18th October 2013
I can’t believe it’s been two months since I last wrote an entry. Recently we had a photo shoot to promote Lynzee J and The Average Bloke Band followed by a great gig at Church Eaton Institute. Details of which can be found at www.lynzeej.com.
I’ve been playing with pedals over the last couple of month. Up until now I’ve been very much a plug the bass into the amp, job done. Now I’m experimenting. It came about as I needed to learn the bass line for The Commodores “Machine Gun”. The sound I had just didn’t cut it, so I invested in an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth pedal. It’s a great piece of kit which comes with some sheets containing settings that give you a bunch of cool sounds, including settings for Moog Taurus. I managed to find a sound I was happy with for Machine Gun. The main problem I can see is when you are using it live, if you want to switch sounds, you have to bend down to fiddle with the settings. With my back, that’s not easy, and add to that a dimly lit stage, you could be ages doing it. If I do need to switch sounds I think I’ll need to stick it on top of my amp. That will be fine as long as I don’t need to switch sounds (or turn it off) mid song.
I’ve also started playing around with a Jam Man Looper, it’s great fun, but the real reason for getting it was to trigger sounds that we couldn’t cover in the band. We currently use it for the intro piano section on Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, the saw wave sound on the intro to Rose Royce’s “Is It Love You’re After” and the harp intro to Heatwave’s “Boogie Nights”. I know to some it may sound like cheating, but in these days of X-factor and backing tracks everywhere, I feel it rather enhances the live experience of our show, plus the looper doesn’t want paying and just does as it’s told without answering back.
I’ve been out and about this week, I saw Seth Lakeman on Tuesday night at the Robin 2 R&B club in Bilston, a great night alongside his fabulous double bass player Ben Nicholls (who also plays accordion and jews harp).
Thursday night was a real treat at The Grand Theatre Wolverhampton to see Fiddler On the Roof starring Paul Michael Glaser, the entire cast were also the band (multi instrumentalists) with no less than three people playing the double bass. I’m a big fan of stage musicals (check out the bass lines on Jesus Christ Superstar – they are sweet!!) having acted in a few in the past. These guys were so talented, if you get chance to catch the UK tour you won’t regret it.
Now for a weekend off and supporting my darling wife Karen as she takes part in the Birmingham Half Marathon on Sunday, while she’s running I’ll be checking out the “Band’s on the Run”, can’t wait.
Speak soon
Nick
I can’t believe it’s been two months since I last wrote an entry. Recently we had a photo shoot to promote Lynzee J and The Average Bloke Band followed by a great gig at Church Eaton Institute. Details of which can be found at www.lynzeej.com.
I’ve been playing with pedals over the last couple of month. Up until now I’ve been very much a plug the bass into the amp, job done. Now I’m experimenting. It came about as I needed to learn the bass line for The Commodores “Machine Gun”. The sound I had just didn’t cut it, so I invested in an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth pedal (check out the bottom of my Bass Pedals page for demos). It’s a great piece of kit which comes with some sheets containing settings that give you a bunch of cool sounds, including settings for Moog Taurus. I managed to find a sound I was happy with for Machine Gun. The main problem I can see is when you are using it live, if you want to switch sounds, you have to bend down to fiddle with the settings. With my back, that’s not easy, and add to that a dimly lit stage, you could be ages doing it. If I do need to switch sounds I think I’ll need to stick it on top of my amp. That will be fine as long as I don’t need to switch sounds (or turn it off) mid song.
I’ve also started playing around with a Jam Man Looper, it’s great fun, but the real reason for getting it was to trigger sounds that we couldn’t cover in the band. We currently use it for the intro piano section on Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, the saw wave sound on the intro to Rose Royce’s “Is It Love You’re After” and the harp intro to Heatwave’s “Boogie Nights”. I know to some it may sound like cheating, but in these days of X-factor and backing tracks everywhere, I feel it rather enhances the live experience of our show, plus the looper doesn’t want paying and just does as it’s told without answering back.
I’ve been out and about this week, I saw Seth Lakeman on Tuesday night at the Robin 2 R&B club in Bilston, a great night alongside his fabulous double bass player Ben Nicholls (who also plays accordion and jews harp).
Thursday night was a real treat at The Grand Theatre Wolverhampton to see Fiddler On the Roof starring Paul Michael Glaser, the entire cast were also the band (multi instrumentalists) with no less than three people playing the double bass. I’m a big fan of stage musicals (check out the bass lines on Jesus Christ Superstar – they are sweet!!) having acted in a few in the past. These guys were so talented, if you get chance to catch the UK tour you won’t regret it.
