Lady Bass Music

In 2009 I joined the MTH team of bloggers and contributed articles over a few years. This is an index of what was contributed. Nov. 2008 – Using Audacity As A Practice Trainer Dec 2008 – MusicPro Magazine Jan 2009 – Taming The Sheet Music Tiger March 2009 – Keeping Tax Paperwork Organized May 2009 Read More …

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 …

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 …

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

This is one of the best parts of my job; pairing up donated gear with students. Aiden very recently started playing bass. She’s already a very talented cellist. However she came to the realization that playing bass will better serve her musical goals. And better yet….she wants to be a doubler so she can be Read More …

Part 3 takes us to an entirely different pit setup than in the two previous videos. The orchestra for this production is onstage, behind a prop wall and a black curtain. At the end of the production, both the prop wall and the curtain will fly upwards, revealing the whole orchestra to the audience. This Read More …

Well, I decided to give isolation wedges a try on my Mackie HR824 monitors. If you are like most folks…it’s a bit natural to wonder “Do these really work?” Physics stands behind the idea that they should. But let’s face it…most folks (myself included) need to see (or in this case…hear) the proof. The science Read More …

I’ve got these two new video uploads to share this week from the production of “Hello Dolly” that I’ve been involved with. I had a LOT of questions about how a remote orchestral pit works and why my rig is set up the way it is. Hopefully we can cover all of that in these Read More …

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 Frederickburg 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 …

9/7/2018 I am VERY proud to announce I’ve joined the GHS family of artists. Thank you to Jonathan Moody and GHS for working with me. Over many months of extensive and exhaustive searching along with Ben Titus, Chris Welborn, and Jaymi Millard through multiple string brands, I’ve tacked down a great match in great strings Read More …

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.

First off, here’s the things to look forward to. I’ll be performing next weekend in Lakewood Colorado at Festival Italiano. How does a gingery bassist who plays “cosmic” bass (quote from a fan at the recent Porchfest show) get a gig at Festival Italiano? Well, lucky for me, they added an International Market Stage this Read More …

Thanks for all the positive feedback from folks on my Memorial Day weekend shoot at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Really appreciated the shares and the kind words. My phone was blowing up for a few days across social media, email AND text because of these pics. Glad it inspired folks. It was a bit of Read More …

A post with my photos from the 23rd Annual Memorial Luminaria. More than 15,300 candles are lit for this event; one for each solider buried in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Photos were taken on a Canon EOS 50D with a Sigma EX DC 10-20mm wide angle. The camera is running Magic Lantern. I used long Read More …

Friday night, during the recent storms, there was a car accident on Courthouse Road. A car got T boned. The car struck; that guy was very lucky to be alive and walk away. The girl in the other car was sitting on the road when I arrived, bleeding from her right leg. I’m no doctor, Read More …

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 …

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 …

‪ 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.

This seems to happen every 6 months…the pedalboard undergoes another evolutionary step. Or an experiment happens. Either way, it’s a good thing, ultimately. I’m sure this board will go on a diet (which we all know…those never last..LOL), or perhaps I’ll endeavor to put together a pair of travel boards at some point. Before: After: Read More …

Last summer, I left this bass off with new parts. I managed to concoct a coat of paint that was a blend of copper and bronze, so it would simulate aged copper. However, I didn’t really know how to get other aspects of the look I wanted. Like the reflective surface of copper and the Read More …

Here’s more info about the Glass City Get Down / Glass City Low Down in Toledo in April. Honored to be in this lineup of great players for the bass showcase…and what a cool cause! ‬I’ll be bringing Lady Bass Gear to the party as well.

That expression in the first pic was me on Friday night. SuperVan picked up a nail in a tire while I was rolling towards Philly, lost pressure, and then had a major sidewall blow out. My destination was the G3 concert in Philly…I was meeting friends there. This is an example of the fine humor Read More …

I’ll be getting on the road again…my looper in one hand, bass in the other. My next trip takes me to Toledo, for the Glass City Get Down and Bass Showcase. They are assembling an impressive lineup of players for the event, and I am honored and humbled to be included. Here’s some info from Read More …

Just a head’s up…and making this official…about a week ago I made it known that I have resigned as the bassist for the Headstone Circus Band. I wish Bart and Mark the best of luck in all their endeavors. This started for me as a subbing gig, and I greatly appreciate that they called me Read More …

I’m back with another installment of DIY projects for musicians. Here goes… I’m big on DIY pedalboards, which works very well at this time in my life. I’ve been having discussions with folks online about DIY boards. So here’s a few projects that surfaced… Pedalboard one was built by a guitarist who is a huge Read More …

