Dang, couches are wonderful things. Showers are, too. Really, what more does a large, slow-moving, upright, bipedal, land mammal such as me need but a sturdy couch and a pleasant shower? Aside from all that psychobabble bunk like feelings of security, needing to belong, or just wanting to be loved, I can’t think of what else I might require to live a complete existence. Well… of course there’s more, but should there be? Forget all that negative stuff that may be attached to couches and showers. You know, let’s put aside things like deforestation for the wood that couches need, rape of the land for cotton crops, labor unions, stratification, exploitive labor practices, and pollution. That’s all just for couches, by the way. Don’t get me started about showers. Anyway, I’m just going to enjoy my lovely old couch and write about the past three or four months. Feel free to park your keister and catch up with me. I’ve had a cubic butt-ton of gigs since my last blog. In lieu of a play-by-play recount (which would be obscenely long), here’s a review of the highlights.

 

Before the New Year, I tried playing at Mocha Match Coffee Bar as an opening act for some acoustic act or another. Said acoustic act became very huffy when I showed up to set up. There seemed to be some sort of mix up, so they complained to the booking person, which resulted in me getting bumped for the night. The folks at Mocha Match were very cool though, and I didn’t take it personally and stayed calm. By the end of the night, more folks had shown up to see me play than the acoustic act. A month later when I finally did play Mocha Match for Cindy’s photo opening, we had a good turnout. Now I have a regular gig at Mocha Match (first Friday of every month). Not to toot my own horn too much, but patience and flexibility usually wins out over ranting. Rock star attitudes have no place in the real world. Anyway, you guys need to come see me play at Mocha Match the first Friday of every month. I’ll be using it as a testing ground for new material as well as a springboard for upstart solo bassists. If you are a serious upstart solo bassist that wants an opening gig, contact me.

 

Cindy’s photo show was killer, by the way. Her images were beyond marvelous, and spoke volumes about beauty from color, form, and subject matter. She also made a profit, which seems to be the main qualifier for an artist’s validity in the southern United States. When she gets here website up, I’ll give it a link. Then you guys can bask in the splendor. Until then, catch her work in various Atlanta galleries. She rocks seven kinds of keister.

 

Going back to the gig stuff, I played the Brown Bean in Albany, Georgia again and had a lovely time. Turnout was pretty good and my playing was pretty nice. It’s a great thing to have someplace to play and be myself. The Brown Bean folks don’t expect Victor Wooten chops or Michael Manring sonic density. I get to play my gentle path music on my terms. I dig the heck out of that. I’ll try to get back to the Brown Bean a few more times this coming year.

 

Speaking of groovie places to play, Jatema closed its doors for good. This Starbucks saturated world has proved too harsh an environment for yet another mom ‘n’ pop shop to survive. Sadly, Jatema was one of the only places for these young suburban kids to hear real live music. Bleakness. Hopefully someone else will spring up in Jatema’s place and attempt to fight the good fight.

 

Anyway, on another front, I played the Jerzy Drozd booth at the 2006 Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, California. It happened sort of accidentally. When I was chatting with Jerzy at the NAMM Bass Bash, I mentioned that I had my custom bass with me if he wanted to show it at his booth. He asked me to play it there instead. Though I really didn’t want to play, I agreed. Man, I was horrible, too. My playing is not cut out for NAMM shows (dynamics don’t work there), but I really was honored that Jerzy asked me to be there. He's good people and he build mind bogglingly great basses. On the plus side, I got to play with Yves Carbonne. That was a treat. Playing with Yves is like being cradled by grandma—he keeps you safe and doesn’t let you fail. He’s a monster player and a great person. Another plus side was I brought home another killer Jerzy bass (see it here). Of course American Airlines didn’t want me to fly with it. Long and negative story short, all musicians avoid flying American Airlines at all costs. In fact everyone avoid flying American Airlines. I'll leave it at that.

