’s long time buds) fixed that promptly. Thanks guys! I think the other snafu was a skip in the Mr. Skin loop, but I rolled with it. I gotta, you know? The crowd was great! They were pretty attentive and seemed to be into what I was doing. Plus they played along with my goofy trivia games. One fellow even ran back to his apartment to look up an answer! He made it back too late, but he got a CD anyway. Anyway, thanks for coming out guys. Take that, George Lucas!

 

Trip got up and played a stellar hour and forty-five minute show. I totally enjoyed his new tunes and the improv Ebow/loop piece. That man just gets better and better. After his set, we jammed an “ambient goo” piece. It got crazy dissonant, because we weren’t quite in tune with each other. Plus I was trying to use dissonance…one day I’ll be all grown up musically. Anyway, it was fun for us, but I hope the audience didn’t mind. So it was a great gig. Thanks to Shaky Ground for the place to play. Thanks to Trip, Sarun, and Xander for having me, and making me feel at home. And thanks to the crowd for coming to listen to solo bass instead of going to see Star Wars.

 

After the show, I hung out with Trip until way too late. We talked of our crazy schemes of healing the world through solo bass, listened to Trip’s new compositions, and Trip did impressions of several bass players. He does a spot-on Steve Lawson (“Have you gotten rid of your guns yet, Trip?”). I got a little sleep before hitting the road to get back home. I made it to Sam and Leigh’s (my brother and his wife) house in Mississippi and crashed out after spending some time with the family. I was going to try to drive the whole trip in one day, but when I got to Sam’s the bird speak told me heavy rain was coming. This is no joke. Bird speak is a pretty cool tracker trick that I learned a little about at Wootcamp. Look it up…seriously. Anyway, I didn’t want to drive in the rain while being so tired, so I stayed at Sam and Leigh’s. I’m glad I stayed. I got to meet a 29-year-old horse named Champ. Thanks for having me bro and sis-in-law.

 

So here I am, home again and happy to be back with my wife and dog. I’m totally spent, but rearing for more gigs. I’ve got some new dates on the calendar, so go check ‘em out. Hope to see you there. Until then, take care!

Well hi there. What’s shakin’? How’s tricks? Are they still just for kids? Wait, that’s Trix®. You know…“Silly rabbit, Trix® are for kids”. Does that commercial still come on television? I hope not—it bugged the bejimminy out of me. Definitely hard to achieve internal Zen through zoning out to Saturday morning cartoons whilst one of those freakin’ commercials was airing. Anyway, I know you’re probably reading this not to waste time with my goofy ramblings but instead to hear about my gigs of late. Of course there’s a fine line betwixt the two. Shhhh!!! If you won’t tell, I won’t either.

 

I played Jatema on Friday the 13^th. Nope, luckily there were no hockey mask clad psycho killers in the crowd. Possibly the only bad luck I had that day was in regards to the turn-out at the show. Lately, I enjoy a pretty decent sized audience at Jatema, but this time I struck out in terms of volume. There were perhaps eighteen people max the entire night, but I’m grateful for each one. Though my listeners lacked in quantity, they topped the charts in quality. A few of my friends were there: Rusty, Beth, Jonathan, Tanya, Bo. Thanks guys for coming. Steve and Emily, some newer friends who I met at Jatema a few gigs back, showed up a bit before I started my set. We had a nice chat and Steve and I spoke about some of the gear I use. It’s really nice to run into folks interested in how some of this solo bass stuff is accomplished. Sorry for forgetting to play “Thana’s Toast” for you, Steve. I’ll do it next time for sure.

 

My playing was pretty spot-on, and I was way more comfortable with the new looper and effects. I guess it was a situation like the Invisible Boy from Mystery Men. My powers only work when no one is looking--or in this case when very few are looking. Regardless, I was having such a good time that I played the entire night with no breaks. Thanks to Kristina for letting my come out and play. I’ll be back at Jatema on June 25^th. Let’s pack it out! (please)

 

Gotta take a moment to say I spoke too soon about the SIT strings. After just one gig (Birmingham), they started sounding like complete rubbish. They were buzzing excessively and everything. The set I put on my four string had some astronomical tension. It was like playing a dang tennis racket. Of course this is all my opinion. Some folks may be into that kind of thing, but back to the D’addario strings for me.

