Len_derby

The Shaw Taylor of TV’s Police 5 fame is her dad. Hence why she uses that name.

Luckily, me n’ the wife are relaxed about what each of us buy for our hobbies. I might be able to sneak a new bass into the house but she’s going to struggle with another kayak. Currently I believe she has two 🤔.

I’m managing to be in three groups. A standard pub covers band, an originals-only punk/indie band and an acoustic blues/Americana trio. The covers band is the most busy gig-wise the other two much less so. For me, the key is up-front and honest communication. Plus compromise where needed. At any kind of audition I’ll always say I play in other bands. Having to be exclusive to one band would be a deal breaker for me. I’ve never wanted to play at the level where exclusivity to one band is necessary. I can honestly say that I’ve never had a clash of commitments that couldn’t be managed. If there ever was I’d probably follow the money. Most weeks I manage to get some kind of session with each band - a rehearsal or song writing session depending on the band. Perhaps plus a gig, so I’m often out playing four nights a week. However, I only work part-time on anything else, my children have grown up and left home and my wife is happy off doing her own things. So, I have no domestic or job conflicts. I think that being in more than one band makes me a better musician. Plus I think I’d get bored playing the same genre of music all the time. Your background situation may be vastly different to mine but I hope the above helps.

Yes, he was brilliant wasn’t he? A pompous fantasist in the mould of Capt. Mainwaring or Basil Fawlty. Remember the charity bass relay we did? I asked him if he’d like to get involved, based on the frequent high-profile gigs he did. It soon became clear it was all bullshine. Mind you, he wasn’t the only one…….😉

Thanks Mike.

Any recommendations for gig bags for short scale basses? Fender Mustang in particular. I know it’ll fit into a standard size bag, but that takes away the ability to stash the bass out of sight in the boot of my car. Suggestions welcome.

I messaged Josie last year. She’s ok, just doing different things.

Good on yer Stew, have a great time. Me and the drummer from the covers band have been easily persuaded to go to a Boxing Day jam-night and join a lead guitarist we’ve never played with before. What could possibly go wrong? 😆

There’s some brilliant stories here, keep ‘em coming. I’ve not played a military base (yet). The nearest to it was when me and a mate did a sloppy camping and busking trip in the south of France in 1984. We got permission to play in a bar in a small town called castelnaudary and lay down a hat for tips. Unknown to us was the fact the town had the Foreign Legion induction barracks. As the evening went on the atmosphere became more rowdy as off-duty instructors got drunker and louder. Luckily we were saved from any harm by our accents. A sergeant instructor from Chesterfield took us under his wing. We turned down no song requests that night, even when we had no idea how to play them.

Hold my beer…..😹 Jokes aside, it’s all about making the commissioning client happy. I’m still over the moon every time I take my Swift Lite out. Not a great photo, from last night.

Excellent. When it goes well it’s about the most fun you can have with your clothes still on.

I’ve played pub gigs six out of the last eight weekends and they’ve all been full, with people behaving pretty much as if nothing ever happened. Or is happening. Last Friday I went to a restaurant for a Christmas social and the place was absolutely rammed. I’ve got two gigs coming up this weekend and it’ll be interesting to see if attendance is down. My guess is not, I think the wary have already opted-out a while ago.

Buy and play what makes you happiest. Might be expensive, might be cheap n’ cheerful. A happy bass player is more likely to give a good performance. For other gear, I now go for lightness and transportability. I’m getting older and weaker plus car parking close to venues seems to get more difficult.

An important thing to consider is that some ukulele basses, particularly the cheaper ones like my Countryman, don’t have a truss rod. Strings other that the rubber type can cause a lot of “pull” on the neck making decent action impossible. Personally, I don’t mind the rubber strings. I’m weird that way. 😜

It might be a bit out of your preferred range but there’s an active music scene in Newark. They had a great little blues festival in the castle grounds each September that, unfortunately, seems to have ceased. One of my daughters used to live in Newark and whenever I visited at the weekend there was always bands on. In contrast, I spent a weekend in Gainsborough last October and as far as I was able to tell, there was no live music whatsoever anywhere.

What’s the live music scene like over there? I spent most of my childhood holidays at Skegness/Ingoldmels/Chapel and have been back occasionally over the years. Always enjoy a trip to the Lincolnshire coast. Lots of caravan sites and ‘lively’ boozers. Hopefully plenty of gigging opportunities for covers bands but not for the faint-hearted. 😉

Hats off to you and the trust for taking it on rather than just cancelling. I’m sure the families of the children will appreciate it, I know I would have done.

Alternatively, if it turned out to be a car crash gig that might have worse consequences. Bands are cancelling gigs left, right and centre down in the East Midlands. Mainly due to you-know-what but it won’t be an unusual occurrence if you can-it for another reason. I really hope you put yourself out there and find other people to play with. When you find musicians better suited for you it’ll be a fantastic feeling. You’ve alluded earlier to lacking confidence. You ride a motorcycle FFS! You’ll never get me on the back of one of them! Good luck.

Posts like this always remind me of the words of wisdom I got from Martin Ace, long-time bass player of the Welsh band Man. His philosophy of bass playing in a band was, “if you’re bothered about being unappreciated, overlooked or misunderstood you’ve probably chosen the wrong instrument.” But we know, don’t we 😉

Well Peter, I think you’re probably getting the message from all the posts! I think a problem you’re going to have, if you decide to do it, is quitting in a controlled way. If you’ve let it fester for two years and you walk so close to the first gig you’ll probably get the ‘blame’ for scuppering the band. Particularly if the guitarist has the character you describe. I guess Kendal is a small place musically and you don’t need someone bad-mouthing you even if they’re a known dipstick. I’d grit my teeth and see out the gig. Who knows, he may be tamed by nerves and the gig be a good one? After that, give notice and bow out gracefully. Perhaps when the dust has settled the rhythm guitarist and drummer might join you in a new venture. Whatever you do, good luck!

Hi Blue, great to have you back and glad you’re doing well. I’ve missed reading your posts. I'm 63 and playing more than I have done for a long time.This is because I’ve been able to cut back significantly on other jobs. Semi-retirement, it’s great. I plan to carry as long as I’m physically able to. I’m playing in a busy covers band (done 6 out of the last 7 Saturdays), a originals indie rock band and an acoustic blues trio. The latter two being less active recently mainly due to COVID. What I enjoy a lot these days is working with younger musicians. In the covers band we have a lead guitarist of 21 and a drummer of 19. It’s great to see them get excited and enthusiastic about music and playing live. It rubs off on me. Welcome back Blue, I’m looking forward to your posts about the USA scene.

Yeah, because sometimes you lend it to me.

Another recommendation for a Fender Deluxe Precision. On the right is my Harley Benton short scale P-bass which, incidentally cost almost exactly one tenth of what I paid for the USA-made Deluxe in 2004.

I’ve heard of Elevator Music. Brian Eno’s sonic version of The Emperor’s New Clothes. As for the main topic, I’ll never forget the harsh supervisor of a drawing office saying one of my technical specs looked like “a child’s impression of crows in flight”. My engineering career never really recovered.