Someone just lent an electronic tabla to me. It’s proving to be big fun for writing and practicing odd time grooves. Normally, it’s a metronome to help Indian classical musicians train and practice. For me, it’s breaking up some writer’s block and stretching me into areas that I’ve wanted to explore. I wrote a quick Read More …

This is a blog that folks have requested to see…the story and the video footage of the tornado that spun up during the trip to the LoDo Bass Bash. I’m learning Adobe Premiere right now, so this created a great reason to practice video editing and get this blog written. Here’s the gigs. At least Read More …

I’ve been working on the documentary project, which bring me to recall pivotal points in my history…and sometimes contemplating them. So, we’re going to hop into the wayback machine again for a moment for this blog. I’ve just graduated college. I’ve signed up for a master class performance with Edgar Meyer. Ok…no pressure on myself. Read More …

We’ve got a second guitarist who has joined the lineup for one of my ensemble classes. Best part; he is very DIY inclined, which makes for a great fit with the personality of the rest of the group. This is his DIY pedalboard. Click on the text link above each picture to see a larger Read More …

Warning…the music geekery is strong in this post. Abort now if you hate pedals, pedalboard geekery, and the like. So, I’ve been geeking out, like everyone else over the 2018 new product releases from NAMM. And this lovely piece of gear turned up in my newsfeed. Mind blown, right? And guitar pedals have been migrating Read More …

Hi folks, Things have been intentionally pretty quiet on this front (matters regarding the documentary) for awhile, so I appreciate your patience. Given some events in the past six months, I’ve decided to take creative control of this project. Things like that sometimes happen. I plan on giving my former partner for this project credit Read More …

I gotta admit, this looks a bit intriguing. Looking forward to seeing one of these in person to give it a try. I like how the designers finally just “own it” that a looper is pretty much a performance friendly, portable mini-recording studio in the design and layout of this unit. #win

During Winter NAMM 2017, I started connecting the dots on the family tree for most my instruments. I came up with this; Ned Steinberger designed most of the bass gear I lay my hands on; my Spectors and the NS strings that I use. He also quite indirectly caused the opportunity for Warwick amps to Read More …

No, not your wife or hubby…(though congrats if that’s your situation). I actually mean your next instrument purchase. And usually, this is a purchase that happens much later in life..beyond the point of the “starter” guitar purchase that someone buys for their kid. Instruments come into our lives for many reasons. When we find a Read More …

Well this is a great way to kick off the new year. Sending a thank you to the folks at NoTreble for featuring our video! As my partner in crime, Ben Titus has said of this, “If you like The Tedeschi Trucks Band, bass, and vocals… or even if you’re unclear, check this!” Add looping, Read More …

Let’s take this moment to welcome in our AI overloads; this is a video blog movie that was entirely generated, automatically, from my iPhone. That being considered, it did a fairly decent job, assisted with just a bit of editing on my part. I used this same format for the November 2017 video blog. To Read More …

WE ARE LOOKING FOR acoustic & electric string players; violinists, violists, cellists, & double bassists of all ages & skill level with an interest in performing rock, pop, and original music in an orchestral setting that uses a rock rhythm section. We use both electric & acoustic string instruments. We are also looking for one Read More …

Apple generated this movie on my phone today. It works well enough as a blog for the last few weeks. There’s a few editing choices that did frustrate me. The program split screened some pictures without giving me an option to have them display otherwise. There were closeups on some of the photos that were…strange, Read More …

The UMW production of Little Shop of Horrors closed it’s doors Sunday after a three week run of shows. Fifteen show total. I had a few other gigs sprinkled in between those shows as well because..well, yeah…what’s running another half mile when you’ve already a marathon? That being said, sometimes you are ready to shift Read More …

It seems that both Ben Titus and I are on a roll cranking out new material lately. Ben is my partner in musical mischief; we used to gig together locally as a duo. That has slowed a bit since he has relocated to Wisconsin. However, we still get together as we can, as seen in Read More …

I’ve got a new track up on Reverbnation. This one features Mark Leigh on guitar and Bart Balderson on drums…basically the other two folks that make up the core of The Headstone Circus Band. Many thanks to my recording student, JB Hope, for being the engineer on this session. This is NOT the usual cover Read More …

Heya gang, seems like it’s going to be a pretty prolific week for video clips. I assure you, this was not planned, so enjoy the burst of videos while I can supply them. 🙂 I have a copy of a clip from my performance with Ben Titus at Roy Vogt’s 7th Annual Thunder Row event Read More …

