Guitar Girl Magazine | Spring 2019

T H E L E T T E R T H AT E N D S A L L ARGUMENTS ABOUT BRACING.

Invented by Martin. Adopted by countless others. For 174 years, no one has improved on X-bracing’s strength and simplicity. And never will. Accept no substitute. martinguitar.com/xbracing

TARA Talk Let’s get down to the bass…ics. If you love the bass and you want to play it well, then ask Tish Ciravolo, President of Daisy Rock Guitars and a great bassist herself, and she will tell you, it’s all about practice, practice, practice! Well, there may be more to it than that—like learning all about this wonderful instrument and the great artists past and present who played it—the instrument that puts the bottom in a song like a foundation for the rhythm and lead guitars to stand upon to wail or for a blues vocalist to tell a story over that melodic line.

GUITARGIRLMAG.COM ISSUE 8 Spring 2019 Founder/Editor:

Tara Low

Contributors:

Tara Bell Lindsey Borders Alexx Calise Paige Davidson Marco DiSandro Leigh Fuge Steve McKinley Nikki O’Neill Caroline Paone Alison Richter Victoria Shaffer Kirk Stauffer Sasha Vallely Platinum Viking Alex Windsor

Cover Photo:

Suzi Quatro: SPV / Steamhammer Nik West: Demann Crawford Photography

Our 8th issue devoted to the bass and the women who play it has been so much fun putting together. I must say, when I started out on this journey, I did not have an adequate understanding of the importance that the bass played in music nor did I know that so many women had such command over this underestimated instrument. So much to learn and so little time it seems to explore this magical world of music!

In this issue, you will not only learn about all aspects of the bass guitar, but you are sure to enjoy some excellent interviews with the likes of Nik West, one our cover artists and also one of our favorites, who played with Prince, along with other artists fortunate enough to play with the music icon, Ida Nielsen and Rhonda Smith. Additional featured artists include Angeline Saris, Tanya O’Callaghan, Rachel Gonzales, Eva Gardner, Ashley Reeve, and so many others. You will not only be introduced to these fantastic bass guitarists that are rocking on bass and bringing it on stage but…we have a special treat in store with an interview with rock legend Suzi Quatro!

This issue is so exciting and full of great information on our industry and the awesome artists who make the music we love; why even the cover invites the passerby to want to dive in and get all the scoop on what’s going on and who exactly are these women that rock!

For reviews, we’re checking out some acoustic and electric basses from Martin, Fender, Yamaha, PRS, Taylor, B&G, and Córdoba, as well as some gear and accessories from Darco, Morley, and Trace Elliot. We’ve got some great recommendations for some basic pedals to guitars and a few lessons and tips to get you started on your journey to learning more about the bass.

Lots of good stuff from interviews to gear reviews and all the fun things you have come to expect from Guitar Girl Magazine, like “Ask Alexx,” “Kirk’s Korner,” Adult Coloring, I Spy, Trivia and Contests, book reviews, and so much more.

So, dive in and take a ride, it's good—no it’s great! You will love what you discover in these pages ... after all, it’s all about the bass!

Read on and enjoy! ~ Tara Low

Editorial Requests may be submitted to info@guitargirlmag.com Advertising Requests may be submitted to media@guitargirlmag.com Subscription Requests may be submitted to info@guitargirlmag.com Fan Requests/Comments may be submitted to info@guitargirlmag.com Mailing address: The Low Group, Inc. d/b/a Guitar Girl Magazine 12195 Highway 92, #114-210 Woodstock, GA 30188 (866) 364-4828 (Toll Free) Guitar Girl Magazine ©2019 Printed in the USA All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of Guitar Girl Magazine is prohibited.

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Contents Features »» 09. What Started It All: Experience the instruments that inspired female legends »» 10. Three Basses You Need to Know »» 11. The Woman’s Touch: Leaving a feminine mark on the bass guitar

GEAR: REVIEWS

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»» 56. Martin Guitar Performing Artist Series BCPA4 Bass Guitar »» 56. Yamaha BBP35 Broad Bass 5-String Bass Guitar - Midnight Blue »» 57. Córdoba Mini II Bass EB-E Travel Bass »» 57. Paul Reed Smith SE Kestrel Bass »» 58. Taylor Guitars GS Mini-e Bass »» 58. Darco D9500 Medium Electric Bass Strings »» 59. Morley George Lynch Dragon 2 Mini Wah »» 59. Trace Elliot Transit-B Bass Preamp »» 60. Fender ‘70s Classic Vibe Jazz Bass »» 60. B&G Guitars Big Sister Bass »» 61. Taylor Guitars Grand Pacific Builder’s Edition 517e and 717

Interviews »» 16. When Beauty, Talent, and Vision Collide: Rhonda Smith »» 17. Angeline Saris: A Journey to her Happy Place »» 20. Girl’s Got Rhythm: Laying Down the Groove with Rachel Gonzales »» 20. Tone Talk: Ashley Reeve »» 21. Tanya O’Callaghan: 4-String Session Ace Is a Powerhouse »» 25. Eva Gardner: Bass Tour de Force »» 28. Ida Nielsen: You Can’t Fake the Funk »» 30. Feels Like Coming Home: An interview with bass legend Suzi Quatro »» 34. Love Affair: An interview with Nik West »» 37. Closer to the Heart: One-on-One with Super 400’s Lori Friday »» 42. Tone Talk: Jules Whelpton »» 42. Saying Yes: Insights from Joyce Irby »» 43. Carolyn Sills: On Songwriting, Storytelling, and Spaghetti Western Swing »» 45. The Talented Shelby Means: She Means Bass! »» 47. Music and Matrimony: An interview with Amanda Hamers »» 50. Inside the Industry with Helene Webman of ToneWoodAmp »» 50. Tone Talk: Amy Epperley »» 51. Take Five with Blu DeTiger: When music vibrates with you »» 52. Take Five with Suzie Vinnick: Shake The Love Around

