Jackroadkill

Thanks very much, everyone. I was pretty down about it (the thought of not playing again rather than the injury itself) when I woke up this morning but I've given my head a talking to and am feeling a bit more positive now. Band practise is going ahead tonight (without bass) and we're going to figure out what we're going to do. I've got a follow-up appointment on Thursday where they'll assess the there's any likelihood of the stitching working and we'll go from there. Annoyingly I have a 111-mile sponsored walk coming up in the next couple of weeks and could do without this hanging over it. Still, as said above, where there's a will there's a way. Thanks for all the supportive comments (and horrifying war stories!) - they're making a boring day at home much more bearable. Cheers, Jack

Thanks all, I really appreciate your input. I'm a bit down (could just be the codeine wearing off!) but determined to keep positive and to recover to play again. I'm intending to go to rehearsal tomorrow night and work out with my bandmates what the best course of action is for us. Thus could take a while and I'd hate for it to mean the end of the band, so I'll do what it takes to ensure that we can continue, As much as I wouldn't like to miss out, I think they should perhaps get a dep in until I'm fully fit again. Until then I can always sing or dance around like a fool, I guess.

It may well come to that. Whether the finger heals or not I'm not taking this lying down; I will play my bass again.

Whilst pulling up a fence post today, I caught my finger between the post and the chain that was being used to remove it. One trip to A&E later and they've sewn it back on but there's every expectation that the repair will fail and I'll have no flesh left on that fingertip. The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital team that did the job were absolutely brilliant - I can't stress this enough. The efficiency and the skill that they worked with was humbling to watch. As it stands though, there's not much hope for the fingertip (which is being held on by 11 stitches): It looks like I'll be re-learning how to play bass when it has healed. Does anyone have any experience of an injury like this and the road back to playing? Thanks, JRK

That's a delicate way of putting it.

I did the same with my '66. It plays much more nicely without the metalwork.

I'll bet she doesn't; they're pretty misogynistic and utterly without artistic merit.

I'd like the '56 P, that's for sure. More than my pocket money will stretch to, I'm guessing.

We go straight from For Whom The Bell Tolls into Los Angles Is Burning and it goes down well. I didn't think it would, but sometimes it's nice to be wrong!

Was it JB's? That was a cracking venue back in the day.

Cool t-shirt, and the secenery's above average, too!

I love that song but I don't think I'd play it at a gig, probably for the reason given by @Bassfinger. I find it hard to separate what I love from what an audience - mostly of non-musos - are going to enjoy, but it has to be done to some degree. It's a shame your singer was so insistent.

Before I came to my senses and moved to four strings I was a Telecaster man.

This is the lesser spotted Jackroadkill in his natural habitat.

Yeah, I didn't get into this to play things I don't like. I don't like golf, so I don't play that, either.

A bit late to the party here, because the gig was on Tuesday, but hey.... We played a tiny little pub in Shrewsbury called The Yorkshire House. The other band brought the PA; well, sone powered speakers and a desk, but no monitoring. They also brought instruments and drum breakables but nowt else, so we lent them our amps (the smallest ones we own, to save space), mics, mic stands etc and were good to go. It was very hot and sweaty, the sound was crap and we had to do the best we could to hear what was going on, but other than that it was great! We went down really well, received lots of compliments from the surprisingly large crowd, and have the landlady wants us back later in the year. What topped it off for me was some friends coming down from Manchester to see us play and really enjoying themselves. Obligatory glory shot: My gear was my usual three basses (2x Player P and nasty Squier plywood J-type), pedals and the big Eden was substituted for my Ampeg PF500. Cheers, JRK

Wow, that's a superb set - I'd love to see you play it one day.

We don't do much at all in the way of standards. We could, and we'd get more gigs, but there are countless other bands out there who can take care of that. We always get complimented on our song choice, but behind the scenes a lot of hard work and argument goes into choosing what we're going to play, because you have to give the audience something, even if the venue/promoter knows that they're booking a band who isn't going to play Hi Ho Silver Lining, Dakota and Proud Mary (nothing wrong with the bands who do, by the way - it's just not our thing). So, what to do? We tend to do songs that were big one hit wonders, songs by big artists that weren't their biggest hits, alternative versions (or covers of covers), or songs that people might not expect us to play. One recent set went as followed: 1. I Fought the Law 2. Everything About You 3. Whiskey in the Jar 4. Breaking the Law 5. No-one Knows 6. Die, Die My Darling 7. Kick Out The Jams (Monster Magnet's version) 8. Fight For Your Right 9. Crazy Horses (Blackstar Riders version) 10. Immigrant Song 11. Word Up (Gun's version) 12. Pet Semetary 13. Electric Worry 14. Inside 15. Holiday in Cambodia 16. We Will Rock You (the 1977? "fast" version) 17. Fortunate Son (Clutch's version) 18. For Whom the Bell Tolls 19. Los Angeles is Burning 20. Rocking In the Free World Much argument, reasoning and blackmail goes into choosing the songs and each member has a veto; this can be infuriating, but it tends to mean that the songs that make it to the set work, and punters often say it's refreshing to hear some different songs from a band. Admittedly, we do get that pissed guy shouting for Wonderwall, and requests from groups of post-bingo hen partiers for Mustang Sally, but we knew that would be the case. If choosing covers to play was easy.... Well, let's just say the short version is that it's not!

Ours is something like 1x2.5m. Big enough but not too big.

Judging by the state of some of the punters at tonight's gig they'd still remember two weeks later.

Kirsty wrote a song about him, didn't she?

That's a real shame; those gigs are the hardest to stomach.

Rocking In the Free World (sorry!) The Dave Jackson Five Dukefest Fender Player P

Same here, although the waters can muddy when instruments are mic'd, I suppose. My band is currently debating whether or not to invest in a PA, and after that there will come the who-pays-for-what discussion.

How about when you get back you call the other guys and see if they fancy forming a band with you? All you'd need was to find a lead guitarist who can play your set.