Author: ladybassmusic

The War of Art

So, I’m blogging this for three reasons… #1 – For all the creative types who thought of pursuing a career in the arts (I do get those in my teaching studio). Usually those folks are isolated and do not have a dirth of support/information/how to manuals on how to do it, let alone understand the Read More …

The Basses of Fun Home

Sunday’s office was the Sitzprobe at UMW’s Wonder Bread Studios for their production of Fun Home. Consider yourself warned…this post is FULL of bass nerd stuff. Continue on at your own risk. This musical *requires* five basses to play the show. The different basses are called up to help move the story through different decades Read More …

Weekly schedule updates, Celebrating twelve years of Spector in my life, and how I almost owned a red Euro5LX instead of a blue Euro6LX

And, it’s Wednesday again! Time for the upcoming schedule. Here’s where you’ll find me in the coming weeks… NEW BOOKING – Saturday 9/21 – NOVA – The Ashleigh Chevalier Band – LNB Tap House & Grille, 5351 Merchants View Sq, Haymarket, VA 20169, USA 10/11 – 10/13 – Lady Bass Gear will be vending at Read More …

Upcoming schedule for Fall 2019

And, it’s Wednesday again! Here’s where you’ll find me in the coming weeks… Saturday -9/14 – FXBG – Ashleigh Chevalier Band – The Virginia Cider Fest, 2400 Airport Ave, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 – www.vaciderfest.com – 2:30 PM start NEW BOOKING – Saturday 9/14 – FXBG – Ashleigh Chevalier Band – The Colonial Tavern – 406 Read More …

Upcoming schedule of events…

Here’s where you’ll find me…and my basses! The Fall 2019 schedule is booking up… We’re back on 9/6 at The Tin Pan, RVA – “Whiskey and You” – with Ashleigh Chevalier, Theodore Feldman, Linda Shay, and a whole cast of characters. This is a Bonnie Raitt/ Chris Stapleton tribute show. If you missed this very Read More …

Last week. Last day. Last hours….

Last week. Last day. Last hours. Last carloads of office items being packed up. Last time in this teaching office. Thanks to Chris Welborn; he helped me get four carloads of items out before we headed to NAMM. All the Rock For Strings gear; drumset, PA, practice amps, electric violins, sound reinforcement, percussion, music stands Read More …

Upcoming schedule…

Here’s where you’ll find me…and my bass guitar…in the coming weeks. 7/18 – 7/20 – Next week is Summer NAMM in Nashville. If you are attending, swing by booth #1133 for a demo of the Gizmotron from Aaron Kipness or myself. www.gizmotron.com 7/18 – Chris Welborn and myself are very proud to be part of Read More …

Gizmotron informal Q&A, live performance clip of “Soul Amputation”

Hey gang…just released a new video. This one happens backstage, pre-show, at Orion Studios, where I’m answering some questions about the Gizmotron unit on my Spector Legend NT. Jefferson Ogata happened to be there…camera in hand…and got this footage of the conversation. The conversation is followed by some live performance clips from “Soul Amputation”. This Read More …

Creative source….

A parent came in yesterday; a rather cool fellow. Ex-military, a drummer, a single dad with two young ladies he’s raising. He’s been following my stories of DIY exploration on Facebook. He told me about a bit of drama that unfolded last weekend. On a major evening. PROM NIGHT. FOR HIS DAUGHTER. AND THE CAR Read More …

May / June 2019 Schedule

Here’s an updated schedule with where I’ll be….with my bass guitar…. in the coming weeks; 5/11 – Private house concert event Saturday – 5/18 – The Ginger Bass Mafia opens for The Mercury Tree at Orion Studios in Baltimore – www.orionsound.com or check out The Ginger Bass Mafia page here on Facebook. Doors at 7 Read More …

Heading home from Glass City

SuperVan 2.0 heads across western Pennsylvania…and we see this. No need for concern folks…we’re ok. Owning a SuperVan is known effective deterrent against Windmill Cancer. #shieldsup In case you are from the far future, and you have no idea what the hell is going in on the popular culture of April 2019…here’s a FAQ on Read More …

Toledo! Here we come!

