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I started on guitar at age 6 and played drums from age 8 until I picked up the
bass at age 12. I have also been playing steel guitar for almost 12 years.
Were you formally schooled or were you primarily self-taught? What types of instructional
materials did you focus on early in your development?
I'm self taught and have no formal musical training. At that time in my life they didn't
have videos. My lessons and ear training totally came from listening to records and
just playing gigs. I have to say that while playing with "Secrets" I got
a chance to play straight-ahead jazz and latin and other styles I never would have
gotten the chance to play in a top-40 club band.
My main influence on bass is Stanley Clarke. I heard "School Days" and "Lopsy
Lu", and it totally changed my outlook of bass guitar! As far as groove bass playing,
my influences are Verdine White (Earth, Wind, and Fire) and Alan Gorrie (Average White
Band). I listen to Anthony Jackson, Mark King, Marcus Miller, and of course Jaco! Two
other unsung heros I listened to heavily were Chuck Rainey (Steely Dan) and Bernard
Edwards (Chic).
In 2002 I joined a band called "Sons of the Desert" on MCA Records. It was
a chance for me to be up front and singing which is another part of me. I had gotten
tired of just being a sideman to an artist. It's a great living and can be very prestigious,
but I've been wanting to get into more of the writing and recording end of it. I am
working on taking my own funk-fusion band on the road and doing clinics for Warrior
Basses and SWR Sound Corporation.
There is going to be a solo cd in the very near future. It will probably be everything
from fusion to straight funk to scatting to solos too! In the last two years I've been
getting into scatting some of my solos while I play them. I think it's a very good
ear training thing to do, and it makes you really learn the neck of your bass. A good
friend of mine from Virginia, Oteil Burbridge, is an amazing bass player and awesome
at scatting to his solos. He influenced me to do it too!
As an in-demand sideman having backed some of the biggest names in the music
business including Trisha Yearwood and Tanya Tucker to name just a couple. What do
you believe has contributed the most to your success?
I've had the great privilege to work with and for some of the biggest names in music
including Tanya Tucker, Waylon Jennings, Ramsey Lewis, Peter Frampton, Trisha Yearwood,
and Tom Browne! As you can see this is a big variety in music and artists. That has
been the most pleasurable thing to me because I love so many different styles of music.
The thing that has kept me working is I've been able to play these gigs like they're
supposed to be played. If it's a country gig, play it like a country bass player. If
it's a rock gig, then play it like a rock bass player. If it's a funk-fusion gig, play
it like a funk-fusion player! Singing has helped me get a lot of these gigs too. That's
one thing I try to express to young bass players. If you want to work and be needed
for more than just bass, learn to sing! I don't know if I would call it success, but
my experience to have worked as much as I have has been due to getting out and playing
as many types of music as possible and being seen playing in clubs and anywhere they
allow music.
Breaking into the Nashville studio or any other studio scene is pretty difficult. I've
been in Nashville for almost 13 years. I've gotten to play on a few records or cds,
but it's always been that thing that either you're a road player or a session player.
It's changed some in the last few years. A lot of the artists are getting, or demanding,
to use their touring musicans on their recordings. It's all about time and money, and
these producers have their set of guys they use for all the artists they produce. They
know they can count on these guys to come in and knock it out. Most producers won't
take chances on a road guy coming in and doing the job because they're either not experienced
in the studio or just not given the chance. I got the chance to play on some of these
artists cd's but only because they requested that I be on it, or the artist pretty
much produced the cd themselves. I've played on tons of demos and jingles, and you
can make a pretty good living just doing that if you get enough of them!
I am a totally right-handed person but play bass, guitar, and steel guitar left-handed!
It's pretty much been a mystery all my life. I started trying to play guitar right-handed
when I was 6 but couldn't get the hang of it so my dad switched the strings around
on a right-handed guitar to see if I could play it that way. Well, in two weeks I was
playing tunes! I played drums right-handed, but when our bass player started leaving
his bass at our house for rehearsals, I got interested in bass. I couldn't restring
his bass because it wasn't mine so I learned to play it upside down with the E-string
on the bottom. I kept playing like that and never switched to playing totally left-handed.
It's a very different sounding way of playing for sure. You tend to play lines almost
opposite of what a right-handed player would because of your high strings being on
the top instead of the bottom. Most people are so curious about how I slap and pluck
playing that way. I still slap with my thumb and pluck with my index finger, it's kind
of a swooping motion! I used to slap years ago with my hand and pluck with my thumb,
but it didn't have the right sound to me.
I get asked a lot about how I got the speed I have with playing with just two fingers.
I've never really worked on that sort of thing. I've been gigging since I was in grade
school, and in high school I was playing six nights a week. I feel like I built my
stamina and speed from just that! I love chordal playing which is something I have
been working on for the last couple of years. Once you learn chords, it helps you learn
to play over the chords and play chord melodies, like in my version of "Star Spangled
Banner."
