Nashville's bassplayers!

[maurilio]

Hello guys!

Poll... sort of...

Why someone would move to Nashville, why not???

I'd love to know your opinion on the Nashville music scene!

Thanks!

Mo'

[olaff421]

I live in a city near Nashville. The problem with this area is that it is saturated with bands/musicians. There are TONS of singer/songwriters floating around. It's hard to get a crowd going somtimes, I'm sure that's the case anywhere, but here I think it's because there's just so dam many bands.

[guy n. cognito]

It depends. Are you a trained musician, who can read notation and charts? Are you skilled at playing many styles, including country? Do you have any contacts in Nashville that could help you get gigs? If you answer Yes to all of these questions, then you might have a shot at eeking out a living as a Nashville musician. As others have said, this town is flooded with musicians trying to make it. Many club owners, especially the tourist clubs downtown, are aware of this situation and require most bands to either "play for free" or "pay to play" which many are willing to do because they think they are going to be "discovered." There are many well-trained musicians in this town who have to resort to craigslist ads just to find decent gigs.

[Mojo-Man]

Friend of mine moved to Nashville last year.
Scored bass gig, with artist that had #1 cd for 4 weeks.

[ldiezman]

Well.. I moved in Feb. to Nashville... and I had no trouble getting gigs all the time (paying decent money at that). 3 months later I landed a touring gig with a newly signed act... Being able to read charts and play every style of music is beneficial if you want to stand out amonst every other player in this town... but I'm making a living at it so I say go for it

[maurilio]

Hello guys, sorry for the long delay!
Thanks so far for your replies, appreciate!

To answer in a general way to all:

I'm a trained bass player. Read notation and charts. Been playing for more than 25 years, all kind of styles: folk, jazz, fusion, latin, blues, pop, country (I'm actually working here in LA with a couple of country artist)...
I have a friend that works in Nashville as a guitar player and I know some other artists there...
I just got back from a small "tour", height days. Gone from Michigan to Indianapolis and mostly in Nashville!
These friends of mine would really like me to move there, but I'm not so sure...
So, the reason of this thread is to have some impression/advise from my fellows TB's bass players!

So everyone's words are welcome!

M

[guy n. cognito]

If you have a decent look to go with those skills and connections, then you'll probably do ok. As I'm sure you are aware, country has gotten much more image concious over the past 10 years. Nashville is a GREAT place to live; much cheaper than LA. I've lived here for 4 years and I love it.

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

If you have a decent look to go with those skills and connections, then you'll probably do ok. As I'm sure you are aware, country has gotten much more image concious over the past 10 years. Nashville is a GREAT place to live; much cheaper than LA. I've lived here for 4 years and I love it.

Thanks much!

I guess I'm a decent looking guy

check for yourself www.mauriliomina.com

I hear you about Nashville being better than LA, it actually doesn't take too much

M

[maurilio]

.... and what about Blues and Jazz?

M

[Dr. Cheese]

Country dominates Nashville, but there is a strong gospel scene. R&B, jazz, and rock exist there also. Ten years ago, when I lived in Kentucky, and visited often, I saw the "other" Nashville music pretty often.

[maurilio]

Thanks!
That's a relieve! I really like Country, even more if mixed with Rock and Rock'n'Roll, but I love Blues and Jazz also!

.....

Things are getting interesting!

Come on folk, 'need more!!!

M

[Dave Martin]

There's a small (and not particularly good paying) jazz scene here with some excellent acoustic players - Roger Spencer and Jim Ferguson come to mind as two of the guys who end up on a lot of records), and the blues scene is kinda odd - while there are probably some bars around town that use blues bands (for around $50 a night per person), a couple of groups make better money than that at clubs like 3rd and Lindsley and Bourbon Street, where they play for the door. Of course, you can lose money playing these gigs if the bands don't draw.

The corporate/private party/wedding circuit pays a lot better, and there are some fine bassists doing well there, including Roy Vogt (who posts at talkbass from time to time); owning a tux, knowing lots of songs and being able to read will make those gigs possible.

[Bard2dbone]

The wierdest thing to me is that they have a different language from the rest of the world. I'm not talking about their accents here. I mean that there is a strange slang language in the Nashville recording world that is just too wierd to be comprehended.

The thing that always comes to mind was a recording date I did in Dallas about fifteen years ago, where the engineer was fresh out of Nashville. He looks over at me and says "Eat $#!+. Boy." I thought he wanted me to put up my bass and come kick his a$$, because that was my first inclination. Then he explained that he meant that he wanted me to do an old-school two feel in G.

Apparently 'Boy' is the key of G. And 'Eat $#!+' means the old school root-and-fifth-on-alternating-beats-in-two pattern.

I would totally need a translator.

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by Bard2dbone

Apparently 'Boy' is the key of G. And 'Eat $#!+' means the old school root-and-fifth-on-alternating-beats-in-two pattern.

I would totally need a translator.

Well, so would I if an engineer said that to me - and I've been working with Nashville engineers for 20 years.

Besides, everyone knows that 'Boy' is the key of 'B' - 'G' is 'George'...

[Bard2dbone]

I'm pretty sure the track was in G, because I remember the guitarist on the session saying "Ah. God's key." And he totally loves those first position blurgrass runs in G.

Well I WAS pretty sure. Now I'm less so.