 

Saturday found me at Badass Coffee in Chattanooga, TN. That place is really neato. I can’t speak for the coffee (because I didn’t have any), but the tea I had was indeed a mischievious donkey (…badass). Maybe the place should be called Badass Coffee and Tea. The gig went well, but again I was plagued by low turn-out (about twice the number of folks at Jatema). Last time I played Chattanooga the same thing happened. I’ve heard it’s a hard town to play, but I’ll keep trying as long as they keep having me.

 

The main problem was that I was competing with a celebration/fireworks show for a new piece of public art near the aquarium. There were a cubic butt-ton of folks out on the streets, but very few were coming in to hear me. The ones that did stayed and listened for awhile. They were a cool audience and very appreciative of what I was doing. One of the listeners, Ty, sticks out the most. Jokingly I told him I’d give him a free CD if he got just one person off the street in to listen to me. He ran downstairs (I was playing upstairs) and tried his heart out. When he came back up without anyone, he looked so defeated. “They all thought I was crazy,” he said. Dude, I know the feeling! I gave him a CD for the sincere effort. Ty, you rock man.

 

My good friend Mark Pitner showed up to Badass as well. His hand injury seems to be healing nicely. Besides being a bassist, Mark’s a carpenter. A few months back a saw kicked back on him while he was cutting some molding (the final piece for the job!). On his left hand he lost half his index finger and took extensive damage to his thumb and middle finger. He’s been out of the bass playing thing ever since, but he noodled around a bit on my bass after the gig. It’s hard to resist the Fortress. Anyway, Mark, don’t give up man! The bass world needs you.

 

Well, that’s about it. I’ll be in Lake Charles, Louisiana at Shaky Grounds Coffee on Thursday, May 19^th. Forget about going to see Star Wars and come check me out opening for Trip Wamsley, bass monster. He really should have a business card that says that. Anyway, I apologize to you folks between Atlanta and Lake Charles. I didn’t have a chance to book any other shows for my way there or back…maybe next time. Seeya!

 

 

Greetings again from the whacky, wide world that is solo bass! Forgive me for I have sinned. It has most certainly been quite some time since my last blog. Sorry to have kept you folks on the edge of your seats for so long (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), but I figured that you would instantly forgive my lapse in communiqué upon the posting of this written meanderence. Sorry if you feel played, but I’m right, right? So hopefully I’m forgiven.

 

I finally have the free time to right about things of late because at this moment Cindy and I are racing westward on I-20 to the lovely city of Birmingham, AL. Tonight I’ll be playing at Moonlight Music Café which has me pretty stoked. Although I’m sick as a dog (where the Hades did that phrase originate?), I’m still stoked. This gig is the first of another mini-tour in the southeast USA. Besides tonight’s show I’ll be close to home on Friday at Jatema in Lawrenceville, GA. Saturday will find me in Chattanooga, TN at Badass Coffee, and the following Thursday I’ll be opening for Trip Wamsley at Shaky Grounds Coffee in Lake Charles, LA. So, gang, come check me out if you are around any of these locales. Sorry that I don’t have more dates in more cities, but such is life. If any of you have any suggestions of places that you think I should play, email me.

 

Later in this post I’ll more than likely babble about tonight’s show, because I more than likely won’t have a chance to finish typing down all my haps of late before we arrive at the venue. We’re only a few miles away from Birmingham right now anyway. With all the info plus a bit about tonight’s show, this writing may run a bit long for most people’s tastes. Hang in there if you can. I’ve got a lot to say.

 

Since I last posted, I’d taken a little break (of sorts) which was ended by two shows in April. First, let me tell you about my break. It wasn’t exactly a break, because I used the downtime as an opportunity to re-gear. Originally, I left some time open in my schedule because I was expecting my new Jerzy Drozd bass to be finished. I’m certain that that bass will take some wood sheddin’ to get comfortable with it. Alas, it hasn’t shown up yet. Jerzy, if you are reading this, chop, chop! Just kidding of course. Perfection takes time, and I’m willing to wait. Besides, Jerzy is Spanish so he may not get what phrases like “chop, chop” mean. In fact, that might be a very dangerous phrase to use considering my bass is made of wood.

 

Anyway, the re-gearing I undertook involved ditching the Boomerang and upgrading to a Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro. I also replaced my Digitech BP8 with a Boss VF-1. All this new stuff is controlled via MIDI. The combination of replacing the gear I’ve trusted for the past four years and programming the new stuff with MIDI (something I haven’t tinkered with since music school), has created a pretty massive learning curve. Plus the Echoplex manual is definitely very right-brain organized…wait, is that an oxymoron? Anyway, I haven’t gigged out with the entire new rig, but thus far I must say the changes have indeed been a good move on my part. Now if only my new bass will get here.