Working on demos between lessons tonight. A good excuse to try another DAW for a few hours and see if I like it. One of the bands I’m in liked a cover from my solo show, so they decided they wanted to join in. This is a cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine”, performed with the Read More …

This past weekend, I had my first outing with the Ashleigh Chevalier band in a long time. We had roughly six months off as Ashleigh had fractured her wrist while we out on the tour earlier this year. And then she fractured it…again. What were the chances, right? Well, thankfully, she’s been on the mend. Read More …

And, we’re back for part two in the the evolution of the Intergalactic Ashula. Brief recap of part 1; Maiven McKnight, the Aerosol Queen, and the Ashula drew quite a crowd during Fredericksburg’s Art Attack. You can see Maiven painting the back of the bass here. I got the bass home and it was apparent Read More …

This has been a great reference I’ve been using almost since it came out in 1996 to help people understand the level of playing they need to be doing to achieve the desired results they want. Written by a trombonist…but it goes a long way to help all musicians be more aware of the work/results Read More …

Art Attack 2017 lives up to the name….art attacked my Ibanez Ashula and left it for the better. Dave Hills, Caroline Ayers and myself were performing, networking and socializing next to artist Maiven McKnight. (Video of some of that performance in an upcoming blog.) I liked Maiven’s work, so I invited her to use the Read More …

So, August 9th, Double Koru Rock Ensemble did our final show with Oliver Kriska as our violinist. Here’s a clip from our final show with this lineup of musicians…a cover of “Every Breath You Take”. I’ve done this tune with a lot of groups on bass and on vocals. I have to admit, I fell Read More …

Right before I headed out for Summer NAMM, a used 5 string Spector Legend neck through showed up at the Sam Ash store in RVA where I teach. I turned in some of my old gear for store credit, used my employee discount, and this lovely followed me home for all of $100. We’re still Read More …

So, by request, I put together some footage of the new bass in action this past weekend. I’m still getting used to the neck, so forgive the moments where I’m still getting my footing with this bass. The first 1:22 is all pics from the build, including some new ones. Jump to 1:24 to see Read More …

The summer session of Rock For Strings kicks off this week. Here’s some pics from our most recent performance at the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon; http://www.blog.ladybassmusic.net/?p=616 We are looking for acoustic and electric string players, violinists, violists, cellists and double bassists of all ages and skill levels. We will be performing rock, pop and Read More …

This bass had a hard life, so here’s hoping it’s going on to better things. Since I’m waiting a few more days for the pickups to arrive to finish the walnut Jazz bass build, I figured I would start the next project bass in the queue. This poor thing has been through A LOT before Read More …

Fri. 6/2 – deadline for students to register for the Rappahannock Summer Music Camp – More info at www.rsmusiccamp.com. Fri. 6/2 – The Headstone Circus Band – Adventure Brewing Company NORTH – all ages show, no cover. 8 to 10 PM Sat. 6/3 – The Headstone Circus Band – private party event Wed. 6/14 – Read More …

Reading about Wonder Woman today. I’m a long time fan…her story just resonates with me. So like many folks, I’m looking forward to the movie release this week. Her story is long overdue to be told on the big screen. BTW, all the Wonder Woman images are copyright Warner Brothers, not mine. I’m just borrowing Read More …

This blog is serving as an online album of photos and media from the Double Koru Rock Ensemble/Spring 2017 Rock For Strings joint performance at the 2017 Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon. Many thanks to Andrea King, Thunder 104.5, Forte Music Studios, and Fredericksburg Main Street for hosting us! And many thanks to Core Redonnett Read More …

“What’s it like?” I figured I’d do something different for this blog and revisit a blog post I originally wrote Monday May 14th, 2007. I’ve updated it some as well with new perspectives and ideas as it’s been a few years and many more experiences were had since this was first written. So many folks Read More …

Band at work…studio “office”…trying to get a track done. We were working at the studio at UMW on this particular day. Double Koru Rock Ensemble is; Oliver Kriska – violin Dave Hills – cello JB Hope – guitar Bart Balderson – drums Brittany Frompovich – bass

My first unboxing video….

