Thank you Rock Band!

I know, it is an odd title, but hear me out if you are curious...

Cliff notes history about me and my bass playing...I played bass back in Jr High (86 ish), High School (89 ish), and college (95 I graduated). I had a couple years of theory training in there, but I wouldn't consider myself a musician by any means...

I then gave up playing bass for a time while I focused on my career as music wasn't going to be my profession.

I played briefly with some coworkers back in 98-99, but it wasn't anything serious. I did purchase two basses at that time (actually had $ for the first time, so why not). A Steinberger spirit xz 5 and an acoustic 5 string. I stopped playing once again shortly after as I met my wife and was focusing on family...

Fast forward to 2008-09 (ish)....

My wife had me purchase Rock Band for our WII (fun game btw). Well, i played it for hours on end. I always selected Bass for the instrument. Then, I downloaded the Iron Maiden (I was a metal head in my youth, and still am to some degree) expansion pack, and played that for about an hour. That's because it brought back memories that were so vivid of me playing bass to some of my favorite songs with my friends back in the day, and I did something I didn't think i would ever do again...I dusted off my bass, and started to play it once again...

Then, in 09 i found TalkBass (thank you GAS!) as i have since revamped my collection...and continue to do so today!

I found a band on CL in about 2010 and stayed with them until 2013. We went through a few drummers as we were a three piece. We were just a "garage" band and never actually played for anyone other than ourselves. Mid 2013 I was looking for something different musically, so I hooked up with a great bunch of very talented guys, and stayed with them until about three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, I answered a CL add looking for a bass player (of course) and i checked out their website and I was pretty familiar with most of their songs, so I was pretty excited and I responded. After a brief back and forth I had an audition and they left it to me to pick the songs that we would play.

Well, I quickly looked at their set list and selected the ones I was familiar with and had always wanted to play with others.

Here is what I prepared (and I love all of the songs but have never played these songs with any other band....). Needless to say I was stoked to play these

Creep - Radiohead
Don't Change - Inxs
Fall Down - Toad
Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger
Good - Better than esra
Heavy - Collective Soul
Inside Out - Eve 6
Just like heaven - The Cure
State of Love and Trust - Pearl Jam
Black - Pearl Jam
Hey Jealousy - Gin Bolssums
My Own Worst Enemy - Lit
Banditos - The Refreshments
MachineHead - Bush
Sex on fire - Kings of leon
Ring of fire - Social distortion

So, now it is auditon night, and the guys are cool and easy going. I felt very comfortable. They gig from time to time and are looking to ramp it up to at least once a month in 2015. I can commit to once a week practice with once a month gig, any more than that and not sure I would be the right person for the job. I was very upfront with them about this, and they were cool with it and on the same page as me. Great! Time to play!

We run through the songs, and I absolutely nail it. Even I knew it and I can be pretty dense. There was a chemistry there that I haven't really experienced before, it was awesome to say the least!

I kept it simple by learning the hooks, and improvised the rest where I had too. I had prepared the songs in advance by using tab's and youtube and then my ear when the previous two failed me. My ear is OK, but not great so the internet was a huge help to me. Internet, where were you back in the 80's?...

The next day, the drummer called me and welcomed me to the band. I am still on cloud nine right now, and on 12/12, I played live for the first time in 25 years. It was only 6 songs as they had already lined up a sub (who is a very cool person and awesome bass player) before my joining the band, but I had a blast for those six songs and the patrons at the bar seemed to really enjoyed themselves.

It was a great night that was many, many years in the making for me.

So, I thank the video game Rock Band for reminding me how much I loved playing bass. And I thank my family for supporting me with my hobby that I enjoy.

Really no point to this post, but I just wanted to share my story.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your story.

Happy holidays!

- Gid