Bassists with disabilities

[Barton Lee]

My right leg is paralyzed from a spinal column injury which occurred in 2004 when a driver fell asleep at the wheel of his car, crossed the center line and struck me head on at 65 mph. I was riding my BMW motorcycle and somehow instinctively led with my right arm which struck the windshield of his car, hurtling me over it and allowing me to survive. On my way though, the handlebars (probably) broke my pelvis into two pieces and extruded the nerves in my spine that once engaged the muscles in my right leg. It's all there but the electricity has been turned off.

I was wearing a quality helmet and never lost consciousness (I wish I had - every second of the event is burned into memory, even the sounds), though I almost lost my right arm. My wife told the surgeons that I was a musician and they just had to save it in spite of their doubts about it. Luckily for me, I received care from some of the best doctors in the world at the Mayo Clinic. I was back playing again in about a year but things have never been the same of course, in real life or the music business.

I'm lucky enough to have musician friends who didn't abandon me despite my inability to stand and play (more than a few songs at least), and the challenges I have getting myself and my gear to gigs and on stage. I've had some great gigs in the years since and consider myself very fortunate though I'll admit that I'd like to play more live shows than I do (average about a dozen or so per year).

I don't have any cartilage in my right wrist or elbow so playing with a pick or slap style don't work any longer for me, and I had to sell my upright as that also no longer worked for me. Finger style I can manage well enough to play Jaco's Teen Town at 128 bpm on my Fender Tony Franklin fretless P. The neuropathy that I have to deal with makes everyday life a real challenge all too often but the ability to continue playing bass at home and in public has been so important to my mental well being the last 17 years. I've buried enough friends to know that I'm one of the lucky ones.

 

[motoman]

My right leg is paralyzed from a spinal column injury which occurred in 2004 when a driver fell asleep at the wheel of his car, crossed the center line and struck me head on at 65 mph. I was riding my BMW motorcycle and somehow instinctively led with my right arm which struck the windshield of his car, hurtling me over it and allowing me to survive. On my way though, the handlebars (probably) broke my pelvis into two pieces and extruded the nerves in my spine that once engaged the muscles in my right leg. It's all there but the electricity has been turned off.

I was wearing a quality helmet and never lost consciousness (I wish I had - every second of the event is burned into memory, even the sounds), though I almost lost my right arm. My wife told the surgeons that I was a musician and they just had to save it in spite of their doubts about it. Luckily for me, I received care from some of the best doctors in the world at the Mayo Clinic. I was back playing again in about a year but things have never been the same of course, in real life or the music business.

I'm lucky enough to have musician friends who didn't abandon me despite my inability to stand and play (more than a few songs at least), and the challenges I have getting myself and my gear to gigs and on stage. I've had some great gigs in the years since and consider myself very fortunate though I'll admit that I'd like to play more live shows than I do (average about a dozen or so per year).

I don't have any cartilage in my right wrist or elbow so playing with a pick or slap style don't work any longer for me, and I had to sell my upright as that also no longer worked for me. Finger style I can manage well enough to play Jaco's Teen Town at 128 bpm on my Fender Tony Franklin fretless P. The neuropathy that I have to deal with makes everyday life a real challenge all too often but the ability to continue playing bass at home and in public has been so important to my mental well being the last 17 years. I've buried enough friends to know that I'm one of the lucky ones.

Sorry to hear about this but this is why i sold my motorcycle.

 

[Barton Lee]

Your response is understandable and certainly doesn't offend. My response to the accident was to attach a sidecar to my remaining BMW and ride another 195,000 miles since then. No regrets here.

 

[Billyzoom]

I feel a bit odd for sharing mine, as it seems rather insignificant compared to some others. Had some major depression and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which essentially makes me wake up and go through life with a sense of dread. Meds and therapy have helped, but it’s still a factor. But it was severe enough that I lost a rather lucrative job, was divorced from a lovely woman of my own doing, and was on long term disability for two years, and when that ran out I still couldn’t function, so I spent another year with no income, trying to live off my severance.

I ended up moving close to family and got back on my feet…looking for work was tough at 55, with tons of experience but no degree. I’m running a coffee shop now, making enough to live and not struggle, but at least I am back on my feet. Feeling blessed in many ways, but the struggle is still a daily one. Every. Single. Day. The depression is low level but not gone, the anxiety is a daily struggle… still on meds, and likely will be for the rest of my life. Grateful to have family and kids, and a new granddaughter. And even in the times when I really struggle, when I look back to when I was at my worst, there is no comparison. It was very dark. Glad I’m still here.

