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Double Bass What is it with Bluegrass players?

#61
Interesting, and pretty balanced, discussion on Traditionals vs. Newgrass in Rolling Stone today.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/f...jerry-douglas-old-crow-medicine-show-20141002


excerpt:

"I think of bluegrass music as the town square," says Cardwell. "Some people want to live downtown at the intersection of Flatt and Scruggs or Bill Monroe Avenue. Other people want to live farther out in the suburbs or off on Yonder Mountain or some other place. But we're all kind of in the same neighborhood. It just depends on how close to downtown you want to live or if you want to come and visit town once a year. We want to welcome everyone to come and visit. It's some of the best music in the world."
 
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#62
I think a lot of the non-pro bluegrass bands and the parking lot pickers basically want to be like Bill Monroe tribute bands, which largely accounts for the lack of flexibility. What would Bill do? But something else which has been glanced off but not specifically articulated is that an upright and a slab bass (and an ABG) simply move the air differently. It's not just a visual distinction.

And I often wonder if playing URB activates a different part of the brain than does playing slab bass. I know that on the big bass, for me, playing fewer notes is more satisfying. Feel and tone are paramount.
 
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#63
Snobs.

I've got a friend who plays celtic music, and his backup band are a bunch of bluegrass players. He hires them for every single gig he does (which is quite frequently), yet when they get gigs they won't let him play with them—and it's not like he wouldn't fit in. Personally I think they're d!cks. I've told him that he should put together his own band and let these guys sink back into the duck dynasty swamp that they came from!!
 
#64
Jake deVilliers said:
...Would it be okay for me to show up at your "acoustic blues, old timey music, folk, and jug band music" jam with my Tele/Strat/SG and Mesa Boogie, or not?
Click to expand...

Depends on whether you can make it work or not.



Sammy Shelor, LRB's longtime banjo player, has been known to pick up a Strat on occasion :D. Here, he's direct to the board through a lowly Whirlwind Director passive DI, which imposes an interesting back-loading impedance on single-coil Fender pickups which has the effect of producing a low-mid-rangey EQ curve that works well for Chicken-Pickin'... For the same reason, that particular DI sounds hideous with many EBs. IMHO.
 
#65
Yango said:
Snobs.

I've got a friend who plays celtic music, and his backup band are a bunch of bluegrass players. He hires them for every single gig he does (which is quite frequently), yet when they get gigs they won't let him play with them—and it's not like he wouldn't fit in. Personally I think they're d!cks. I've told him that he should put together his own band and let these guys sink back into the duck dynasty swamp that they came from!!
Click to expand...

What does your friend play? (instrument)
What sort of Celtic music? (Traditional, new-agey, Celtic folk, Celtic rock, Celtic metal, Celtic jazz, Celtic polka... )
 
#66
Feral Feline said:
What does your friend play? (instrument)
What sort of Celtic music? (Traditional, new-agey, Celtic folk, Celtic rock, Celtic metal, Celtic jazz, Celtic polka... )
Click to expand...

He plays acoustic guitar (very well); bodhran (he can make it sing); tin whistle and harmonica... he also sings lead and can harmonize very well.

He plays traditional celtic. But the music certainly has a bluegrass flavour to it—and considering his backing band, it's not surprising—but it works very well.

They even hang out apart from the music scene and get along very well. The thing with them is that their gigs are their gigs, and they're not interested in having an "outsider" up on stage with them—not that they do a lot of gigs, I'm sure if it wasn't for my friend keeping them playing, they'd all be working at McDonalds. Actually, it just struck me as I typed this, they're not just snobs, they're ungrateful snobs!!
 
#68
Feral Feline said:
Well, if your friend doesn't see a problem with the situation and the band doesn't have issue...
Click to expand...

He does get pretty po'd when they do shows and don't invite him along, not only would he enjoy it, but he could use the money too (full time musician, three young kids, wife out of work...). But obviously, for some reason or other he's willing to put up with the situation. To each his own, I guess.
 
#69
I fall on the other side from a lot of you. I just don't see what's wrong with wanting bluegrass to sound like bluegrass. The acoustic aspect is tremendously important to bluegrass, and you're never going to get a slab to sound as good as a well-played upright. Everyone on TB is in a classic rock cover band it seems, I'm sure they'd rather their guitar player not show up with a dobro.

Of course the music needs to evolve, and I love progressive bluegrass, (just saw the Deadly Gentlemen at IBMA, they killed it) but there's nothing wrong with traditionalists.
 
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#71
I've played at quite a few BG jams over the years (40 years? good grief).
Sometimes folks really like BG, but don't really play a trad instrument. If done from a place of respect, these folks are usually well received.
Then there are harmonica players who show up to every jam and never ever stop playing. They play over the vocalist. They play over the guitar break. They play over everything. Sigh.
My point, I guess, is that you can find jams that are pretty open, but it's still good to listen.
 
