Growing up in the ‘70’s, I was the youngest of three children in a middle class family. So, naturally, I acquired lots of hand-me-downs that included a well-worn AM/FM clock radio my older sister gave me when she got a new one for Christmas. I immediately started to tune into the AM pop/rock radio hits of the day (FM was still up and coming) and even figured out how to pull apart the little hand-me-down clock radio and connect metal clothes hangers to certain parts of the innards to increase the radio's range and pull in more AM stations. I gravitated to the bass lines of the music I heard right away. It was only later on, in my teens, that I started learning the names of those bass players: Carole Kaye, James Jamerson, Joe Osborn, Leland Sklar, and a host of others. (Please go to my Philosophy page for more of my influences and thoughts on the role of the bass in pop music.) Twenty-five years, three dogs, two kids, one wife and three thousand dates (headlining festivals, recording for singer/songwriters and entertaining crowds at clubs and private events from Chicago to New York City, from Maine to Florida, playing pop, rock, jazz, reggae, punk and funk) later my mission on bass is still the same and my passion for a straight-ahead approach to the “bottom line” has not wavered. |
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