As far as my approach to soloing and improvisation, I definitely don't think of scales
or modes. Like I said before, I didn't get a chance to go to music school and wish
I could have, but I'm not a theory guy at all. When I'm soloing I try to think of someone
singing a song or telling a story to someone. I don't have a set solo I do on these
tunes. I just play what I feel at the time and what comes to mind. I always try to
play my solos from a different approach everytime I play the same tunes, either starting
it off with harmonics and chordal work and throwing some lines in between. I do have
some patterns that I play off of, especially when I'm slapping. One of the hardest
things for me to do is to slap solos in a bunch of different keys. The main key for
slapping has always been E because it's open and a lot of 70's and 80's funk tunes
were in E!
I'm going to have a video out on the market within the next month. It is more of a
performance video than an instruction video. This record company here in Nashville
wanted to get something out there to the public to show everything I'm about, from
the solo stuff to playing with a commercial band and singing and just playing the role
of a bass player. In the future hopefully we will have a series of tapes out, from
country bass to funk showing my thoughts and approaches on feel for country and funk
playing and soloing!
Well, I don't have a regular practice routine. When I get a chance to practice I try
to work on ear training and playing over different chords. One thing that helped me
in soloing is that I listened to a lot of piano players and horn players too. I don't
play piano but wish I had learned. It's such a great writing tool and ear training
tool too. Listening to horn players gave me ideas on phrasing. Listen to guys like
Charlie Parker and Michael Brecker and trumpeters Miles Davis and Dizzy!
I have on occasions given a lesson. Mostly everybody wanted to learn my techniques
and feel for different styles of playing. I and anyone will say, you can't teach feel.
You can give tips on some things, but you just have to get out there and dive into
it! When I have given a lesson I've tried to help the person with hearing the groove
and what to play and not to play in that groove. One thing I learned at a young age
is to not over play when the song is being played, but if you have a solo, then give
it all you got! I also try to teach about playing with different drummers and how to
approach someone's drumming as far as grooving with them.
I have a 6-string signature bass with Warrior Basses which is my main bass. I do have
a lot of other basses I use for different gigs and studio work. I use four different
Lakland basses in the studio, 4 and 5-strings and fretless too. Warrior is building
me a 5-string right now. I'll be using it too in the studio. On commercial tunes and
jingles I don't care for playing 6-string in the studio because there is no need for
it. I've got quite a few old Music Man basses I use for playing some studio and gigs
around town. I play a 70's funk gig sometimes on wednesday nights. I like to play the
Music Man for that kind of gig and get that old funk sound, especially for slapping.
I endorse and love SWR bass rigs. I have a lot of different set-ups I use. My main
rig is a Goliath Senior and a 750 head. I don't usually have a rig in the studio. I
play through a Demeter Tube Preamp and Tube Direct Box. I have done clinics for Warrior
Basses and Lakland Basses. Warrior and SWR are working on a clinic tour for this year
with me and a great bassist named Adam Nitti. I have some ads out for my signature
bass and SWR wants to have me do an ad too!
Well, my thought on basses over 6 is that it's getting out of the area of bass playing,
of course that is just my personal opinion! I have a 7-string, but it sits in the corner
for art work. I've had it for years but just can't get into it. I don't like hearing
anything above that high C. To me it gets to be too thin, but I know chords become
much clearer. There's only a couple of guys I know that can really play 7 or 9 well.
If that's what you're into, take it as far as you can! When I was at the NAMM show
I heard some amazing young bass players. They could mimic so many different legend
players, but the question I asked some guys was... these guys have some serious chops
and can solo, but can they just lay down a groove and play with a band? I just hope
that bass playing in the future doesn't forget where it came from. I hope it doesn't
forget why you are the back bone of the music.
Yes, what I like to do when I'm not playing gigs, I drag race! I have a 92 Mustang
Coupe that I've put a lot of my money, ok all my money into! The car has 965 horses
in it and runs nine seconds in the quarter mile at 155 mph. That's my rush! I've always
wanted to drag race ever since I was a kid. When I got into playing with national artists,
I started making more money than I ever had my whole life. Well of course I had to
pick a very expensive hobby!
My advice to up-and-coming players is to get out there and play as many musical styles
as you can get into. It will come in handy one time or another! Like I said before,
don't forget that you are the bass player and you hold down the foundation of a song,
but when it's time to shine, then let 'em have it! Work on singing while playing. It
will only get you more work and sometimes paid more for doing two things! Listen to
as many different players as you can, then get a little bit from each person and come
up with your own thing. Don't forget there has already been a Jaco and Stanley!
One thing I want to say too, is to always try and have a good attitude and don't be
offended to take criticism. It's usually for the good! I hope everything I've talked
about will help you in one way or another!
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