Toledo! Going be rolling your way next weekend. Looking forward to seeing old friends and supporting a great cause! #pups With Benji Katz, Ben Titus, Jonathan Moody, Bruce Vermett, Steven Guerrero, and myself! #ghs #ghsstrings #ladybassgear #spector #warwick #gizmotron

The Philadelphia BassGear Expo

This is always a fun event. For me, it’s more like a family reunion than an expo. I was an instructor at the Gerald Veasley Bass Bootcamp for a few years. There’s two “schedules” of instructors at the camp; the daytime instructors and Night Owl instructors. The campers would be so excited at this event, Read More …

Enter Anora…

Dear universe, you are simply showing off this month, and I thank you so much for it. Most importantly, I gratefully thank Christopher Cardone and Edo Castro. These gents made this moment possible. Edo wrote me with this thought that resonated deeply; “…weird as it may sound…but it’s like handing someone maps of places they Read More …

Pearl Street Warehouse Show

Video by Jonathan Wiley. A great clip of the Ashleigh Chevalier band in action last night at Pearl Street Live, opening for the Grammy nominated Danielle Nicole and her band. With Ashleigh on raw, soulful vocals/acoustic guitar, Jon crushing it on lead guitar, Toby Fairchild on drums, and yours truly holding down the bass chair. Read More …

Ikigai

I didn’t create this, this is just something I liked. This is a very useful and methodical way to examine the life factors that generate happiness. That being said, pardon the ad at the end.

Upcoming shows…

Hey gang, there’s some noteworthy shows coming up. First off, the Ashleigh Chevalier Band is hosting a “Women In The Blues” show at Colonial Tavern in Downtown Fredericksburg. Then we’re headed into DC to open for the Danielle Nicole Band. Lastly, the Ginger Bass Mafia (a project with Chris Welborn and myself) will be opening Read More …

Best NAMM yet!

A huge thank you to Christopher Cardone, Edo Castro/ Leslie Ann Castro-Woodhouse and Aaron Kipness / Gizmotron for including me in their NAMM plans and shenanigans. Huge thanks to Nalani Bass for organizing “The Breakfast Club”, and much gratitude to all the lovely ladies in attendance. 🙂 Many thanks to Liza Carbe and Jean-Pierre Durand Read More …

Geronimo

So, one of my 2019 goals is to make some of my string orchestra arrangements available online. I might also post some of my solo bass arrangements as well as time goes on. I’m kicking things off with “Geronimo”. This is a string orchestra arrangement of The Wedding of River Song, The Doctor Who Theme, Read More …

A Work in Progress…

Oliver Kriska – electric violin, viola Dave Hills – electric cello Brittany Frompovich – bass guitar Many thanks to NS Design, Willcox Guitars (makers of Lightwave basses) GHS Strings, Nitewalker Bass Guitar Tube Preamps, and Gizmotron for making this possible. Please visit these sites and check out what they have to offer: NSDesign: https://thinkns.com/ Willcox Read More …

More Adventures with the Gizmotron

Today’s Gizmotron/Lightwave report…. I wanted to use the “diesel truck coming for your soul sound” of the current Gizmotron setup in a track. I had already been searching for a sustained “alien war machine” type of sound. Mechanical, sustained, unsettled, intense, and authoritative. This just nailed it. I don’t want to share the whole track Read More …

Enter the Gizmotron 2.0

Betcha you didn’t see this combination coming…. The wheels are not aligned quite correctly yet. However, the noisy, clattery sound begged to be explored before I finished a proper alignment. Add two distortion pedals….yeah, it’s like a diesel truck, coming for your soul. 😈 Gear on and off camera used in this clip; Lightwave Saber Read More …

