I realize that I may be posting this in the wrong forum, but "Bass Humor & Gig Stories" seems like a much more social and fun forum than "Miscellaneous", so my apologies in advance. Mods, please move this if you see fit. Thank you. ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ Is anyone from TalkBass going to the Three of a Perfect Pair Music camp with Tony Levin and the members of Stickmen next week? I'm going for my first time. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm a little hesitant too. I don't have much experience performing or even jamming in a large group setting. I started playing bass just before I turned 50 about eight years ago and I can be a bit insecure about my playing. (OMG, I must be the first insecure musician ever!) Any reports from previous years attendees? Encouragement is welcome and appreciated. Thanks, Mark
Go for it .. Think of it this way... out in the audience how many people do you think can play bass? Not many if any, right? So you have the advantage no matter how well or bad you play. You're the one on the stage, not them... so play for yourself and it will be fine. People don't really listen to the bass like they would the lead guitar player, they just feel it. You hold it all together at the low end. Just another little tip from your uncle Dbase.
Unless you transpose Elephant Talk to a 4 string fretless bass and play it with his funk fingers, Levin will never respect you. Just kidding Have fun and don't stress it. I wish I could go to something like that.
One of my all time favorite players for style and tone. I think you will have a great time. Don't sweat it.
No, but I did attend Victor Wooten's camp some years back. There was Vic, Adam Nottingham, Steve Bailey, the Pastor Pastorious boys, and dozens of other amazing musicians there. There was also a 15 year old girl who had been playing about 6 months. I was out classed......and had a BALL! Bass players, generally, are not ego trippers. You'll be fine. Report back when it's over!!
Hi All - Well I attended the camp and had a good experience. Playing in public wasn't an issue as the sign-up sheets for the evening "jams" filled up quickly and didn't have any songs I knew how to play. I wish I had known ahead of time. I would have loved to prepared some music to play. Even Tony Levin's classes weren't that playing oriented. The was lots of questions and answer with excellent insights and fabulous road stories from his career. If anyone want more info about the camp, please PM me. I'm planning on attending next summer as well. Thanks for all your support and encouragement! Mark
Tell us about some of the other attendees. Friendly? Welcoming? How were the accommodations? Meals? What were the non-music activities like? Was is a generally pleasant vibe?