"..finding a soul/funk/groove influenced bassist has been like searching for the holy Grail." Really?!

[solo4652]

I've been talking to a guy about joining his "collective". Here's what he said in his first message to me. Seems a bit of an odd suggestion that "finding a soul/funk/groove influenced bassist has been like searching for the Holy Grail".

 

"Hi there,
Firstly it’s great to know that there is a Soul, Funk & Groove style bassist in the area,
Most are Rock or blues influenced.

I, and many of my musician friends have been looking to get a really good funky soul
Band together for a while, without much success as decent bass players are very rare,
And finding a soul/funk/groove influenced bassist has been like searching for the holy
Grail."

 

He'll be the band leader, lead singer and keys player. He's 63. I went to his house for a chat and he told me all about his extensive history of playing drums and singing going back as far as his teens. I asked if he has any video links he could send me. He said;

 

" I don’t think I have anything from the digital era! I have a video, but haven’t transferred it to any other format. I can ask my daughter whether she knows of any phone footage of our performances, I have cd’s and tapes of demos and things like that, it’s not really something I’m into!  Listening to myself or watching myself is not my idea of fun, I’m very critical, that’s the problem."

 

Too many red flags?

[Judo Chop]

Only way to find out is by playing with him

 

not like that

 

 

[Dan Dare]

2 hours ago, Judo Chop said:

Only way to find out is by playing with him

 

not like that

 

This. If he's local, it's only a couple of hours out of your life. There could be some pink, potentially red, flags. The main one for me is that there are plenty of good soul/funk bass players about, but they usually know their worth and expect to be paid. The word "collective" does smack of no money, hippies, etc, but there's only one way to find out and it's easy enough to make your excuses and leave if he turns out to be another Walter Mitty.

[Terry M.]

No red flags to me. Maybe he's right about the lack of soul funk groove players in Devon. What in particular is making you feel wary?

[Supernaut]

Nothing out the ordinary to me. Why not arrange a rehearsal and see how it goes? 

[tauzero]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, unless you think he's going to mug you and steal your bass if you go to a rehearsal.

[TimR]

On 08/06/2025 at 18:16, solo4652 said:

I went to his house for a chat

 

...and you didn't play any music at all?