10/27/24, Lawnlife House Show (sub gig) in West Seattle

After a week of woodshedding for 20 songs, it was finally off to West Seattle for a house gig with a guy I'd never met in person. Not only that, I had SG practice later, so it was gonna be a long day. I packed the car with my Orange TB, Avatar 212, my pedals and a couple basses (Goldie and black P).

On the way over, it started off sunny and windy, but then started dumping rain. Pretty messy, but once I got to Sid's house, it was less so and we were able to get loaded into his living room. At which time I realized that I did not need to bring a 212 cabinet.

Heck, I didn't even need my pedals. I did bring an old school tuner (which turned on, but didn't work, weirdly) and a stand. I plugged directly into the amp and went from there. Sid played a Tele through a tiny Fender amp and Eric played some drum kit that was at the house.

After spending a few minutes on the phone with Sid the other day, it was evident that he was a skilled musician. However, after never having met him, I wasn't sure what to expect. Eric said he was around my age, in his 50s. He was medium build and bald, but had cheaters on the whole time, and due to the lack of hair, I couldn't tell how old he actually was.

He made a bunch of recordings of the songs for me, all tuned down to Eb, and then some altered even further. It was a little annoying, but workable. Good thing I went through them a bunch, as once we started, it was pretty clear that the studying paid off.

We had 2 sets of 10 songs each, and overall, we played well. About 10-12 people showed up and were appreciative. My bass sounded great just by itself through the Orange. Being tuned down, it was a little beefier, but on some other songs where I played higher on the neck, it sounded just fine.

Had some fun with most of the songs. Had a few goof ups here and there, but overall, happy with the performance. Was great to play with Eric on drums. He was really solid and powerful and tasteful all at the same time. It was fun just shooting my shot on songs like "Proud Mary" and "Walking on the Moon." Eric and I had a great vibe and I wish I had recorded the sets.

An easy $200. Would do it again.

 

Surprise gig

My boy Eric reached out the other day, offering up a 2 set cover gig with him and a guitarist. It's a house/private party, evidently hosted by the guitarist, Sid. Pay is $200 and after I saw a setlist, I said, sure, why not?

I'm not doing anything else at the moment and a quick and lucrative project should be fun. Networking opportunity as well.

The setlist is 20 songs. Sid plays in Eb tuning, so everything is down a 1/2 step. It gets a little confusing as he also sings some of the songs in different keys than originally recorded. I was doing music math trying to decipher if a song like U2's "I Will Follow," which is originally recorded in Eb, would then be another 1/2 step down if I tune down to Eb in the first place.

Of course not. Once we are tuned down, then Eb becomes the new relative E, so we are good. But, in the U2 instance, we will play that in E (Eb). Make sense?

There are some songs I don't know at all, like "Late Night Talking" by Harry Styles. Easy enough, but I'm unfamiliar. And then songs like "Copacabana" or "Super Freak," both of which I've heard, but never have played along to.

Sid has sent over clips of him singing with acoustic guitar, so as long as I play to his recordings, I should be good. We won't have time to practice beforehand, so I'll just have to shed and listen extra hard as we play on Sunday. Stay tuned.

9/21/2024, Planets in the Ocean at the Sunset

Yeah, I played a show last night but the best part was not the gig, but pre-show.

Me and Cookie

Cookie looking like Bella

After slogging through an hour's worth of traffic due to freeway improvements, I dropped my stuff off and headed to the bar at the front of the Sunset to say hi to some friends. There were two dogs next to me and one of them was basically Bella in disguise. Her name was Cookie and she was quite sweet.

This is Bella in 2020

I got my fill of visiting with Bella's ghost and jumped on stage for sound check. I didn't bring a rig, only a couple basses (The Gold and the butter bass) and my pedals. One of the other bands (turns out it was Tango Alpha Tango from PDX) was sharing their SVT and 410 cab, so that was cool.

Our stage setup

During sound check, everything sounded pretty good. A few months ago, I got some new earplugs for onstage, the horribly named Eargasm plugs. And though they work, I just haven't gelled with them. Even with the smaller size, they are a little weird fitting to my ears and they just don't seem right to me.

Despite that, the Ampeg sounded nice, the monitors for my BGVs were decent, but I asked for more. Trouble was, I got feedback, so I told Colin, our engineer, to leave the levels where they were at. And with that, we were off. Without a set list, of course. Luckily, we had an old one in my pedal case so we edited that and kicked it off.

