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Famous bassist encounters...

#61
I have had a few brushes with greatness along the way. When I was a teenager I was in a punk band that opened for DOA. Playing pool with Joey ****head was cool. Although I realized very quickly that people on records were people too.

Over the years my musical horizons expanded and I went to Humber College in Toronto and studied jazz. My friend Chris Gartner ( Invalid Link Removed )was at the same school and called Alain Caron and asked him to do a clinic. I forget how we paid for it. Can't remember if we passed around a hat or if the school paid. It was during UZEB Between the Lines tour and we went to all the shows we could.

Recently I went to New York City for a short vacation with the purpose of seeing Marcus Miller. I went to the 55 Bar the night before Marcus and saw Mike Stern, I had Mike sign my We Want Miles CD as well as his new one. Took a couple of pics as well. Should have got my picture with him. The 55 just might be my favourite bar now.

Went to see Marcus the next night. Great show although I ate bad suschi before hand. Not good. So I missed some of the first set and couldn't stay for the second set. Kicking myself. But I asked Marcus to sign the We Want Miles CD. He seemed to get a kick out of seeing it.

Hope to see Marcus again and have him sign my MArcus Miller Signature bass with a reall Marcus sig. :D
 
#62
mike dirnt at the pop disaster tour , cool guy we talked for about 5 minutes about if he preffers his P-bass over his old grabber .

I've also met the bassist from simple plan at the vans warped last year . I hate their music but my girlfriend wanted an autograph . I was listening to The ataris when suddenly all the band was standing front of me (except the shaved guy) , very cool guys.
 
#64
Hung out with Karl Alverez from the Descendents and ALL a couple of time when we did a show together the plast couple of summers. All i have to say is Karl as well as the whole band rock and are super friendly. and i met DD Ramone after his band the Remains played at Coney Island High several years ago. My singer was able to piss him off another time which is a long story.
 
#65
Too many to name, but here are my faves:

Seeing and hanging out with a 19 year old bassist for a new band playing in Atlanta for the first time. Great show, and I became a fan of his for life. A Stuart somebody. Oh yeah, Zender! Later on we became friends.
Hanging out with Nick Fyffe during Jamiroquai's last US tour.
Jamming with Bill Dickens.
Being friends with Adam Nitti, Jon Maron (Groove Collective), Za Williams (Arrested Developement), Preston Crump, Khari Simmons (India.Arie), Marq Jefferson (TLC, he plays on "Waterfalls" and he's also in my Motorcycle Club.)
Meeting Verdine White, Larry Graham, Vic Wooten, Bootsy, Aaron Mills (Cameo).
Having Raphael Sadiq come on stage in the middle of my gig and give me a high five.
Asking Adam Nitti for pointers, and having him respond with: "I've heard you play. You're fine." Lies, of course!!! :D
And talking with Doug Wimbish and playing some of his old Sugarhill basslines, and listening to him go, "Oh man, I'd forgotten about that one!!"
 
#67
i met Fieldy twice actually. the first time was after their very 1st show in the tampa area. it was at jannus landing in st. pete. it was cool, somebody asked him how it felt to be a rock star. he said, "i ain't no rock star, i'm just chillin' ". and the second time was at a miniature woodstock we have here in tampa every year called "livestock" it was about 6-7 years ago. he came walking through the crowd with a few of his friends. the funny thing is that nobody recognized him but me. so of course i was wearing my korn "scarecrow" shirt and him and his 2 friends were staring at me and my shirt as they got closer. they stopped to watch a band and then came a stupid "pick-up" line(you know what i mean) out of my mouth, "hey man, are you fieldy?" duh!! you know he's f*ckin fieldy. but anyway, he was really cool and shook my hand and talked with me for a little bit.
 
#68
Ah! That reminds me…

Compère: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Refreshment Room here at Bletchley. (applause) My name is Kenny Lust and I'm your compère for tonight. You know, once in a while it is my pleasure, and my privilege, to welcome here at the Refreshment Room, some of the truly great international artists of our time. (applause) And tonight we have one such artist. (grovelling) Ladies and gentlemen, someone whom I've always personally admired, perhaps more deeply, more strongly, more abjectly than ever before. (applause) A man, well more than a man, a god (applause), a great god, whose personality is so totally and utterly wonderful my feeble words of welcome sound wretchedly and pathetically inadequate. (by now on his knees) Someone whose boots I would gladly lick clean until holes wore through my tongue, a man who is so totally and utterly wonderful, that I would rather be sealed in a pit of my own filth, than dare tread on the same stage with him.Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparably superior human being, Harry Fink!