 

[Billyzoom]

My MS has been progressing a lot lately. I can still walk but it has become more difficult and exhausting, I also fall fairly regularly as I am dizzy and unstable. I bought a travel mobility scooter a few weeks ago and just got my first powered wheelchair on Monday. The scooter is great for going to the grocery store, Costco and travel. I plan to use the wheelchair around the house and going for “walks” in my neighborhood. The wheelchairs cost was astronomical, thank God for good health insurance, I only had to pay $10.00 usd out of pocket. I don’t know what people do without good insurance.

Sorry to hear about the progression…really happy that you were able to get the equipment and chair you need.

 

[Riff Ranger]

I feel a bit odd for sharing mine, as it seems rather insignificant compared to some others. Had some major depression and was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, which essentially makes me wake up and go through life with a sense of dread. Meds and therapy have helped, but it’s still a factor. But it was severe enough that I lost a rather lucrative job, was divorced from a lovely woman of my own doing, and was on long term disability for two years, and when that ran out I still couldn’t function, so I spent another year with no income, trying to live off my severance.

I ended up moving close to family and got back on my feet…looking for work was tough at 55, with tons of experience but no degree. I’m running a coffee shop now, making enough to live and not struggle, but at least I am back on my feet. Feeling blessed in many ways, but the struggle is still a daily one. Every. Single. Day. The depression is low level but not gone, the anxiety is a daily struggle… still on meds, and likely will be for the rest of my life. Grateful to have family and kids, and a new granddaughter. And even in the times when I really struggle, when I look back to when I was at my worst, there is no comparison. It was very dark. Glad I’m still here.

Chronic mental health issues really take a toll. I get it

 

[G Aichele]

Born with "birth paralysis" in right leg and arm, plus I also tend to trip/stumble a lot, which led to a fall several years ago causing cracked right hip. No standing during gigs for me. And my right hand may not have the best dexterity. I tend to pluck with my thumb.

 

[Huw Phillips]

Great thread thanks for posting, you guys have some serious ailments going on well done for being so positive and making things work for you.
I got Lyme disease 4 years ago, I have both physical and mental problems that are challenging, my knees are both in need of surgery it I have to wait for the Lyme to calm down before I can get surgery, mental problems are mostly to do with memory so I am in no way as bad as some of you guys, as you have said being positive is a huge help and I enjoy playing enormously

 

[Skeezix]

Let's see...
Here's the tag on my motorcycle.

 

[callofcthulhu]

I'm aurtistic. My 5 year old is too. Actually, we are both genealogical anomalies. My son and I have a certain gene in our DNA strand that does absolutely nothing. UCLA has been searching for 2 years now, and cannot find a single other case where the same gene is acting the same. They say that normally when there is disfunction there, that particular gene is working in overdrive. Which causes a number of different disorders. There is not one other case in medical history where it is dead. Except for my son and I.

High five

 

[LBS-bass]

Why am I just now seeing this thread? I have autoimmune issues which cause profound fatigue and joint problems. I never really think about it as being disabled per se, but it certainly keeps me from becoming the player I would love to be.

I work around these issues as best I can. It's a challenge, but I know what I'm capable of and what's beyond my physical capacity with regard to my fingers. Less predictable is the fatigue, but I have medications that help with that. It's an ongoing battle.

 

[Smith357]

My pinky on my fretting hand was cut off at the first knuckle, so i basically play with 3 short fat fingers, plus, I have no rhythm and I am tone deaf.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Nightcrawler

 

[CTW68]

Epileptic diabetic with mild brain damage due to surgery to fix some malformed blood vessels here. Getting my fingers back has been a long row to hoe, but it's happening...slowly.

 

[JonathanPDX]

I did a TED Talk a few years back about autism and music (specifically, bass.)

 

[eldoryder]

THANK YOU, Jonathan. As someone who enjoys the bass AND a father of a son with Autism, I can really see this talk helping folks understand the "Spectrum" better!

 

[Rich Fiscus]

In addition to being on the Autism spectrum, I’ve developed severe neurological problems, most likely caused by my parents’ exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. My spinal canal is only about a third the diameter it should be. Ironically, that makes me pretty lucky. The unlucky ones - and there are a lot more than most people realize - ended up with spinal bifida or other similarly debilitating neural tube disorder.

Even though I’ve been dealing with the problems for a couple years, I’m just past the point of ruling out all the (un)usual suspects, so now I’m working on finding a neurologist with more expertise in spinal cord and/or neurodevelopmental issues.

Meanwhile I’m dealing with a laundry list of symptoms from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Every one of my senses except hearing (thankfully) has been affected. Neither eye focuses correctly, so I see 3 of everything. I can barely taste my food, so I don’t eat much. That does help me get around my swallowing problems.