Crowd was a little light, as it seems to be in Seattle when the show starts at 8:30, but lucky for us, they push fog in the club and it makes it hard to see anyone. We started with our song, Nomenclature, which is fast and kicks us off with some energy. It's a bit of a challenge to hit the ground running without warming up, but it went pretty well. At that point in the set, I could hear my vocals OK. As we continued, though, I had a harder time. Not sure why or what changed.

Anyway, on we went, it was pretty high energy and fun. I haven't been doing any big jumps lately as I always land off time and it throws me off. Plus there was a big support beam above my head and I didn't want to hit that. But, I did some medium jumps, only one or two, and it worked out ok.

No pictures yet, but there should be come coming soon and I'll put them up when they are posted.

Next up was Low Hums. I saw them last year before I went on the road with Forest Ray. I can't say I remembered much about them, but I thought there were more dudes. For this gig, it was a three-piece. Bassist played a P and what sounded like flats. He was super solid, not flashy, but definitely in the pocket and doing his thing. The guitarist had shades on (I just can't do it; hard enough to see without em in the dark) and was really cool with his effects and playing. And the drummer was on a righty kit playing lefty. He was also solid and loomed over his kit. They had some cool moments and I enjoyed the set.

Low Hums

Either the Low Hums played a short set or Tango Alpha Tango took a minute to get set up. Maybe both? Anyway, TAT took the stage as a quartet. When Stereo Embers played with them in 2018, they were a three piece. For this show, they had another guitarist/keyboardist with them, and he was great.

Overall, this band is a showcase for Nathan, the guitarist. He is a great singer, with cool stage presence, and is a shredder in the John Mayer sense of the word. Really good player and sort of knows it. His wife, Mirabai, on bass, was solid on her CS Jazz. I do wish she was up in the mix a bit as she was sort of drowned out by both guitars on either side of her. And the drummer was really epic. He was a joy to watch and really delivered a solid set.

Tango Alpha Tango

After our set, I used the restrooms (Sunset has the best bathrooms in the Seattle club scene) and came out to some ladies using the mirror and blocking the sink (shared sinks). They complimented the gig after realizing I was in the band. Unique and interesting to get a compliment in that situation.

And then someone else (full disclosure, drummer's wife, who tells it like it is) said after a hard week, seeing and hearing us was like church for her. She's seen a million club shows with Cass, but for whatever reason, this show really resonated with her, so that's cool.

All in all, a very enjoyable evening. I got to do what I love with people I love and get it back from the other bands. Can't wait to do it all again in November.

9/6/2024, Planets in the Ocean at Darrell's Tavern

Since our last gig in June, I think we've only rehearsed once or twice. Maybe once? Much of the reason was life getting in the way, mainly for Robb. In July, both his dad and father-in-law passed away within 3 days of each other. His wife was in WI tending to her dad when Robb's dad passed, so he was alone for that, and then her dad passed and he couldn't support her in-person.

Just a sad time all around.

So in mid-August, we finally got back together to rehearse and see each other, and that was really great. Group texts are fine to stay in touch and all, but in-person is where it's at. We ran the tunes and it went fine.

For Friday's show, I headed to rehearse one last time on Thursday and that was a mess. I got stuck in traffic on the freeway, all 4 lanes blocked due to a traffic fatality (RIP), and it took me about 1.5 hours to get to the next exit to turn around and just go home.

All that to say that we'd have a show with only one rehearsal in the past 2 months. Lucky for us, we are pros.

Darrell's, where your dad used to drink!

No traffic jams the night of the show, so I was way early, around 7:30. I was backlining my rig, so I wanted to be there in time to set up. Last time I backlined at that June show, I was late getting there and it was awkward.

Cool to have Bruce Lee behind me, I wish he could've adjusted my stage volume.

Cass showed up a few minutes later so we got caught up on the last two months. Before long, everyone else rolled in and it was a good ol' band hang. Some of my old pals showed up, Aaron, Kevin, Steve and Salena, Andi, David. And the mates from Mopsey, old musical pals Richard, Ryan, Wesley and Jason. And the Kings, though I only know Ric from them. Great to catch up and chat with everyone, including my own mates.

Before long (no soundcheck, weirdly), the Kings Seattle kicked things off. They're a 7 piece ska-ish band, with 3 horns, guitar, big boy Zeke on bass, drums and singer/keys. They were great! Lots of energy, lots of peppy tunes. I only wish the sound guy had dialed things in as the keys and horns were a little quiet.

The Kings Seattle

After their fun set (they'd be a great party band), we took the stage. I brought my P bass as Steve was there and he's a bit of a P bass aficionado. Since I got the bass, I thought the action was a little low, but since I don't have a good reference point, I had him check it out and he said it was dialed in. I trust his judgement, so I felt good about that.