 

The first show after my “break” was a private deal, so I won’t speak too much about it. I will say that it was great fun, well worth the long drive, and I hung out with many old friends while making many new ones. Good times indeed.

 

The second show of April was for a gallery opening at Tula Art Center in Atlanta. I love playing shows like this. As many of you know, my first love was/is painting, so playing shows for art galleries really gets my goose (or flushes my toilet as a good friend of mine favors to declare). I got to lay back and play some really mellow tunes while really enjoying the vibe generated by a large gathering of very creative people. I hope to do more gigs that are in this vein. This was the first show where I used the Echoplex. It went pretty much hiccup free…pretty much. Plus, I played in the atrium area which gave me some sick reverb. Coolness. Thanks to Lily Smernou for getting me in to play.

 

Something else of note, May 1^st was my twenty-ninth birthday, and I’m really feeling every bit of it. Maybe it’s my afore mentioned cold -- maybe not. Regardless, I remember when ages like twenty-nine were merely abstract notions too distant to be real. Playing with my Go-Bots under the fir tree in my front yard seems like only last week. I can still smell the damp, rotting pine needles, and recall how my Cy-Kill was rubbish because its tires kept coming off. Heck, the way my mind is working these days it may very likely have been last week that I was playing with Go-Bots. Anyway, happy birthday to me.

 

Hang on. We just rolled up to the venue… To Be Continued

 

Okay, back. Quick, no? Actually, now it’s pushing 1AM East Coast Time, and we’re headed back to the ATL. Thanks to Cindy for driving. So let me tell you how my gig at Moonlight Music Café went.

 

First, let me say how excellent of a listening room venue Moonlight is. You Birmingham folks really have a gem of a place to partake in live music. If you haven’t been there, you should go this very evening. They even have several “no cover” nights. What could give you a better reason to check out a venue.

 

Anyway, we showed up at the venue at 6PM, loaded in, and had a nice chat with the owner of Moonlight, Keith Harrelson (a genuinely cool guy). This was my first time setting up the new rig, so it went a bit bumpy. Nevertheless, I got it rolling. Also, this was my first time to use SIT strings. I had just put a set on my six string, and boy those strings really sing. I may have found my brand.

 

I had a wonderful time doing my set. My playing was pretty okay until about mid way. I had a few goofy new effects/echoplex moments during Mr. Skin. My sounds just aren’t as hip without the BP8. Hmmm. Towards the end, I sort of mangled Don’t Panic as well, but I managed to squirm my way out of it. Other than that, things went pretty smoothly with the new rig, and I’m sure I’ll settling into it nicely. Turnout was very good for a Wednesday night. The audience was wonderfully attentive and played my little games willingly. If you’ve ever been to one of my live shows, you know what I’m talking about. After my set I signed a few CDs (stole someone’s pen) and chatting a bit here and there. Good people.

 

Birmingham Rhythm Orchestra was up after me and really threw down. Their show was completely done with percussive instruments, and these guys knew how to do it to it. The floor rumbled with the thunder they called down. It was perhaps the most intelligent conversation I’ve ever heard between three men, and they did not speak a work. It was all accomplished by their drumming. The real kicker was hearing flawlessly executed compositions thick with Asian, African, Latin, and Rock rhythms and then hear the guys talk in their Southern drawls between numbers. I really like being a Southerner. We are perhaps the best kept secret in the world. Anyway, BRO closed their show with a huge drum circle jam. I joined in on some sort of doumbek, and had a blast. Long story short, go check out Birmingham Rhythm Orchestra.

 

Needless to say, it was good gig. Thanks to Keith for having me out. Look for me again at the Moonlight sometime in early fall. Maybe I’ll drag Trip Wamsley along with me. 

 

Okay, just a bit more to say and I’ll end this blog. It’s quickly becoming an essay. BassUp!, the Atlanta all bass-centric festival that I organize, has a date, venue, and some players on board. Sunday, September 18, 2005, will be the date, and it will be at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta. It will be an all ages show and at the moment free admission (let’s hope it stays that way!). Players involved thus far are me, Brady Muckelroy, and Trip Wamsley. There are several more top players in the works thanks to the efforts of Jim Rubio at the Atlanta Bass Gallery. The event will be all afternoon and all evening. Clinics will be in the afternoon followed by a “bass open mic” and then performances by the headliners. It will be great fun! A new BassUp! website is coming, so be on the lookout for it at www.bassup.net.

 

Okay, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading. I won’t be as silent for so long next time. Take care!