peteb

Led Into Zeppelin (obviously a Zep tribute). Just played the Black Frog in Chelmsford last weekend and Nick (the promoter) was talking about JV and Del having played there (recently I assume), so presumably with you.

We did Backstage at The Green in Kinross a few weeks ago (both the the Friday and the Saturday). It turned out to be really good weekend. I played at the The Boot and Shoe in Greystoke a few years ago. A tiny pub, but quite good fun in the end (and a great Sunday lunch after the gig)!

And sometimes people make decisions that make sense at the time, but things change and they then make different decisions.

All the time. Musicians drift in and out of bands all the time, for a variety of reasons. Generally situations change over time and what was an issue might not seem a big deal a couple of years later. If you need them, they can play and are not complete d1cks, then why not?

There are jam nights and jam nights, often confused with the dreaded open mic nights. To me, a jam session should be where you get a group of musicians together to play through a song or musical idea that someone has that hasn't been rehearsed before. The idea is that you don't have a firm arrangement or know exactly where it is going to go, but you follow whoever has an idea that might take it to different places. Therefore someone might extend a solo (hopefully not too long), then give you a nod when they want to finish, someone might want to bring it down or even to try to a reggae feel over a middle eight or whatever. It encourages people to listen, support whoever is soloing and get used to busking. Of course, if you have guys who are not used to doing stuff like that or even being onstage, then it's about helping them get through the song until the end. Obviously, it's not going to work every time, but often it can be great as well as give you new ideas and improve your playing.

Tenuous maybe, but still pretty cool...!

Yes, although there were usually quite a few electric guitars among the brass instruments. Ray was a bit of a 'character', rather seedy older guy with a flair for being economical with the truth. Nearly every guitar or bass in the shop had once belonged to Paul Kossof or Jack Bruce or someone similar! Even at thirteen, none of us believed him. He had a habit of over-pricing his better stock, so it never he sold it. I remember that he had an old red semi-acoustic Gibson bass hanging on the wall for years - I considered putting in an offer for it when the shop eventually closed down. I wish that I had done, probably worth a bit now!

I am guessing that you would have bought it from Ray Allen Music in Shipley, where I got my first bass about a year earlier. As a teenager, I used to live just up the road...

This is rather pertinent at the moment, as my mate Tony is closing down his small independent music shop at the end of the month. Unfortunately, despite keeping going for years against the odds, he just can't carry on any longer in the face of competition from online stores, the fallout from the pandemic, falling footfall, higher costs (rent, rates, etc), declining interest in music and the appalling way that many of the big distributors treat the smaller shops. I used to say that if he could stock stuff that he needed I would buy from him rather than online, but he said that he just couldn't put in big enough orders to get the gear that I would want. I did buy a Les Paul Special off him a bit ago (a commission sale), which was cool, but he just couldn't get the turnover to keep the shop viable. It is a shame to see a friend lose his business, but that is the way of the world for many smaller independent retail businesses these days. When I was a kid, there were quite a few, reasonably large music shops around. These were places that we would all go to hang out, try out gear that we would then save up to buy, meet new friends and potential band mates, get advice and ad-hoc lessons from older musicians, etc. You don't get that from the big online box movers...

If only that were true. Many of the most successful people I know have the right contacts and bucketloads of self-confidence, which quite often has little relationship to their abilities...!

I think that you are overthinking it. The point of a jam session is to play with different people, take a few chances and take yourself out of your comfort zone. Sometimes it will be quite magical and sometimes the wheels will come off. Inevitably you will make mistakes, but the idea is that you learn from those mistakes. It's not a bad idea to just watch a couple of times to get the feel of it and get comfortable with the people there. But don't let it put you off getting up again when you're ready. I've been in the house band for lots of jam sessions over the years, playing with everyone from Texan blues semi-legends whose albums I had bought (scary, but fun) to guys who have never played on stage before. For the smaller ones, part of the fun is to get guys without much experience and see their confidence grow as they get better each time they get up.

It's all about establishing yourself and then networking. You have a build up a reputation as a decent player and, just as importantly, being reliable and not being a d1ck to work with. I'm looking to move abroad in a few years, so gawd knows what will happen with bands then. However, even out in Spain, I have a couple of friends who used to be promoters and who have got involved with the music scene in Andalucía. There is also a well established English guitar player in the region who has played with someone that I've played in bands with, so obviously I will be getting in contact with him (even though I've never actually met him).

it's not just bands on the level of Metallica - I haven't auditioned anyone, or done an audition from an advert or whatever for 30 years! Generally, you know people by reputation or you get a call from someone that you played on the same bill with somewhere. The last time I did anything like an audition was for the solo project for a guitar player who is in a household name old pop-rock band. I was recommended by the bass player, who was leaving his band. He had four guys in the frame (all recommendations), which he whittled down to two At that point, his old bass player decided that he wanted to re-join the band, so that was that!

Always loved this, but certainly somewhat eccentric...!

It's a perfectly valid point and there's no reason why you shouldn't put it forward for discussion. I agree that if you wait and look around there are some reasonable deals out there.

Or you could look at it as a player rather than an investment, and accept the d-tuner and hi-mass bridge as genuine upgrades. I've already got a late 70s P bass, but if I was in the market (and I'm not ruling it out in the future), I would be popping down to Bass Bros to have a serious look at that one.

I wouldn't go that far. But, what they are, is vastly more consistent. I've owned a great 70s Precision and played several really nice ones, but I've also owned and played really bad 70s Fenders.

I've always liked Del Amitri, a great live rock and roll band, and he is a really good songwriter. We can only hope for the best for him. Obviously, it is very upsetting, not least because a good friend of ours (the wife of my best man), has got Parkinson's as well. She is trying to put a brave face on it, but it has affected both of them quite badly. If anything, he is struggling more than her, which isn't helping him with his own medical issues (non life threatening, but serious arthritis in both knees - not great for a drummer who still has a manual job). I know it's all part of getting older, but it all seems so unfair, not to mention heart-breaking.

The very same, except we call him Phil.

Funnily enough, Rhino Edwards (the other half of the Quo rhythm section when Rich was in the band) currently plays in a Free / Paul Kossof tribute band with Terry Sless (Koss's singer in Back Street Crawler).

I have gigged with not one, but three former members of Gerry & The Pacemakers at various times. However, I never with more than one ex-pacemaker at a time. I bet that you're all really impressed...! 🤩 I also used to dep for a singer who once did a Spanish tour with various members of the original Whitesnake line-up, and I am currently playing with the original keys player from British AOR titans FM...

I believe that Sean Hurley says that he usually ends up playing the P bass with rounds, but quite often producers will go for the flats option (but its nearly always a Precision). From what I remember Sadowsky saying in an interview, producers wanted an idealised version of the Fenders they were used to working with. He started off modding Fenders for session players, but started building his own when the models he recommended started becoming scarce.

The first song I ever played live, many years ago...

I assume that you are aware that there is a rather famous bass guitar version of this? Still not sure that it is the best thing to play at an audition for a pop / rock band...!