Howdy! For those new to the diary, I am a middle aged musician enjoying a bit of a musical renaissance, including picking up the bass as a secondary instrument. I have been learning primarily by gigging in 3-5 piece band configurations; documenting my gigs with brief writeups. See the links to past entries below!
So for the past few weeks, i've been prepping for something that *should* have been dread-inducing:
An all reggae show. I was asked by Frank to be a collaborator on bass/guitar as I saw fit in a Bob Marley tribute show he was putting together at a well known music venue that we played at together back in January. I leapt at the opportunity, as we had a full setlist, and the expectation (foreshadowing!) was that various contributors would be playing on a few songs each, so that I could just learn the ones I wanted to play. Jim was going to be playing lead guitar for any songs that someone else wasn't, and Matt was likely going to play drums (on a full kit) for most/all songs. Frank was going to do guitar/vocals on all songs, along with his recent pianist collaborator Shawn.
This was a fun project, as I had weeks to learn the songs. I really dug in. I was playing reggae at home, in the car, & at work for weeks prior. I was watching youtube lessons on reggae bass/rhythm in general, and finally had my list whittled down to:
Jamming
Three Little Birds
Stir It Up
No Woman No Cry
Drunken Sailor (reggae version)
Wagon Wheel (reggae version)
Dirty Old Town (reggae version)
I Shot the Sherriff
Redemption Song
In brief, the middle three songs are ones we play together normally, so I didn't put any time in on those. I wasn't "booked" to play on those, but mentioned that I would play them if no other bassist wanted to play on them (more foreshadowing!). The last two are songs I was working on both on guitar & bass anyway, and Jim & I had added Redemption to our catalog for our dual acoustic guitar gigs, so the main focus was the four Marley songs at the top.
I was going to play guitar on RS, and planned to play the harp intro on Town (both of which I did), so I ended up with *so* much gear to load in. I brought my Ampeg Rocket Bass 110 to free up a slot on the board, and I can definitely see the benefits of having your own amp, if nothing else in terms of controlling your own tone!
A female friend tagged along to do some vocals with us, so when I arrived, what we ended up with was a de facto 6 piece band that played all night (shock!).
The only issues here was that several of us hadn't *intended* to play all the songs, so we went in a bit blind. Luckily, Shawn can play any song on planet earth on the keys, Jim can play anything as long as he knows the key, Frank knows his own setlist obviously, Matt will go with the flow, and I am competent enough on bass to fake it at worst.
This led to some confusion, as I suspect Frank either planned on more collaborators, or he assumed those of us who did show would know the whole catalog, despite me telling him I prepared *exactly* the songs above.
Anyway, I thought it went great, Not a perfect show by any means, but we kept it on the road, even if only by two wheels in spots. Great lead work by Jim/Shawn, and layering by Shawn held things together. The songs I had actively practiced (which Jim had as well) went off great, as did the others on my list above. Not to brag, but my harp intro on DOT got the pop of the night IMHO, and the Marley songs Jim & I had practiced *really* got people moving. Three Little Birds in particular had the place popping.
The work I put in paid off. I used a couple of tricks I learned from a YT video to great effect, namely the "make a one bar line a four bar line" by changing it slightly on bar #2, playing the original for bar #3, then playing a new different variation for bar #4. I also laid out sometimes to add tension, which really worked out, and had people on edge waiting for me to come back in. I also led in with big ol' slides a lot. Lastly, I used a cool tip of trying to end a note from ringing out before Matt plays a snare hit. That gave everything an increased snap.
In terms of challenges, the reggae beat is still not intuitive to me as a bassist. If I have a line worked out, it goes great, but I can't improv in that style yet beyond tweaking existing lines. I was really pleased with the results of my extra practice. I suggested to Frank to create a "reggae list" that each of us can work on here and there independanty, so that for gigs like this, we can come together for a cohesive show.
I found our intros and endings were *much* better, which seems to be a trend whenever any of us play together. I think it's a combination of improving chemistry/familiarity, and better onstage communication.
The patrons seemed to enjoy the event, and the venue owner seemed quite grateful & pleased. We were invited back, and I know he wants Jim & I to lead a show there, so a further conversation will definitely be had.
All in all, it was a super fun project, & I really enjoyed the challenge & results!