NoVa, Richmond, Fredericksburg folks…this is a great weeklong day camp for music that I teach at every summer for young people. It’s immersive and intense…which promotes a lot of growth for the campers in a short time. The enrollment deadline is coming up. Check out the details at their website. www.rsmusiccamp.com

So, I decided to knock two things off my bucket list. I’ve never owned a jazz bass, and I’ve never built a bass. Plenty of project guitars have come and gone from my care, but I’ve never really built a bass guitar. Time to correct this oversight. The unfinished body was purchased on eBay from Read More …

Part two of the previous blog post….thanks for staying with me to part 2. 🙂 Another new bass joined my cartage of instruments recently. MANY THANKS to Chris Willcox and LightWave for this beauty! It arrived as a practice with my drummer was concluding. Man…after the unboxing, and a lot of “ooos and ahhhhss” from Read More …

Thanks for joining me here! Things have been busy, so I’ve got quite a few news items to run down. That being said, I think this will be best served as a two part blog. I’ll try to do this as succinctly as I can. Here goes… It’s been a great week of news about Read More …

Lady Bass Music Schedule of Shows and Events Spring /Early Summer 2017 Sat. 5/6 –(with a raindate of 5/13)- Will- Stock! A House Concert with Scott Varney, the Brittany Frompovich Trio, Austin Crow, Josh Trump, Ward Warren and more! 3 PM to 10 PM – email me at lady.bass.music@gmail.com for location info. Sun 5/7 – Read More …

Have bass, have pet sitter, have cases of cat food stockpiled from BJ’s (it was a good sale)….it’s time to go play shows. I’ll be on walkabout shortly; Fredericksburg, Richmond, NoVa, down into Tennessee. For the schedule of shows with all the details, head to my website at www.ladybassmusic.com. Here’s what’s coming up over the Read More …

Last week, I decided to do something different for my solo bass show at Adventure Brewing Company South. I invited special guests Bruce Middle (guitar) and Bart Balderson (drums) to join me on the gig as a trio. We covered my solo bass arrangement of Eleanor Rigby, which someone described as “the Eleanor Rigby superjam”….running Read More …

I sometimes get to thinking…I’m just not doing nearly enough with my life. And then the phone rings. It happens. It’s a good thing. So let’s talk on what the net result of that particular day was…. THURSDAY MARCH 9TH at ADVENTURE BREWING COMPANY SOUTH – ALL AGES SHOW First off, it’s my birthday this Read More …

I haven’t blogged in awhile. Life is moving too fast right now. But I saw this old entry in a journal pop up. I normally don’t post very personal things. But somehow..just a feeling today…maybe this will help someone. I don’t know who…I actually have no one specific in mind as I repost this. This Read More …

Among a long list of tasks kicking off the new year; get some good promo pics for Warwick. The folks at Warwick have treated me really well. Early January is usually not so busy, so I scheduled a photo shoot for myself and fellow Warwick artist Chris Welborn. That being said, many thanks to the Read More …

It was a busy Christmas “break”; two rehearsals and then lessons on Monday,  a 13 hour day in the studio on Tuesday, and then Wednesday night a “promotional” appearance at Doughtery’s Tavern to generate interest in our New Year’s Eve show. Here’s some video from the promo event;  

12/22/2016 – A few weeks back in my blog posts, I mentioned that Michael Dimin and I did a jazz cover of a Jim Croce song for the holiday season. (That video is over on my YouTube channel if you haven’t seen it/heard it yet. Swing by and give it a listen). And now I’m Read More …

Hey friends….I am delighted to be in such good company for the Fall 2016 issue of FLAR. This is a piece on Amy Bayne about the songwriting process using interviews from quite a selection of amazing local and NoVa talent. Honored and grateful to be included…and for the opportunity! Click here to download an issue Read More …

In recent days, I posed this question to friends on Facebook; “What the best piece of advice you offer to folks that have real difficulty finding the time to practice?” Folks ranging from hobbyists all the way to nationally known working musicians responded to my question. The answers were varied, and no one answer is Read More …

Quite honored and quite grateful to Joel McIver and Bass Guitar Magazine for the opportunity to be interviewed for “Bassically Speaking”…look for it in the December 2016 issue.

