musicbassman

A rather long time ago (1970's) I was working with a pro band and our agent decided it would be perfectly sensible to book us to play Aviemore Ski Centre in Scotland on the Friday night and then to play Barnstaple in Devon the following night. This was in the days of paper road maps and 65mph (flat out) Transits. None of us silly kids in our flared trousers and platform shoes had noticed just how far this journey was until we checked out of the hotel at Aviemore on the Saturday morning - sat in the van, got the road map out and realised we had a 600 mile drive ahead of us. I seem to remember we arrived at the gig about 9pm. Still played, though 😵👍 So silly !

It sounds like Madonnas backing band had failed to turn up to the gig so she had to use a bunch of local beginners to help out. Absolutely hilarious, especially the keyboards and the random percussion towards the end ! 😁👍

For me, that was like a big helping of musical spaghetti - delicious for the first few minutes, then starts to tire. However, massive respects to these guys and their extreme talents - mind boggling levels of skill.

Not the most useful exercise unless the same set of strings was transferred from one bass to the next. Also, some palm muting appeared to be in use in some clips but not others. A video showing the many different pick techniques that are possible and their appropriate use might have been more interesting.........

The Flat Earth for me.......... still an excellent listen 🙂👍

I feel like I've put on a few pounds just looking at that picture, never mind eating it, whatever it is.

So, I go on to the Basschat site this morning and I'm met with this : - and there's no opt out. Sorry guys, but I understand that under current data protection regulations the site owners must offer an opt out, and there isn't one here. Can someone explain what's going on ?

My TV will be turned up to 11 ...................😉

'Hang on a minute fellas, I'm just going to get tuned up'............... 'Won't take long, I promise'................. 🥺

David Bennett explains the modes by gradually altering 'Norwegian Wood'. Interesting.

Not normally my thing, but the arrangement and levels of musicianship are off the scale. Enjoy.

A gig with my regular 8-piece band (Bodacious) last night at Whiskey Blue, a bar in Southampton. It’s a cracking band, but not many venues can find enough surplus readies to afford an 8 piece, and everyone in the band has other projects on the go, so a gig with this line up is always a treat. Anyway, first time here, and a tiny stage for an 8 piece, but we managed it after the baby grand piano had been trundled out of the way. Place was pretty busy from the start, but as the venue was completely open to the street at the front, and we were also pretty loud, the place attracted a lot of customers who must have heard the music from far and wide and had relocated from other bars in the vicinity to see what was going on, so by the end of the night the place was absolutely packed solid. This pic was taken as we were about to start the second set. I know it looks like a 6 piece band, but there’s a drummer and a keyboard player lurking behind there also.

Yes, I'm a big crossword fan too, but even I was completely stuck on that clue..................

It's a Claudio Lugli - dead posh and everything....

A rather flattering pic of me taken at a festival a few weeks ago. More usually, I just see some old git staring back at me when I look in the mirror in the mornings 🙂 But the bass is my always handsome '96 Stingray 👍

A rather long time ago, I used to do pick-up gigs on the Irish pub scene in London, and getting people up to sing their favourite song was a very common thing. I always remember this little exchange - Irish lady: Do you know '57 Chevrolet? Me: Yes, what key do you usually sing it in? Irish lady: Oh, quite fast............

Oh, that's excellent - haven't seen that one before 😁 Here it is :

All epiiptment

I would definitely avoid a start-up band if I was you, @fiatcoupe432, because unless the others were already top notch players with plenty of experience and contacts the band won't be up to speed very quickly. If you're going for a job with an already well established band who have plenty of well paid work then there's going to be some pretty fierce competition for the job. Having excellent chops and loads of experience is a given, so maybe you can offer backing vocals as well? - always handy. If a functions band is a completely new scene for you, bear in mind that this sort of band is just part of the scenery at most functions and there's often a lot of hanging about well out of sight for many hours after setting up. Sometimes you're treated extremely well by the hosts, other times you're just regarded as 'staff' and have to remember your place. And, as @JoeEvans says, if you're able to play several hundred standards straight off in any given key that can also help..........

Hmmm - this could be a tricky one, Mick. Sounds like a great idea but some drummers don't take too kindly to other musicians suggesting ideas they might like to try, so lots of diplomatic skills required..... Also, some drummers (and other musicians also) really haven't listened to any new music since about 1995. I worked with a decent enough drummer a few weeks ago but I made the mistake of mentioning the Amen break - and he'd never heard of it. Maybe you could try listening to a new song the band are thinking of trying and work on it together, rather than picking holes in material you already play ?

That's excellent, @Mickeyboro, you look like you're one step closer to heaven ! 🙂 Hope to get to see your band sometime 👍

A very well written and thoughtful piece, even if a little depressing. I've been in bands at various levels since the early 70's, it was always a hard career path to choose but seems pretty well impossible now. I'm glad I stepped off the treadmill of trying to 'make it' after I'd been playing for about ten years and settled for being a reasonably successful weekend warrior ever since. It's had it's highs and lows, but I still get a huge buzz out of doing a successful gig and getting opportunities to work with really great musicians. 🙂👍

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