Nail Soup

Yes, thanks for asking. I'm slowly getting there.. but slow is my usual pace for all my musical stuff! So far I've performed 3 clawhammers ta the local folk/accoustic circle.... Went down pretty well, or at least woke people up! Cornbread and Butterbeans (my own arrangement) Georgie Buck (from a book) Darling Corey (in triple-C modal tuning) And a few more in the pipeline.

I'm happy to leave it to 'market forces'... if people want to see it and the artists is happy to do it then no problem. In some cases you may get a great performance, other times just good to be in the company of an artist you love, even if they are not so great any more. But with one caveat ..... I, as a punter, deem it my duty to see a mix of legacy and new artists. I don't mind legacy artists, but I don't want to be a legacy punter.

I think it was her brother Hugh…

That's only true if the band uses the line-up as some kind of USP or selling point. For example, the couple of 'Riot-grrll' bands someone mentioned above don't make any kind of deal out of not having a bassist... they just don't. And plenty of people like their music on face value.

Best Beatles album for me too. I think it's the real revolutionary album (no pun intended) ..... not sure why the whimsy of Sgt Pepper gets the so much of the credit.

I saw The Lovely Eggs a couple of weeks ago. Just two people (husband and wife), drums and guitar/Vox. She had a really good guitar sound which included plenty of bass. But she was playing block chords, which worked for what they do. But not might not work without bass if they wanted to change their sound (e.g start including solos, or play more of a groove etc)

Not in the least bit helpful to your project, but it remined me of this so here goes anyway! My son was going for an engineering apprenticeship, and needed to complete a small project. He asked me for ideas and I said I wanted t ore-house my tiny marshall amp into a cigar box to go with my cigar box guitar. Needed new pots too. Here's a pic. Learning/experience points included: Sourcing a box on-line sourcing pots Learning difference between linear and log pots (tone and vol) Creativity... handle is a drawer handle, speaker grill is a potato masher head, used an 'o' ring to strap it shut Physical build Soldering We ordered some chicken-head knobs which never arrived 😞 . He wrote it up into a great journal with pics and text. He recorded a short video on his phone of it being used with the CBG and played it t the interviewer. And yes, he did get the apprenticeship...... but defected from engineering to project planning by the end of the apprenticeship!

Indeed. Many of these bass-less bands have a better bass sound than a band with a poorly mixed bass-player (sound engineers fault, not the players)

IMO 'feel' is a talent in itself.

I remember their gruesome cover art... I have only one LP by them and the cover has loads of real-life blood-spatter photos.

Actually my last band did do this during each gig. We'd play Sound of the Suburbs near the end of the gig, and in the bit where it goes to quiet bass and stripped down drums we would carry on with the quiet instead of the instruments building back up. Then the guitarist would introduce the band before going back to the regular song. The guitarist did it even though I sang that song... it doesn't have to be the singer and he did a good job of it.

Neither did Mickey to be fair. I saw an Undertones documentary in which he recounted the bass played on a particular Undertones album (the lats one I guess). "It was decided that I should be playing a Wal bass. We entered the selection process for this instrument in which I was allowed to choose the colour"

You are Tony Blackburn and I claim my 5 pounds 😉!

From the punk or new wave era, a very recognisable one (and also good to learn when you are starting out) is PIL's 'Public Image' played by Jah Wobble.

While I say in the previous post that I don't agree with the above, I would make an exception for stuff like "IS EVERYONE READY TO GET DOWWWWWNNNN?". If you can't think of anything better than that then maybe say nothing!

I think I'll have to disagree a bit with the other posters. If you have some good chat between numbers it will really help a lot with how well you go down. You can do it in a tight way... plan the set into groups of two or three songs, and only have chat between those groups. Many of the gigs where I've come a way with a smile on my face are when the between-song chat was good. Many bands are good musicians and the chat (and similar stuff) can be a differentiator. This applies even if (especially if?) you are a support band.

Emperor Tomato Ketchup by Stereolab

I have to admit to not being very aware of session players. Most music I listen to is played by a band with their own bass player. For example Gail Ann Dorsey may well be a great session player, but she impinged on my consciousness due to her star quality. The other session bassists I know are because they are a leading member of a famous ‘crew’ like Jameson.

Freak Scene- Dinosaur Jr

Los Bitchos in Bedford. All female instrumental band... here's a KEXP performance. they are down to a 4 piece now I think... only one guitar now.

I'm not that much of a fan of the 'playing it the hard way' type stuff.... but as you started it, I'll add this:

Yeah, It's all very well doing covers... this group with a parrot lead singer are doing originals:

Great new(ish) post-punk band Deadletter in Bedford Bass player out of sight in this pic but very audible (and good). Excellent band.

@Dankology I meant "Third". I've had a hard day 🙂 Corrected now.

I've bought a few things from Coda Luton - Acoustic Guitar, an echo pedal and my beloved ukulele. Had a guitar set up there too. But mostly went in for picks and other sundries. As mentioned Coda Luton closed down... I think they just kept going until their rental term was up. I went to the Stevenage branch for a repair to a banjo..... and at collection time had to wait around a while amongst all the stock. But a roomful of guitars, basses and so on doesn't really interest me. I just go into the shop on the rare occasions I am after new gear (or a repair), look at the minimum amount of objects to make a selection and leave. I know it's unusual, but I can't be the only one... can I?