Hello! Hopefully everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day weekend. I’m happy to say that the studio at Lady Bass Music got a major makeover over the past weekend. New carpet, new paint, good overall cleaning job….there’s a nice energy to the place now. Students and visitors are calling it inviting and “a bit serene”. The Read More …

We’re backstage, at the start of a show. The Edwin Drood pit orchestra. We’re in a “loft-pit”, as I’ve come to call it…a second story loft that is above the stage area. This pit is not visible to the audience, so shenanigans do occur. I’m sitting on the floor next to my bass. It’s a Read More …

“There’s a blaze of light In every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah” RIP, and thank you for the music. You created one of my favorite songs to cover.  A song that harkens to spacious scaredness of a heart rendered tender by brokenness, a heart rendered tender by Read More …

Life changes us. Wear your scars and arrows. They landed to scar you, change you, create something new…to change the course of your life for the better. I usually don’t post memes, but this resonates this week as I watch people around me struggling with various but necessary changes in their lives.  My favorite part Read More …

11/6/2016 – Tech week for Drood has passed, plus the opening night and the first weekend…8 days.  Last Saturday feels like a solid MONTH ago.  A million things have happened….teaching, tech week, load in, sound checks, preps for a recording session, practicing, another gig in Leesburg, booking gigs…the list goes on. Looking in my recycle Read More …

11/3/2016 – Tonight was the opening night of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at UMW.  Tech week has concluded, and we tumble into opening weekend. One show down, 13 to go. The pit for this show is on a platform above the stage about 5 to 6 feet wide, maybe 25 to 30 feet long Read More …

11/3/2016 – Happy to give a shout out here in my blog to my friend Roger Munch, a former student and an amazing artist.  He’s just got his website up, and I’d encourage folks to check it out here.  He does some great work…very organic and tapped into the natural world.  I’m a fan, and Read More …

This article was originally posted in 1997.  While my website is under re-construction, I’m going to post a copy here.     “A Talk With Edgar Meyer” as featured in Bassic magazine and Bass Frontiers Online in 1997 Amendments and corrections provided by Dr. Bruce Hyman.   Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 10:24:13 -0400 Subject: Read More …

10/24/2016-  Another busy weekend in the books…taught on Saturday morning until 3 PM, then packed up and was loading in at a private party by 4:30 PM. This was sometime around 7:00 that evening.  I was so glad I set my rig up by the fire pit. The wind had picked up and it was Read More …

I can’t believe it’s been five years since I met this little one! Warning…seriously cute cat video ahead….

I did this interview almost a year ago, and I am seriously grateful to Brent-Anthony Johnson for the opportunity. The published version is online here. The original interview I typed out was almost 10 pages long….way too much for an interview online and shorter attention spans. However, a few folks saw the original copy and Read More …

Putting a link here to mostly keep track of these articles I wrote a few years back. As time goes on, they are getting harder and harder to find in the indexing unless you search the title. Here’s a listing of the articles I wrote during my time as a blogger for MTH. These articles Read More …

DKRE got to perform as a guest last Wednesday night. We were at a local open mic run by drummmer Bart Balderson (thank you for the opportunity Bart) Mike Hope got some video of the group performing a lot of new material arranged for this lineup. Sweet Child of Mine and Kashmir were brand new Read More …

10/15/2016 – “Can you share an experience in the Bass Kune Do group where playing your instrument and honing your craft lead you to the self discovery of who you are as a bassist and more importantly a person?” (Photo by Aaron Gibson, taken at the 2016 LoDo Bass Bash.) Self discovery is always ongoing. Read More …

10/14/2016 – So, this was my Wednesday night…. This group really tore it up with strings forward versions of classic rock tunes…lots of interest in them now. Once my guys approve the videos Mike Hope shot (thank you Mike), I’ll have some videos up. It was a long journey to get here. I teach a Read More …

10/12/2016 – If you’ve caught my live show, you might recognize the end credits music to this video (starts at 25:55). Thanks to JB Hope for the guitar parts on this version of Exploratory Flight. What was fun was sending it to the show’s producer to see if it would work for the show. He Read More …

10/12/2016 – Interesting read (see the article at the end of this post). I’ve seen this “devaluation” most clearly in some of the attitudes of the music students I have taught. This isn’t all the students, obviously. And if you’ve signed up for lessons, you probably care more than most folks.  But there are these Read More …

10/10/2016 – A long time ago, someone interviewed me about being a female bass player. I replied, “we’re all just spirits in bodies, I just happened to get this body.” I don’t think they quite expected that answer. That being said, I’m really happy to see this video today. Just because society and well-intentioned parents Read More …

10/10/16 – This is a continuation of the previous post. File this under doing good AND things that freak you out…we need to invent a word for that. I can’t exactly call this serendipity, but in some ways, it feels like a form of it. Climbing into the wayback machine for a moment….to a younger Read More …

10/10/16 – I’m starting off the new week by moving from my old Livejournal blog to one hosted on this new website. So since you are reading this….welcome. My old blog is still located here. I may or may not keep updating it at this point…there are only so many hours in the day. For Read More …