| Well, it ain't about you (refer to Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" if you need amplification of that one). That means as a bassist, the bass line is way less important than the SONG. If the song needs root and fifth (which indeed is the heart of most traditional country style bass) then that's what we gotta do. Some bass lines are pretty boring by themselves.
Here's an example. "Good Hearted Woman" by Waylon Jennings. When I started gigging, and for years afterwards, it was a staple of every band I was in. It's dirt simple- just 1/5 for each of the three chords, a diatonic walk-up from I to IV. The most interesting thing about it is the very unsubtle key change- no modulation, you just jump up a whole step. I hated it. Absolutley hated that thing. But I had a choice- I could either hate those three minutes of every gig (or more depending on if we got requests to repeat it) or I could deal with it.
I chose to deal with it. Since it didn't take any thinking about the notes, I decided I'd use it to really hone in on other musical concepts. I'd focus on the exact way to hit the strings with my fingers to get the sound I wanted. The exact time to hold the note before going to the next one. Exactly when to hit the string so it locked exactly with the kick drum (and each drummer is different so that's a lot of difference). How to give the chorus a lift within the harmonic and rhythmic constraints of the song. How to control volume, density, and tone with just my fingers. Etc. etc.
All that made me a better bassist, and I got to look forward to that song so I could experiment with those things. It was still root/five but I learned a lot. So, what I suggest is to start with really simple straightforward parts. Get the lock with the drums down cold. Get your sound control sorted out (with your hands, not with gear). Learn where the guitarist rushes and the singer drags so you can hold it all together. Then you'll start finding things about those songs that will lead you to other bass notes. But let the song lead you, not the bass.
There's very much a servant leadership role to playing bass. Check out Matthew 23:10-12 and all John 13:12-17. Apply that to your bass playing.
jte
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JTE
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"Without space, music is just noise piling up on itself." TRK
Lakland Owners' Club # 248
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