Voice Off: He can't come!

Compère: Never mind, he's not all he's cracked up to be. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Ken Buddha and his inflatable knees…

:)

- Wil
 
#69
Love seeing this thread still going - I mentioned my Wooten meeting already, but as for the rest of my musical run-ins, in case they count since they're non-bass:

Let's see -
-John Stabb, lead singer of Gov't Issue (I took him to Taco Bell for lunch =0) )
-Nils Lofgren (my old band went to a studio christmas party in MD)
-Matt Sorum with just a quick "hey, have a good'un" after a Cult show at HOB in Orlando. (I was a guest of a girl on the HOB crew and they didn't have anybody on external backstage security after the show, so I helped them out)
-Brief handshake with Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM
-I was a friend of, and then later gave a tattoo to, James, the drummer of Godhead (also went to their first CD party at Jason's house when I knew him [Jason's the lead singer] from the scene, before James joined the band)
 
#71
First of all, Ive met Trent Reznor as well, I lived in New Orleans for a long time. ;) pretty decent guy all in all, ask him about it, we didnt talk music really, (I was bass-ing for Soul Ignition at the time) we just knocked a few back at a little known hole in the wall called the Crow-Bar, with Phil Anselmo (Pantera,Down,Superjoint Ritual), and Jimmy Bower (EyeHateGod,Down) and Pepper Keenan(C.O.C,Superjoint Ritual) But then we're all just neighborhood brats who more or less grew up knowing each other.
Most memorable for me though, would be Johnette Napolitano from Concrete Blonde. I first met her at a show we all did at the House of Blues in New Orleans. She is an amazing person and she's quite the artist as well. Next on my list would have to be Rudy Sarzo, who I was privelaged to spend like 30 minutes talking to after a Malmsteen show in Denver just last month. One cool cat that Rudy! And Ill bet that theres hardly one of us who doesnt have at least ONE record that dude has played on! Hahaha! :bassist:
--"Playing bass for Yngwie? Well it's kind of like playing tennis with a swarm of bees!"--Rudy Sarzo
 
#72
Woodchuck said:
....Being friends with Adam Nitti, Jon Maron (Groove Collective), Za Williams (Arrested Developement), Preston Crump, Khari Simmons (India.Arie), Marq Jefferson (TLC, he plays on "Waterfalls" and he's also in my Motorcycle Club.)
Meeting Verdine White, Larry Graham, Vic Wooten, Bootsy, Aaron Mills (Cameo).
Having Raphael Sadiq come on stage in the middle of my gig and give me a high five.
Asking Adam Nitti for pointers, and having him respond with: "I've heard you play. You're fine." Lies, of course!!! :D
And talking with Doug Wimbish and playing some of his old Sugarhill basslines, and listening to him go, "Oh man, I'd forgotten about that one!!"
Click to expand...

Things to do today.......

1) Raid the kids' toy chest. Obtain whiffle ball bat
2) Call in "sick" at the office
3) Drive to Atlanta, stop off in Doraville
4) Wait in car for W...C.... to come home
5) Apply whiffle ball bat to his head and shoulders


Hey, what's a little jealousy among friends?


Peace,

James
 
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#73
Woodchuck said:
Being friends with Jon Maron (Groove Collective. And talking with Doug Wimbish and playing some of his old Sugarhill basslines, and listening to him go, "Oh man, I'd forgotten about that one!!"
Click to expand...

First off, I'm jealous of the Jon maron thing - I totally dig Groove Collective. The bassline and solo in "Out the door" from Dance of the Drunken Master are as groovy as it gets. Every bassist should listen to them! And second, I had a similar experience with Wimbish. Got a pic with him at NAMM and said "Sugarhill" instead of ''cheese". The look on his face in that pic is priceless - he was a bit surprised that I knew that was him. What a cool guy, too...
 
#74
Last April 4th, I met Bela Fleck and the Flectones after a concert. I had them all sign my copy of the Live at the Quick DVD and got pictures with all of them and got to talk to them for a little bit. They are all pretty cool guys to hang around with. I got my picture taken with Victor Wooten as well and got to talk to him for a sec before the rest of the crowd was all over him. That night I also got to met John Maghini of M basses. John brought a fretless five for Vic to try out.