#72
^^^ That happened to me at a blues jam. Supposedly all acoustic, but a keytard (and I normally wouldn't denigrate keyboard players, but here the label fits) shows up with a sax fiend (<- "r" omitted on purpose) and trainwrecked the jam. The keyboor brought his electronic all-in-one speakers device and tried to play jazz standards the whole night whilst exhorting sax fiend to constantly solo ... no respite from the sax/keys combull – they stampeded over every other musician's solo and over the vocalists. The place was packed and these two idjits were right in front of me and I'm not exaggerating much to say it was so tight I couldn't move but a few inches – thus the sax fiend kept banging his sax into my bass, which still bears the marks, and not once did he apologise nor cease and desist with the bashing.

They were encouraged by the blues-night regulars to play blues, but kept trying to shove jazz on the agenda. If the keynut had brought an upright piano (acoustic) and respected others solos and the vocals and stuck to the blues, then maybe the venue owner wouldn't have shut the monthly jam down. He has never hosted another jam since then.

[/Rant-Vent]

Jazz, blues or bluegrass, there's one (sometimes two) in every crowd.
 
#73
Before I bought my DB I made a ubass conversion from a small guitar. Everyone at the jams really seemed to like it, but when the DB player showed up someone would always comment - "Oh we're so glad you showed up! We needed the bass."
Now I've played for enough years to know I'm not THAT bad!!!!
ps when I'm not playing bass, I'm playing ukulele.
 
#74
Hi Everyone...

I've held off commenting for a while because I didn't want it to seem like I was arguing with anyone. Here are the answers to some of your questions and issues you raised.

1. We're talking about a once a month Bluegrass jam where people stand around in a barn and play in one big group or multiple smaller groups.

2. I've been playing a long time and I know the material cold. I've been playing it and similar music for almost 60 years.

3. If played correctly, my Kala Ubass sounds more like an UB than an electric, but it takes time to get it right. I played a sea chanty Light House gig over the weekend and a stream of players came over to tell me how much I sounded like a UB rather than an EB.

4. I use an Acoustic Image amp and a GK 1x12 Cab which is exactly what you'd be using for an UB if you needed more volume. No effects, no peddles, no nothing but an instrument and an amp.

5. I've never been asked to turn down my volume anyplace. I've only been asked to make it a little louder.

6. If I play my Fender, I use foam mutes on the strings to control the sustain.

7. On the two times I tried to join in, I don't try to play rock, blues, folk or any other type of music.

8. What brought this all on was that I was thinking about buying and learning to play an UB so that I could fit in. I even took a field trip to Upton Bass to get a feel for what's available (they were wonderful people). I've pretty much dropped the idea because frankly, I think the bluegrass group is a bunch of insecure, power hungry horse's a**es. Playing with them isn't worth The time and effort of starting all over again with a UB and that's a shame. For the music to live on we need new players to be encouraged to put the time and effort in. If this is the way they're going to be treated, it's just better to move on.
 
#75
"I think the bluegrass group is a bunch of insecure, power hungry horse's a**es. Playing with them isn't worth The time and effort of starting all over again with a UB and that's a shame."

Wings: Hmmm. Well if that's the case, maybe you need to get out to some more jams or stick with your regular pickin' buddies. Even with an upright bass you can encounter unfriendly players. Fortunately, not all bluegrass people are like that. It also sounds like you should stick to the electric bass because it takes a while to become accomplished on the upright...even playing bluegrass. Make the most of your existing bass skills and have some fun!:D
 
#77
I've put together jazz sessions and had guitar players show up with big amps and pedal boards. It depends on the sessions and how public it is, i guess, but if I'm trying to find some people who share my love of hard bop, I don't appreciate someone bringing their own thing to it and then saying that we have to change the music or it will die.

Maybe it's the same thing, maybe it's not. I don't know. There are lots of people to play with and lots of places to play. I never have a problem with people being clear about what they want and if it's not me and my bass, I'll skip that session and look for people who are looking for me.
 
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#78
TroyK said:
I've put together jazz sessions and had guitar players show up with big amps and pedal boards. It depends on the sessions and how public it is, i guess, but if I'm trying to find some people who share my love of hard bop, I don't appreciate someone bringing their own thing to it and then saying that we have to change the music or it will die.

Maybe it's the same thing, maybe it's not. I don't know. There are lots of people to play with and lots of places to play. I never have a problem with people being clear about what they want and if it's not me and my bass, I'll skip that session and look for people who are looking for me.
Click to expand...
That's exactly it, Troy - thanks!
 
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