Until next time!
Past entries:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
#6 #7 #8 #9 #10
#11 #12 #13 #14 #15
#16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25
#26 #27
So for the past few weeks, i've been prepping for something that *should* have been dread-inducing:
An all reggae show. I was asked by Frank to be a collaborator on bass/guitar as I saw fit in a Bob Marley tribute show he was putting together at a well known music venue that we played at together back in January. I leapt at the opportunity, as we had a full setlist, and the expectation (foreshadowing!) was that various contributors would be playing on a few songs each, so that I could just learn the ones I wanted to play. Jim was going to be playing lead guitar for any songs that someone else wasn't, and Matt was likely going to play drums (on a full kit) for most/all songs. Frank was going to do guitar/vocals on all songs, along with his recent pianist collaborator Shawn.
This was a fun project, as I had weeks to learn the songs. I really dug in. I was playing reggae at home, in the car, & at work for weeks prior. I was watching youtube lessons on reggae bass/rhythm in general, and finally had my list whittled down to:
Jamming
Three Little Birds
Stir It Up
No Woman No Cry
Drunken Sailor (reggae version)
Wagon Wheel (reggae version)
Dirty Old Town (reggae version)
I Shot the Sherriff
Redemption Song
In brief, the middle three songs are ones we play together normally, so I didn't put any time in on those. I wasn't "booked" to play on those, but mentioned that I would play them if no other bassist wanted to play on them (more foreshadowing!). The last two are songs I was working on both on guitar & bass anyway, and Jim & I had added Redemption to our catalog for our dual acoustic guitar gigs, so the main focus was the four Marley songs at the top.
I was going to play guitar on RS, and planned to play the harp intro on Town (both of which I did), so I ended up with *so* much gear to load in. I brought my Ampeg Rocket Bass 110 to free up a slot on the board, and I can definitely see the benefits of having your own amp, if nothing else in terms of controlling your own tone!
A female friend tagged along to do some vocals with us, so when I arrived, what we ended up with was a de facto 6 piece band that played all night (shock!).
The only issues here was that several of us hadn't *intended* to play all the songs, so we went in a bit blind. Luckily, Shawn can play any song on planet earth on the keys, Jim can play anything as long as he knows the key, Frank knows his own setlist obviously, Matt will go with the flow, and I am competent enough on bass to fake it at worst.
This led to some confusion, as I suspect Frank either planned on more collaborators, or he assumed those of us who did show would know the whole catalog, despite me telling him I prepared *exactly* the songs above.
Anyway, I thought it went great, Not a perfect show by any means, but we kept it on the road, even if only by two wheels in spots. Great lead work by Jim/Shawn, and layering by Shawn held things together. The songs I had actively practiced (which Jim had as well) went off great, as did the others on my list above. Not to brag, but my harp intro on DOT got the pop of the night IMHO, and the Marley songs Jim & I had practiced *really* got people moving. Three Little Birds in particular had the place popping.
The work I put in paid off. I used a couple of tricks I learned from a YT video to great effect, namely the "make a one bar line a four bar line" by changing it slightly on bar #2, playing the original for bar #3, then playing a new different variation for bar #4. I also laid out sometimes to add tension, which really worked out, and had people on edge waiting for me to come back in. I also led in with big ol' slides a lot. Lastly, I used a cool tip of trying to end a note from ringing out before Matt plays a snare hit. That gave everything an increased snap.
In terms of challenges, the reggae beat is still not intuitive to me as a bassist. If I have a line worked out, it goes great, but I can't improv in that style yet beyond tweaking existing lines. I was really pleased with the results of my extra practice. I suggested to Frank to create a "reggae list" that each of us can work on here and there independanty, so that for gigs like this, we can come together for a cohesive show.
I found our intros and endings were *much* better, which seems to be a trend whenever any of us play together. I think it's a combination of improving chemistry/familiarity, and better onstage communication.
The patrons seemed to enjoy the event, and the venue owner seemed quite grateful & pleased. We were invited back, and I know he wants Jim & I to lead a show there, so a further conversation will definitely be had.
All in all, it was a super fun project, & I really enjoyed the challenge & results!
Until next time!
Past entries:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
#6 #7 #8 #9 #10
#11 #12 #13 #14 #15
#16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25
#26 #27