Having my amp off the ground about 2 feet, I thought I'd be able to hear it pretty well. Turns out, I was wrong. That bass gets very strong mids sounds and not as much in the bass. I tried to adjust the EQ on the amp a little, but mainly ended up turning up my master volume. It worked out for the most part. I also ended up standing just in front of it when I wasn't singing. I think having crash cymbals right next to me didn't help either.

Despite not having a practice recently, I thought we played pretty well. There was a trainwreck in one of our songs (not me), but otherwise not bad. The sound guy had my vocals really loud; the only interaction I had with him was him telling me the wedge in front of me was mine. I guess I could've asked for some different boosts, but I just went with it.

I think the P was fine. What little I could hear in some videos was that it was definitely there, but dialed a little quiet for my tastes in FOH. Any character or nuance was not really heard, but you just knew the bass was there. The bassist for the Kings had a more thumpier sound (he played a PJ Fender) and it fit the tunes but same thing, not much character or bite to the sound.

The strings on my bass may be a little too new, despite on me having the bass since May and playing it fairly frequently. Or maybe I just need to put different strings on it. My boy Steve said I should only play this bass with this band; he said the character he heard out front fit perfectly with Robb's guitar sounds. That said, he is a bit of a fanboi with the P basses, so he is quite biased!

After we finished up, the incredible and muscular Mopsey took the stage. They are 3/4ths of the Young Sportsmen back in the day and 1/4th drummer Jason. They are all bros from way back and they are fantastic, if a bit loud. I saw them a few months ago at the Belltown Yacht Club and I thought it was the club just having a bad night; all the bands were just so loud. But no, it's Mopsey. They are an arena band playing clubs. But they do it oh so well!

Wesley plays a Firebird and for such a nice and warm dude, seems out of character but simply gives some great attitude. Ryan moved back from Colorado recently and replaced Eric O on guitar, as the commute for EO is just too great from Tacoma to Seattle (I get it). Ryan sings as well and he and Wesley are just wicked together.

Richard on bass used to play with Cass and Robb in the Dear John Letters years ago, so they have history. I've know Richard for a little and he is a gear aficionado (there's that word again). I asked him about his stuff, he said he has something like 40 pieces of amps/cabinets/combos at his place. Nuts. He and Jason compliment each other so well as the rhythm section. Jason is sneaky good and powerful and they do good ass hard rock.

Richard on bass!

Frickin' Mopsey!!

They had great between song banter, great stage presence and great humility. I can't gush enough about how much I love these dudes and their music. Wesley said he'd play with us anywhere anytime, so we'll have to cash in on that in the future for sure. I had a great time talking to each of those dudes.

Afterwards I had a couple people mention to us how we as a trio compliment each other so well. That our music is very reminiscent of other bands, but not so much that we sound like a copy of anyone. I've heard that type of comment before and it is pretty gratifying. As a more traditional rock band in our previous iteration, we were more support players of the band. In this band, it isn't so much "everybody go solo" but we have more breathing room in the songs, which does allow each of us to stretch our legs a bit, but within the confines of the tune. It's quite fun.

At the end of the night, Darla, Darcy and Rose got a photo in front of "Mom." It wasn't until after I got home that I realized it was the first time seeing both D & D since their dad passed. I did offer condolences to Rose but neglected to with the girls. But I was able to talk to them both and give hugs, so that was good.

Up next, Planets at the Sunset on 9/21. Stay tuned.

My memory is bad

I wanted to write a post about my memory... but I forgot what I was going to write.

The reality is, I do seem to have some issues with memory. More long-term stuff, it seems. Short-term is OK, but it depends on the situation. Sometimes I'll talk to someone about something, could be talking to Austin at work. And then the next day, I'll think about relaying something but can't remember if I told him or not.

Sometimes I'll preface the convo with a, "I can't remember if I told you," which gives them an out if I have. Otherwise, they just nod and smile and suffer along.

I will try to use tools to remember, specifically with work-related or to-do related things. I'll write 'em down or put 'em in the phone, etc.

If I'm distracted (on the phone, looking at the computer, etc) and someone's talking, I have to stop so I can focus on what I'm being told. I try not to make it obvious, like I was in the middle of something, so at least it seems like I'm giving the speaker my undivided attention. I'll sometimes feel like others aren't great at that and I'm interrupting or something.

Last week I was at lunch with Marilee and Brooke on MS campus. Nadia came up and we all talked books for a minute (we are book nerds). Nadia said she remembered Carr giving me his old v2 Kindle in the MS Store days. Then she said she remembered me always having a book on hand to read at lunches in the mall.