Now for a weekend off and supporting my darling wife Karen as she takes part in the Birmingham Half Marathon on Sunday in aid of Diabetes UK, while she’s running I’ll be checking out the “Band’s on the Run”, can’t wait.
Speak soon
Nick
26th August 2013
What a wierd time I've had of late, I had so many plans and they've all turned to mush, following a stupid incident, where yours truly tried to lift something I shouldn't have. My back has been badly injured these past weeks, so performing any task has been difficult. I made it to rehearsal a couple of weeks after the accident but had to sit down to play my bass as my back couldn't take the weight if I was standing up.
I'm on the comeback trail with help from my fabulous chiropractor. Without her help these past few years I'd have probably ended up in a wheelchair by now. I had so many plans for extra stuff to go on the website, I'm about to add some information into a new section on bass chords, what they are, and what, as a bassist, do you do with them.
I am learning new stuff all the time, thanks to the training I'm working through. While I've been laid up, my Teach Me Bass Guitar DVDs and the Nathan East course have been my constant companions. Just trying to get the theory into my head has been a real benefit, helping take my mind off other things.
There's lots of stuff coming soon, thanks to everyone who has sent in new ideas for me to explore, you'll start to see them appearing on these pages over the coming months so keep checking back when you get a moment.
My next live appearance will be on Saturday 7th September at the West Bromwich Cider Festival with the Average Bloke Band, see www.averageblokeband.com for details. So I'm really looking forward to getting fit and playing live again.
Take Care Everyone
Nick
PS if you're not sure if you can lift something on your own, get someone to help you
26th July 2013
I had an accident in the garden this week (Monday night) which resulted in me cutting a vein in my ankle, blood everywhere and had to go to the local hospital in Wolverhampton to get patched up. I had a rehearsal session with the Average Bloke Band on the Tuesday night, so I had to get a lift to rehearsal then had to sit and play/sing with my foot up, not the most dignified really, plus I needed to use my late father's walking stick to help keep the weight off my bad ankle. As one of my buddies on Facebook pointed out that you can easily bleed out in that situation, so I really got lucky.
Kyle Williams from Seeds of Music sent me a link to an interesting article this morning about musicians health, I lead a pretty sedentary life, mostly involved around playing bass guitar, working on my computer and watching TV so any help in leading a healthier lifestyle is certainly of interest to me, so check it out if you have half an hour to spare.
Last night (Thursday) I was feeling quite a lot better and managed to get out to see Magnum at the Robin 2 in Bilston, another great show from the guys, they never fail to deliver (you can see some of their music on the Al Barrow page). The support came from ace guitarist Simon Lees and his one man guitar show, highly entertaining I must say.
So today, I'm in a reflective mood, just trying to catch up on a few things and hopefully add some more bass player info to the list, plus resting up, as I get ready for the challenges of the next few months.
So whatever you're doing, be safe doing it.
Cheers
Nick
11th July 2013
I've also been adding information to the Advice For New Bands page, there's plenty more stuff to add so keep checking back for updates.
I'd also like to thanks a couple of guitarist buddies from bands I used to play with back in the dim and distant past, former Doctor Squash guitarist Mel Horton has shared a few photos from the band from the 1980's, so if you want to see some photos of me with big hair and a moustache (and on stage in boxer shorts) just check out the Nick's Photos page. Also, Paul Martin has provided a copy of a gig again from the 1980's when we were in Birmingham rock band Dreddin The Weddin, you'll find that on the Nick's Videos page.
I have a gig coming up this weekend with folk/rockers Bellatryx at The Blue Bear in Nuneaton we'll be on stage at around 4:30pm for a couple of hours so if you happen to be in the area why not pop along and say "Hi".
On the bass side this week, I'm getting down with the Artist Works bass course with Nathan East (click on the link at the top of the page for details), it's such good fun, and Nathan is such a cool teacher. I'm learning new things everytime I log in. It's just great having a top professional bass guitarist available to give me lessons 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Check it out if you get chance. They also provide courses for upright bass players, and one day, when I can afford an upright (I'm forever searching ebay for a cheap one), I'll be booking my spot on some of those courses too.
I'd better get started, so much groovin' to do, so little time
Cheers
Nick