Cat Burrito

I literally had a conversation yesterday with my bandmate about how neither of us want or need anything right now 🙈

I am finally down to one again (Blackstar U700 with matching cab) and the practice combo equivalent for home usage. The rest is either sold on it on here for sale.

I posted about this week’s gig earlier but didn’t have a picture at the time. Purely because I was so into my Blackstar head going through a beat up Fender Bassman 2x15, I was pleased to see this picture online.

Playing in part of a power trio, we had a show up in Newcastle. Making the trek from mine is 5hrs but as my Mum's family were all from up that way, it's one of my favourite parts of the UK. I stopped off in York the day before for a day of sightseeing, which was fun. I met the drummer in Hartlepool and he showed me the old parts of Hartlepool (I love history and travel). We had an emergency rehearsal where we snapped the pic below for the last ditch social media plug and went on to Trillians. I was using my 2014 Gibson Thunderbird with my Blackstar U700 head into the oldest looking Fender Bassman cab I have seen. I had to borrow a speakon to jack cable from the sound guy who was very insistent that I return it. I explained that I was not drinking and experienced so returning it would not be an option. He replied to say I looked young but (for the win) it turns out that I was actually a year older than him! Apparently, it must be something in the water down here! The show was fun. I felt I played well to a small but enthusiastic crowd. The band was on form and the sound / lights were amazing. My last show until a little flurry in September. Sadly, nobody seems to have taken any pics of the show but who doesn't love a three guys stood up against an old van cliché band shot, right?! I'm on the right.

It felt like a contractual obligation but the other half of my goth duo wanted us to play his street party. All the questions that one might have from that sentence ran around my head, and the bar was set low in my mind. I made the online promo very self mocking and tongue-in-cheek BUT as is often the way with these things, it was actually much better than anyone could have anticipated. I played bass, mandolin, mandocello, sang and played guitar. Having taken a back step from live work to write / record, it was nice just to be out in public again. And the weather was lovely... not at all phased when we burst into our rendition of The Cult's "Rain" towards the end.

It looks like a booking nightmare but I am bringing some acoustic goth to the family friendly street party this afternoon…

To be fair, my "stage gear" is pretty similar to how I look when nipping out to pick up groceries. I only ever dial it back a bit when at work.

I appreciate it's probably not as clever as Jazz, but I have an 80s style gothic duo that do a lot of acoustic shows. We use mandocellos, with my mandocello played like a bass. So I have the low C, rather than an E. It gets a lot of interest.

Co-produced, played bass, bass vi, some drums and co-wrote. File under gothic 🙀

I think a mistake a lot of musicians make is to view music as a competition, who is best. When I was a younger player I would have been upset at any rejection but now I am much more pragmatic. I know I do me "me" better than any other player. if anyone wants that, great, but if they don't, get the player you want. It's also about what is right for the session. Duff McKagan isn't going to be first call for a Miles Davis album and you probably wouldn't want Jaco playing with The Pixies. Having co-produced a few releases, there's no shame on cutting and pasting a line. We do it for speed, knowing the player *could* do it on a different day and also knowing that EMI aren't bank rolling the session. A different way of looking at the original post is that they went with your suggestion of the session guy, having tried you first as a mark of respect. Oh and as a PS, I was fired from my Sixth Form band in the 80s. Fast forward to 2020 and of course we're all mates now. I've been in a duo with the most musical one for the last few years and the others have all guested with me, at my request - one flying over from Atlanta, GA to do so. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

Great advice. I think sometimes people try to copy roles on a recording when the reality is the non-lead singer in the band will be the one who needs the easiest part. I was in a CCR tribute for 6yrs and I am pretty sure we did the same.

Email is a really low ball way of communicating feedback on aspects of your performance. Vocal rehearsals are essential and the fact he's sidestepped these would annoy me too. I struggle with singing (& doing so whilst playing) and I have had some really helpful band mates who have helped me raise my game and confidence. I'm with Doctor J in the above post 100%. I'm reading this too and wondering what other issues he causes. Good luck with it.

I had one for years and it was fantastic. I paired mine with the OBC410 but I am of an age now where nothing in this sentence is a weight I would describe as reasonable! Hands down one of the best sounds I ever had though.

I had two 70s Fender Precisions for a while. My 1978 Mocha Brown one was immaculate. Aside failing to convince the "all 70s Fenders are heavy" theorists on here that they were actually both pretty lightweight, I played them regularly. Times got tight and I sold them both on. I think I must be a bit of a page turner because I enjoyed them whilst I had them but I have never missed them and I wouldn't rush to buy anything vintage again. In fact having been a serious contender for the highest rotator of kit for almost a decade I calmed down massively around 10yrs back and have settled on the same core group of basses now since 2016. Never say never, but I think I am done.

Bas bought a bouzouki from me. Another effortless BC transaction - quick replies, friendly comms and all sorted promptly. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Growing up in 1980s Wiltshire, I always noticed that tours gave the occasional nod to Oxford or Reading, and perhaps some passing attention to Southampton. Generally though living between London and South Wales was always going to be a challenge for live music. Our initial Sixth Form band always had a little scene around it. Fast forward to now and I would say Swindon has some really passionate promoters and a lot of talented musicians but it's hard to convert this into regular large audiences. I have done some amazing gigs at a few pubs in the nearby villages that have a kind of micro scene but having toured up and down the UK for decades, we're unlikely to ever rival the North of England. Ultimately though, if it's where you live, you make the most of it.

I had the Portaflex rig for a while. It's much lighter. Adding the Sansamp VT pedal gets you in the right area.

My listening is split between vinyl records in the living room, CDs in the car (the joys of driving an older car), iTunes via the two Alexa units (kitchen whilst cooking and bedroom at the end of the day) and Spotify on my phone for remote purposes. I always preferred Apple music to Spotify and I note that my tastes are described as "old school" by the algorithms because I listen to whole albums in their entirety. Since lockdown I also picked up a habit of jamming along with YouTube videos. So variety is the spice of life.

I had that set up for a few years and it was great. Thankfully I never had any hum but good to hear it is a quick and easy fix.

Can I suggest that you start a new thread? - if there are two feedback threads for the same member, report the post and one of us mods can link the two threads together.