I don't deny any of those things happening. I even remember Carr giving me his Kindle. But I can't say those memories would ever have popped up in my head for any reason for the rest of my life. The fact that Nadia brought it up cracked me up. I don't have any specific memories about anything that happened with her and I at the Stores, so for her to have that of me was funny.

I also remember a lunch I had with D'neka last year. It was the first time I'd seen her in years, so it was great to see her, but she relayed a memory that I had NO recollection of. And, of course, I don't remember what it was about now, or if it even happened. So maybe there's no story here.

Which brings me around to this blog. I mainly seem to be keeping track of gigs and stuff, for the sole reason for having the memories around when I can't remember them anymore. I don't know if anyone finds them interesting or even reads them; I only ever post them on Talkbass and, as seen last year after my Darrell's gig, some people will find it when searching their bands' names.

But I'll keep writing, if anything, to keep my memories in a spot for future entertainment and archiving.

8/10/2024, Sunset Grooves On the Hiyu

Well, that was a blast. Let's list some of my first time accomplishments as a long-time bassist:

• played on a decommissioned ferry, the Hiyu
• not that I've played on commissioned ferries, or even a boat. The closest was playing on a flatbed truck as part of the Seafair parades in the late 90s when we sponsored a hydroplane.
• played under an open drawbridge
• that sort of goes with playing on a ferry. I mean, when else would you play under a drawbridge?
• got hit with something while playing (not undergarments)
• during a song, I felt something thud off my chest. I thought it was a light or speaker or gear of some sort, but looking around, I saw nothing. It was a decent hit, more surprising than painful. The song continued and finished, no harm, no foul. Turns out, some kid had thrown a can or bottle of Modelo (confirmed by my keyboard player) and it hit me, then bounced off his leg, at which time he kicked it overboard as it was leaking. Thankful that it didn't hit anyone else or any equipment. That would've been a downer.

A few months ago, we booked a show at a venue called the Hiyu. Apparently, the current owner made a bunch of money, bought a decommissioned ferry, and renovated it to host parties, weddings and events. He heard about us and asked us to play.

We agreed to do so for a guaranteed take, and we were a bit nervous about it as ticket prices were $55-65 per person. Our draw is hit and miss and we try to book private parties, but that's challenging in its own right. We have not hit the magic combo of marketing + exposure + club gigs that brings the decent draw. Every once in a while, we'll have a gig where people come up, tell us how awesome we are, tell us they want to book us, and then crickets. I figure if we hit on 5% of those, we'd be good.

Anyway, the owner told us another act sold 140 tickets or so and they had a great time. A few weeks ago, after our tix went on sale, we had 60 sold. And then just the other day, we had 216 sold! The boat only holds 310 or so, so we were feeling pretty good.

The weather was gonna cooperate, with 82°F expected. I showed up at the dock at 3:30 and we loaded up.

Where I parked.

On the way to the Hiyu. Load in/out sucked.

Our venue for the night!

We were given a timeline on how things would go. Show up at 3:45-4, load in, get sound checked by 5, Hiyu to the loading spot at MOHAI on S Lake Union by 5:30, boarding at 6, shove off at 6:30. By now, I should know nothing ever goes as planned.

Once we all arrived and took the long walk (thankful they had two carts) to the Hiyu to load in, we had to wait for setup. Luckily, we didn't need to bring a PA, but the two sound guys they had were used to running sound for DJ sets. Our guy, Aeden, a college kid who has ran sound for us a few times now, was great and worked with those guys to get things going. But it did take a really long time and we were all roasting in the sun. There was a lot to look at, though, being on the water and all.

At the stern of the ferry, depending on which way we headed, I guess.

Plenty to look at!

Once everything was loaded, we headed south to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), where the attendees would join and board. Sun was hot and the line was long. Before long, they started boarding and we still hadn't sound checked. It was definitely after 6 by now and Aeden and crew were seemingly not super stressed. Then again, it was chill, but we definitely wanted more than a line check. After a little longer, we finally sound checked a couple tunes (always weird with folks watching). Then it was off to get our gear on and get ready in the tiny green room (a closet, really).

I brought my flamingo suit and after getting it on, I thought I had made a fatal mistake, given the heat and the sun, but overall, it was a win. More on that later. But it was quite warm in the ferry, as it was built in 1967 and had no AC onboard. On the deck, though, it was quite comfy.