By far the worst part has been the degradation of my finger style playing. I’m not sure if I could bang out eighth notes for 3 minutes if my life depended on it. Over the last month I’ve been knocking the rust off my pick skills at least.

Every day is an adventure. I get up when the nerve pain in my legs gets too bad to go back to sleep and go to bed when my vision and balance go too bad to do much else. In between I try to get some exercise in and play as much bass as my body allows.

 

[Flbandit]

I crushed a vertebrae in my back in a motorcycle crash, and have been in pain ever since. I also deal with anxiety disorder and bouts of depression. Most of my issues are (semi)controlled with medication. But I can't walk very far, or lift much. I recently took up bass because I can play sitting down at home. Arthritis is bad as well so I'll never be a Jaco, or Les Claypool, but just playing something I can recognise makes me happy.

 

[Rich Fiscus]

25849400[/URL], member: 129904"]I did a TED Talk a few years back about autism and music (specifically, bass.)

I keep forgetting to respond to this, but better late than never. I love your video on 2 different levels.

On a personal level, I love hearing others on the spectrum explain how they experience the world. Despite being as different individually as we are as a group, compared to neurotypical individuals, there’s always something familiar.

In fact, what pushed me to find a neuropsychologist and get a diagnosis was a video of a woman who was nonverbal, but able to read and type. Through a voice synthesis program, she explained that her non-stop arm waving and head bobbing was just her way of interacting with the physical world around her. I had never heard of stimming, which I do quite a bit of as it turns out, and I’m just about as far from her as you can get, functionally, but I just felt the same as her on some strange level.

For me it’s all about music, and always has been. Some people love music the way others love chocolate. I love music the way other people love oxygen.

That doesn’t translate to visual endeavors at all, but it gives me an affinity for the written word. I often say that the rules of writing are for people who can’t hear the music. Well composed language has it’s own rhythms and harmonies.

On a more general level, which has also become more personal to me of late, I suppose, it demonstrates the power of music on the human brain, and how little we really understand about it. I always think of musical “sense” as what you hear in your head, but that’s just how most of us experience it.

Wherever that musical spark comes from, it has the ability to find its way out. Your brain had to wire itself to visually process audio stimulus, plus inventing your own musical language along the way. Sometimes Autism feels like being all alone in the world, but sometimes it feels like having superpowers.

As it turns out, my musical spark seems to defy my neurological problems to a degree. It’s a struggle to sign my name, and my wife won’t let me use sharp knives in the kitchen, but suddenly I can play again. It took a lot of physical adjustments, and some days I still don’t have it, but that’s a big improvement.

 

[murphy]

Physically I'm right there with you. In 1973 when I was 23, I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease, lymph cancer. At that time they only used radiation treatments, and they blasted me with it. Over the years, the negative effects keep happening. First, it killed my thyroid and I've been on replacement ever since. It also killed all the hair follicles on the back of my neck. In the mid eighties it was discovered that the pain I was getting in my neck and shoulders was because the radiation damaged the nerves in and around my neck and spinal cord, which prevents the muscles around there from developing, to where in the last few years I can't hold up my head very well.

In the mid 90s, I got chest pains when I exerted myself, they found the coronary arteries that surround the heart were damaged by the radiation and scar tissue was causing excessive plaque buildup, so in 1996 I had open heart surgery to by-pass five arteries. in 2002 I was diagnosed with bladder cancer, which was also attributed to the radiation, but it was in the very early stages and it was cured.

In 2013 it was discovered that the radiation damaged my left and right carotid arteries in my neck and had stents put in both. A few months later they found that three of the heart by-pass grafts had closed and a fourth needed a stent, only two function now, which limits how much I can exert myself. in 2018, they found that two of the valves in my heart were damaged by the radiation and I had open heart surgery again to replace those. Plus while in the hospital, they found I needed a pacemaker and installed that. In preparation for the heart surgery, they accidentally left me on a saline I.V. for 10 hours, which bloated me and left me with high blood pressure and edema, having to take more medication.

In 2020, they found Squamous skin cancer on both sides of my neck caused by the radiation, which was thoroughly removed. In addition, in 2013, I finally had my right hip replaced from a car accident I had in 1977.

I too play sitting in a chair, and I can't carry my gear, so I use one of those old lady shopping carts to move it around, even setting it in front of me during a gig with mounts for my iPad and bass. My mental health is not adversely affected. I tend to be optimistic and positive and don't let any of the ailments hold me back, within reason. I know that attitude got me through all of it. I don't wallow in the circumstances, I move forward and enjoy myself as much as possible.

Your story has brought tears to my eyes....What a heavy price you have paid all your life