East Tennessee Talkbass

[JEDI BASS]

Come here my 3 pickup/2 output Lākland tonight starting at 9pm at Ridge Runners Bar n Grill in Oak Ridge. I’ll also be using my sparkly Stingray for some drop tuned songs, and trying some backup vocals on some new stuff. Should be both scary and fun ;-). We play everything and the crowd always digs it and has a great time! We love playing there!

 

[Jeff Roller]

Awesome @Jeff Roller! Thank you so much. Sounds like our kind of place and we do the country too. What about p.a.? house or bring your own? Lights? Stage? Load in difficulty?

There is "some" house PA. We used our own bass bins and tops, our own mics and board.

There are house lights and house monitors, and there was house wiring for my mic and amp line out.

Load in/out is a breeze through a side door near the stage. There is a pool table between stage and exit, so you have to fight traffic around the pool table at load out. But still, friendly clientele, most would clear the door for you and hold the door open.

 

[BrickBatMansion]

@Jeff Roller : Thank you so much for the info. Ive got a great band that just needs to spread out a little and this is perfect.
@JEDI BASS : Im gonna try to catch one of your gigs too, to check out "them thar fancy basses"!

 

[JEDI BASS]

Must be doing something right. We had a substitute drummer last night w/ very little prep time. We had some really rough spots that we laughed and joked our way through... we made it work. Ended up getting a party gig next weekend, and the amount of money in the tip jar was INSANE!!

 

[Jeff Roller]

Clint Keeton Band at The Pub in Jamestown last night. Even though my schedule has slowed considerably, I always seem to have a gig on the one night a year we lose an hour (DLST).

On the obverse, when we gain an hour, I've been at gigs where the clientelle expect you to play an extra hour lol....

 

[JEDI BASS]

That’s funny Jeff!

 

[JEDI BASS]

I didn’t know Jason Mcmahan, but almost all my musician friends did. He was the singer and bassist in Absent From The Body. But, more importantly than that, he was a man of faith, a father, and a husband. He beat cancer recently, only to succumb to Covid. My condolences to those who knew him, and my prayers for comfort for his children, wife, and loved ones.

 

[Michael Vee]

I didn’t know Jason Mcmahaneither. He certainly sounded like a remarkable and admirable man and musician. I'd like to add my condolences.

 

[Michael Vee]

It's good to have TB back after the data center incident and subsequent outage!

I have a new pedal- the Keeley Bassist compressor! I picked up a Darkglass Hyper Luminal in 2019 which sounds great when it's dialed in, but I wanted a compressor with fewer knobs and complexity. The Bassist arrived late yesterday, so am planning to try it out today sometime.

I'm hoping some of you ETTB'ers have upcoming gigs this spring! Let's hear about them if you do..

 

[iamoldschool]

I have a new pedal- the Keeley Bassist compressor! I picked up a Darkglass Hyper Luminal in 2019 which sounds great when it's dialed in, but I wanted a compressor with fewer knobs and complexity. The Bassist arrived late yesterday, so am planning to try it out today

Michael, I have the Keeley Bassist as well and really like it. Does not color my sound and does a very good job of evening out my sloppy playing. Fair warning, they go through 9 volts like Jeff Roller goes through a Pal’s burger! Pick up a power supply if you don’t already have one.

 

[Michael Vee]

@iamoldschool, I am a recent convert to pedals. I played for years with no effects. I now have a Pedaltrain Nano+ board with an Eventide Powermax supply, which I got at a good price but is serious overkill for the Nano+, with which I am running no more than 4 pedals at a time. But - No batteries!

I really like the Keeley Bassist just from my initial playing with it today. I auditioned it with my both of my Ibanez Artcores, and the Keeley made both of them sound fabulous, getting rid of the funky ups and downs of those basses throughout their registers. Most people on TB say the Keeley Bassist is very neutral. I would say it made both of those two Artcores sound the way they should sound, so it actually added a lot to their sound.

I will be playing some of my other basses through it in the next few weeks and see, but boy, I really like the Keeley Bassist so far, of the three compression pedals I own. -- MV

 

[Michael Vee]

like Jeff Roller goes through a Pal’s burger!

You did me in. I have not had a Pal's burger since I played Mamma Mia! for Encore Theatrical in summer 2019. TOO LONG. Road trip this month coming up! - the power of suggestion! I was in Jefferson City 10 times for that show, and I went to Pal's probably seven times..

If Roller can drive to Jeff City from Maryville for Pal's.. I can sure go there from north Knoxville! (Those burgers and Frenchie Fries are THAT good, ETTB'ers!)

So, @Jeff Roller, when did you have Pal's last??

 

[Jeff Roller]

This past Saturday lol.....I actually needed to get some work caught up, so I rewarded myself with Pal's in Jefferson City prior to driving to Clinton!

 

[iamoldschool]

Lol, Why not? Jeff City is on the way to Clinton from Maryville anyway, right? We actually have two Pal's in Motown now. One is about 3 miles from my house.

I own three pedals: TU2, Bass Big Muff and Keeley Bassist. The Keeley is my "always on" pedal. Hate playing without it now.

 

[iamoldschool]

Update on my band, The Lost Creek Shakers: we lost our rhythm guitar player just before the pandemic hit. He had been having back issues for years and finally reached the point where he had more pain than pleasure from performing live. Moving the equipment just became too much. So, we started looking to replace him. Actually did our last gig as a 3-piece and it went well. Still looking for more, we auditioned 3 guitar players and struck out. About two months ago, I answered an ad for a bass player in Motown. The group was a great bunch of guys but didn't really seem like a good fit for me so I declined. I did, however, exchange numbers with their keyboard player and invited him over for an audition with the Shakers. Bingo! Turned out to be a great decision and a great fit for the band. We will be playing our first gig with him on Friday, May 21 at the Elks in Morristown. Would love to have any of my ETTB brothers that are available to come! As a bonus, the Elks is right between both Pal's!

 

[Jeff Elkins]

No gigs yet! Like you probably, I'm waiting for the theaters to decide how they're going to deal with the pandemic. I'm jonesing for a good show. Right now, all the guilds around here are doing outdoor shows (when they're doing them) and no musicals.

 

[Michael Vee]

Hey Jeff E! I did play a production last month. It was "The Sound of Music" for Grace Academy here in Knoxville. It was inside in their sanctuary. Felt so good to play that one! I'm hoping Webb School does a fall musical. Last time we talked, they hadn't decided. Hope you get to play a production soon!

 

[iamoldschool]

I did get to play for the Morristown East high school Pops concert back in January. Shared the pit with some great players there but band was only required on about 5 tunes. It’s on YouTube here .

 

[Michael Vee]

"Free Ride"! Yeah! That song is so fun to play.

Very nice, Richard!

 

[funk generator]

My wife and I want to visit every pals in one day. Once I get my car fixed it would be a fun way to break it in.