It was kinda sad and funny. Everyone in the Flecktones had a crowd around them asking for signatures and such but Futureman was for the most part all alone.


Next encounter. I met Tom Hamilton, the bassist for Aerosmith one a few occasions. I didn't meet him at a concert or anything, just in my home town. Tom has a house in my hometown and i have seen him walking around my mall with his wife twice and i saw him at a gas station once a few years ago. I'm not sure if he is still living in my town anymore since his house there burnt down a little while back. It's a shame that it happened. A big horse barn and Tom's house were set ablaze by some idiot who likes fire. :mad:
 
#75
as a youngster out of high school, I landed a job at the local guitar hangout in santa Cruz, Ca. I met a lot of "famous musicians". The most memorable: Paul Jackson was hosting a rhythm seminar at the local jazz club; I scored a free pass..........man, that cat has the largest hands! his tele bass looked like a mandolin. Laid down some of the best grooves, i've ever heard. Being that my place of employment catered to the Doobie Bro's, I was able to meet Tyran Porter.......very cool. He's so soulful and melodic................he later produced an album I was playing on, free strings and advice; great experience. While living in So. Cal, I was working at a Chevy dealership as a tech, one of my customers, was Lee Sklar. Very down to earth, probably the nicest guy you'll ever meet. I told him of a fretless project I was building. Lee showed interest in my bass, even suggested I come up to the house and hang out..........photos included, unfortunately for me, He took on another busy tour schedule with PC. I didn't see him for quite some time, then out of the blue, he drops by the shop to show me his first proto type bass that Gibson had built for him. Yep, I was jazzed! :hyper:

H2
 
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#76
1. victor wooten- a few times, i appreciate him so much because he is that unbelievably good, but yet so HUMBLE! he is more than happy to share his knowledge with you too.

2. rocco prestia- one of my favorites, as him and paul jackson (who i was also fortunate enough to meet) are the funkiest non-slapping bass players on planet earth IMO. rocco was funny as hell. he always seems like he's havin' a good time, can't wait to see him at the end of this month (again).

3. les claypool- with all the monstrously technical bastards i listen to nowadays, les is still one of my all-time favorite bassists for his completely LEFT of LEFT field music. i went to a show about 4 HOURS EARLY (what a nerd), but it paid off because with all the crew flying in and out of the venue, suddenly i looked up to see les standing on the sidewalk, a few feet from me. yeah, needless to say, i jumped all over that one with my primus memorabilia! he was very nice, but we didn't talk long. i like collecting autographs of my favorite players, but read about most of the stuff i would want to ask them.

4. chuck rainey- that was one of the coolest encounters because he was so friendly. he got a kick out of this pic i had massively enlarged for his autograph. then i asked him about his solo works and where i could get them and he told me when they opened the doors of the venue, to locate him through this and that and ended up giving me one of his own copies he had on him! what an honor, little did i know, with the months of trying to special order that cd, it would be delivered to me (for free), by chuck rainey himself!

5. (the woulda',shoulda',coulda' encounter)
BOOTZILLA!!!! ARRRRRRRRRGGGG!!! okay, so i was at the EMP (experience music project) grand opening concerts in seattle to see beck and i see this big crew walking towards us all pimped out in their rockstar getups at the show. sho' 'nuff, its bootsy comin' at me, even rockin' some toned-down star glasses. granted he's just a human and all, i couldn't help it. LIKE A WANKER, I FROZE UP! my wife was crackin' up! somebody stopped him in front of me and they were talkin' and i was just standing there goin', "uuuuhhh...casper....but...uhhhh......what's the name of this town?.." yeah, wish that money to see beck was spent on a little ticket to see JAMES BROWN AND BOOTSY COLLINS, later that week, (chris farley voice; "SON OF A...")
 
#78
I met stu ham a while back at G3 in norther cali, very cool guy

when we approched Billy Shenan, he acted like a total ass : ( he turned around right when he say us and walked into a trailer.

on the other hand, we hung out with Joe satriani for like 20 minutes before the show, he was totaly cool.
 
#80
mile gordon and joey arkenstat at bonnaroo '03. gordon came over to the booth i was working at, looked at our stuff and moved along. i decided to follow him and, lo and behold, he leads me to arkenstat. i wiggled my way into their conversation...i just wanted to thank mike for doing "rising low". told him it made me proud to be a bass player. shook his hand and busted a groove back to work.
 

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