Jeff, the owner of the Hiyu took the mic before we shoved off. Apparently there were some issues with wristbands or something, causing a delay, so he offered to have the Hiyu come back 30 minutes after the originally planned return of 9:30. There was much cheering on that. People just wanted to have a good time. I saw a couple of friends I know from the scene around town, said hi to a few of them, grabbed a Coke, and then we were off.

On the way to MOHAI.

The hero bass.

The backup bass.

A bit of the crowd.

We had two sets of tunes to do, about 30 songs. I decided to change up my sounds a little. In the past, I've used my Zoom B2Four, with a patch per song (or so). I try to make my bass sound close to the recording, but for that many songs, when most of them could just have a core bass tone, it was overkill. Over this past week, I tried to simplify things, going with an SVT amp sound, with an octaver, chorus and synth in front of it, clicking them on and off as needed.

I also brought my regular pedal board, but as I hadn't messed around with that in rehearsals recently, I decided to leave that unused.

IEM-wise, we had a quick check, as mentioned, and it was good enough to get started. We hit the ground running and went to work.

Set 1. We skipped Still the One but hit it in the encore.

The first two songs seemed to go pretty well. We were getting our feet under us, thinking about our IEM mixes, seeing how it felt to play on a moving vessel. Jen had her wireless mic and when she would go into the crowd, the signal would cut in and out. On song 3, the sound guy was switching out her mic and we had some dead air, so we started vamping on the intro for CGIR while they did that. That was sort of cool. We were feeling it and having a great time. Looking off the back of the ferry and at the surroundings was a super unique experience and I highly recommend it!

Before we started.

Shoving off!

It was during "Somebody's Baby" when that Modelo hit me in the chest. It was surprising, it was weird, but after a few seconds, I forgot all about it. Evidently we also got flashed, but I didn't see it. Supposedly it happened during "Maneater," of which we got a video, but upon close scrutiny, I saw nothing.

The passengers got a kick out of us and we really fed off their energy. They were really close to us and enjoying themselves quite a bit. When there's no way to go home, they just have a good time. People were singing along and dancing and it was a great time for all of us.

At the end of set 1, I tried to get some food, having ate nothing but a granola bar and some string cheese before leaving home at 3. They had a food truck on board and I was given a food ticket, but the line was 20 deep and I didn't want to wait so I just enjoyed the cool breeze on the deck instead.

Happy smile

Set 2 started with a couple songs featuring acoustic guitar by Dusty. Eric rolled to drums and we got to work. We usually don't do these songs unless we have 2 sets as it's easier to start with the change, rather than switching personnel in the middle of a set.

Set 2

After a bit, the sun started to go down and luckily, the Hiyu had pretty good lighting (better than some clubs) and I could still see what I was playing. My IEM mix seemed weird, though. Lots of muddy bass due to the SVT patch and the gain being too high. I think, really I don't know. I saw a video and the bass sounded pretty good out front. At that point, I just used that for reference, it didn't need to sound cool to me or anything; as long as it sounded good to the masses.

There was a gentleman in front of me for most of the night. He asked to grab the mic during our set as he wanted to promote our QR code for tips. He was a little tipsy but he got to work and also walked around with our placard, getting us more $$$. He really loved us and claims he wants us to play his foundation in the future (again, back to the 5% rule mentioned above). Hope it happens, but not expecting anything.

When we finally finished, with a couple song encore, I got so many compliments on my suit. I purchased it a few years at Goodwill, for the low low price of $10.00. It is a pretty epic suit, and people eat it up. One woman told me a story about flamingoes even. So there's that.

The suit (mike mitchell photo)

At the end of it all, it was a wonderful night. The views and crowd were astounding, the weather was unbeatable, and the experience was one for the books. This is why I play music. When the energy is there from all around, it is unbeatable. I can't wait to do it again!

94 EBMM Sterling

Well, it looks like the search is over, in more ways than one. I wrote about my old 94 Ernie Ball Musicman Sterling bass in several places. How I traded it away (foolishly) and where it made its around the world.

From what I remember, I had it until 2008, then I traded it to someone in the Bothell area, who then sold it to someone in Oregon, who then sold it to someone on the East Coast, who then sold it to someone in the UK.

And that's where it was the last time I checked in 2016. For whatever reason, I got a wild hair to look it up again. It seems like they don't make Sterlings like that and in some of the threads I've read about that particular bass, no one had seen one as nice as that one.

So I reached out the the last owner I knew in the UK, a gent named Oliver. He got back to me today and said he sold it to a London shop in 2021. And then he saw it pop up in a UK bass forum called Basschat.

Don't know if I'll ever be able to get it back, as the current owner said in a post that it's his "never sell" bass. I'm going to reach out to just say hi and see how it's doing.

Current owner's picture