Working on a track with Ben Titus…

Here’s a snippet of Ben Titus working on a track with me in my home studio. He’s got a Skjold Drakkar Catacomb 6, a Line 6 Helix pedalboard, the Plus pedal by Gamechanger Audio, and GHS Progressives on the bass. #skjold #skjoldbasses #ghs #ghsstrings #ghsartists #skjolddesign #skjolddesignguitars #ghsprogressives #ghsprogressivesbass #gamechangeraudio #gamechangeraudiopluspedal #pluspedal #line6helix #thesewalls

Art Attack in the News!

Lots of time with a bass in my hands tomorrow. (Saturday 9/22/18). First off, I’ll be performing as part of Art Attack in downtown Fredericksburg from 10 AM – 2 PM. I’ll be located near or in front of 902 Caroline Street. I’ll be leaving Art Attack a little early (the entire event ends at Read More …

Nitewalker News…

After a few months of using the Nitewalker Preamp in both live shows and in my home studio, using a range of electric basses and electric strings, I’m proud to announce I’ve joined the Nitewalker family. Thank you Cliff Latshaw! Stay tuned for more about the Nitewalker…in the meantime, check them out here.

Performing at Thunder Row in Nashville, TN

Many thanks to Darren Michaels, an amazing friend, human and musician, for getting these photos from Saturday night’s Thunder Row Bass Invitational. That’s Quintin Berry; Spector represented at Thunder Row for sure! Always mindblowing seeing Quintin work, and quite honored that he gets some inspiration and ideas from watching me work. The Spectors came out Read More …

Today’s Office…

I put my pedalboard and setup on Jenny Craig today because I am visiting some students at Thornburg Middle School and William Wassum’s class. To quote my friend Jared Lees; like most fad diets, this won’t last. Only the RC2, RC300, Vapor Trail, eBow, NSCR5M and the mighty Blue Spector Euro6LX in tow. Could be Read More …

DIY Jazz Bass in Platane

My DIY fretless is on walkabout making friends. The Flying V bass rebuild is in the home stretch. Wiring work on the Steampunk headless is underway. And THEN…one of my very, very talented bass students comes in with this badass DIY Jazz bass. Stats; Platane wood with a boiled linseed oil finish, Wilkinson jazz pups, Read More …

Lady Bass Gear Update

These are now getting packed up to go on walkabout with me. There’s a nicely diverse selection of materials involved in making this bunch; wood beads, stone beads, polymer clay, laser-cut vinyl records (shaped into guitar picks), African trade beads, bone beads, wood burned pendants (courtesy of Greenwood Creations), leather, ebony guitar picks, zebrawood guitar Read More …

D’Agastino Flying V Bass

We’re in the home stretch with the mods on this. When this bass came in, it had a cracked nut, a broken 3 way switch, a warped backplate, a missing knob, no shielding, some interior wiring done with twist nuts….(yikes)…you get the idea. Good intentions, poor execution. A previous owner pulled the original pups and Read More …

Creative Source

A parent came in yesterday; cool fellow. He’s been following my stories of DIY exploration on Facebook. He told me about a bit of drama that unfolded last weekend. On a major evening. PROM NIGHT. FOR HIS DAUGHTER. AND THE CAR BREAKS DOWN. This is BAD folks. He’s telling me the story of the ordeal…and Read More …

More Pedalboard mods

‪ No tweaks to my tone or pedals today; this mod was purely to make me smile. #diypedalboard The LEDs add a little bit of noise to the signal chain, but it’s barely noticeable when playing at volume, and certainly not noticeable in a rock setting.

Student bass build

Poor me. A student built this fretless…..he asked me to take it, play it this week, and give him feedback. I hate playing and evaluating prototypes, bass builds, and new gear. It’s the worst. *laughing* Thank you for trusting me with your bass Andy. It will be a fun week. The other students are checking Read More …