 

I’ve starting playing with a wonderful group called Montana Skies. I fell in love with their music about a year and a half ago, and I’m super psyched to be a part of this group. If you guys like my stuff, you’ll flip over theirs. We are still working out the kinks with adding me to the sound, but it’s really something special. Do check it out. They even let me play a few solo tunes at the shows.

 

That leads me to the three man solo bass tour that I did with Brady Muckelroy and Trip Wamsley. We did five shows together across the southeast US. Actually Trip ducked out of the last two shows to go play with a higher paying band. That was a bit heartbreaking and unnerving, but totally understandable. Brady and I had a peachy time playing the last two shows ourselves regardless.

 

Anyway, we started in Brady’s town, San Marcos, TX, at a little coffee house called Mochas and Javas. Before the show we hung out and I took a somewhat chilly walk around. Turnout was excellent and it was a good start to the tour. My playing was sub-par, but I had a blast anyway. My good friend Alasen Hogan did an interpretive dance to “Mr. Skin”. She threw down. Someone even tipped her after the show! Special thanks goes to Casey Marsalis for doing some legwork to promote the show. You and your daughter rock. Brady’s playing at that show killed by the way. If he plays his hand right, he’s going to be a major force in the bass community methinks. After the show, I rode back with Trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana and argued the whole time (in a good way I think). We got back at 4AM. That’s 5AM Atlanta time. Fun!

 

Next night was Beaumont, Texas at the Log-on Café, which is a lovely venue. The crowd was thinner, but very cool. It was Trip’s crowd. I’m not sure what they thought of Brady and me. My playing was a little more on, and I enjoyed just being there and being part of the evening. The staff was super cool, too. I hope to make it back sometime. Of special note is that a fellow named Conrad filmed the evening, so I may have a few video snippets on my site or my myspace.com page sometime soon. After Beaumont, I drove straight home (all-nighter) to catch a few students. Man, that drive was a true test of endurance. At one point my body was forcing me to shut down despite how alert my mind was. That’s a weird feeling that I haven’t had in a very long time.

 

After a few days, Brady and Trip met me in Birmingham, Alabama to play at Moonlight Music Café. The night was almost a total bust turnout-wise. The two fellows that did show up were super cool, though, and I really appreciate ‘em. Playing-wise I was off, but Trip ripped it another one! Thanks to Keith Harrelson for being so understanding about turnout. You Birmingham folks need to get your tails out to Moonlight before you lose a great venue.

 

Friday night in Chattanooga was only a little better in the turnout, but it was still better. We played the Barking Legs, which is a theatre in league with the Chattanooga Performing Arts Council. That mixed with promotion should have boosted the crowd a little, but that just wasn’t the case. I could keep complaining about other things like the crappy PA and the lack an organized chain of command that ran the place, but that’s no biggie. I got to play solo bass that night. That was a good thing. The folks that did show up were largely due to my good friend Mark Pitner. He brought some good people to hear the music. Thanks man. On the last tune of the night, Brady and I played “Autumn Leaves” with Kelle Jolly jumping up to do vocals. She knocked it out of the park. Inspiring sounds. We crammed some food in our gullets after the show and trekked back to Atlanta to get a bit of rest before traveling to North Carolina. Maybe we’ll try Chattanooga again someday…maybe.

 

The last night of the tour was at The Well in Pineville, North Carolina just outside Charlotte. Everyone was cool as always. Brady played a killer set, and I enjoyed mine. At the end Brady and I played a few tunes together that went nicely. I got to settle down and just try to make listenable music. It was nice. Matt Murray jammed with Brady and me a bit, too. Very cool. All in all it was one of those gigs that really makes you want to keep on charging. Thanks to Spicher for having us there even though Trip backed out. I’ll be back at the Well for Javafest. Be there.

 

Alright people, thanks for reading. Come see me at Mocha Match on March 3^rd. My good friend Ryan Taylor will be opening with his groovie solo bass mojo.