First Bass Gig

[CrowePhil]

I have my first gig as a bassist coming up this weekend. I've played guitar for about 13 years. My primary band for the past five years or so has been a five piece rhythm n' blues, rock, blues group. With the passage of time, various members of our group have moved away, and we are currently a trio. We didn't even play together for about a year, but when a solid gig came up about four months ago, I took up the bass duties.

Now, I have played bass before, about 10 years ago. Since we booked this gig, I have done nothing but play bass. I really feel like this is a niche that I have overlooked for years. I had a cheap hofner knock-off that I used to record with, but I went out and bought P Bass, strung it up with flats, and have been playing along to a ton of records. I got my parts worked up to our material (mostly covers, this is a local festival show, and we're playing the beer garden). I just think I'm really on to something here. It has been hard for me to find people to play with locally, because I've been just another guitar player, which are a dime a dozen. I think playing bass will open up some new opportunities. Anyway, I'm just really excited about this gig, so I thought I'd share.

[oldcatfish]

Have fun. I was also an experienced guitar player who had fooled around with bass before. About 15 years in playing guitar, I made the switch to being primarily a bass player. I only play guitar on occasion now. Except this weekend I am playing electric guitar for a church that I fill in at sometimes (usually bass, but once in awhile on acoustic guitar). I'm both excited and a little nervous...it's been awhile since I've played electric guitar with a band.
Anyway, I get many more requests to play bass than guitar. The bass definitely opens doors...especially if you get a good reputation among local drummers.