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MUSIC RELEASES 62 LESSONS / TIPS »» 63. Run, Don’t Walk: A lesson on breaking away from expected blues basslines »» 64. The Power of Bass in Songwriting »» 65. Beyond the Root: Tips for Writing Your Own Bass Line »» 66. Bringing it Home: Beginner and Intermediate Bass Recommendations

FUN STUFF

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»» 53. Ask Alexx »» 54. Kirk’s Korner »» 68. #GuitarGirl »» 69. Word Search »» 70. Adult Coloring »» 71. I Spy / Trivia / Contests »» 72. What We’re Reading Now! »» 73. Word Search and Trivia Answers »» 74. Fan Favorites

COMMUNITY You rock!!! ~ Denise H.

SHE Said:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how you promote girl guitar players. I’m a girl and I play guitar and I look forward to reading your magazine every time it comes out! ~ Vicky M.

Keep on doing what you’re doing…it inspires me to play better. ~ Chrissy P.

Allanis Anderson Photo submitted by Allanis Anderson, an illustration graduate at KCAD. To purchase, go to allanisadelheit.com

“You just have to practice. You’ve got to find your sound. You’ve got to find out who you are. You have to practice, and just practice, practice, practice. It’s the only way, and it’s such a simple answer. I wish it was a paragraph, but it just isn’t. It just comes down to finding what’s inside of you that needs to get out. And you can only do that if you’re practicing.” ~ Tish Ciravolo, Interview with Guitar Girl Magazine, December 12, 2012

We want to hear from you!

Questions, comments, suggestions, road stories!

Send them directly to: info@guitargirlmag.com GuitarGirlMagazine @GuitarGirlMag

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News

Becky Langan Percussive Fingerstyle Guitarist

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IN MEMORIAM

IN MEMORIAM Jenny Pagliaro The lead vocalist of the LA duo Roses & Cigarettes, Jenny Pagliaro, passed away on March 26, 2019 due to complications from Stage IV breast cancer. She was 35 years old. A statement from her family read, “With heavy hearts and great sorrow we announce the passing of our beloved Jenny on March 26, 2019. Jenny passed away peacefully at her home in Santa Monica, Calif., comforted by her devoted family and friends.”

songs brought her the purest form of joy I have ever witnessed another human project, and it brought me joy to watch her grow into the amazing human she was meant to be, on stage and off. I am beyond grateful to have shared this journey with her and I will miss her terribly. Those long car rides will never be the same without you singing along to the radio.”

Bandmate Angela Petrilli issued a statement, “When we met at that first cover band audition, I knew she was special. I felt it deep in my soul. I remember it like it was yesterday, her sonic energy, her laugh...and that voice. Man, that voice. I never heard anything like it. She was the Mick to my Keith. How thankful and humbled I am that our souls found one another to create the music we did together. Performing her

Jenny shared with us in an interview last year how she and Petrilli, came up with the band’s name.

“Roses & Cigarettes is the name of my favorite Ray LaMontagne song. When we first met, we bonded over our mutual love for his music, and Angela always thought that song title would make a cool band name, thus Roses & Cigarettes was born.”

Roses and Cigarettes (Angela Petrilli and Jenny Pagliaro) Photo by Rachel Louise

Pegi Young Singer-songwriter and Co-Founder of the Bridge School with her exhusband Neil Young passed away on January 1, 2019, at the age of 66 after a yearlong battle with cancer.

When she was not making music, Young donated her time and efforts to a number of organizations. She served on the boards of Pono, the high-resPegi Young photographed in olution digital media player Marin County, CA October 26, 2016©Jay Blakesberg

Linda Waterfall Singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, producer, and session musician Linda Waterfall passed away at the age of 69 on January 8, 2019 following a long illness.

Bonnie Guitar Singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and cofounder of Dolton Records passed away on January 13, 2019 at the age of 95 from natural causes.

Lorna Doom The Germs’ bassist passed away on January 16, 2019 at the age of 60 from breast cancer.

and music download service founded by her ex-husband, and the Rainforest Connection, an organization employing upcycled mobile technology to monitor and protect rainforests. First and foremost, however, was the Bridge School. As the parent of a son, Ben, who has cerebral palsy, Young was a longtime advocate for special-needs students who face severe speech and physical impairments.

Debi Martin Bassist for Red Aunts passed away on January 17, 2019 as a result of a blood clot following a broken foot.

Jacqueline Steiner Folk singer-songwriter and guitarist most known for cowriting of “Charlie on the MTA” passed away at the age of 94 from complications from pneumonia on January 25, 2019

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News

Inside the Industry:

Milestone Anniversaries at Gretsch Guitars

T

he 136-year-old Gretsch Company is celebrating two milestone anniversaries this year for two significant women who keep the family business thriving.

The Gretsch Company’s First Lady, Dinah Gretsch, began working full-time in 1979 and has been a driving force behind the company’s success. As the current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Dinah is also very involved in charitable work establishing the Mrs. G’s Music Foundation in 2010, as well as serving on the boards of the Georgia Music Foundation and the Women’s International Music Network.

Recently, family, friends, and musicians gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame to celebrate where the evening was filled with performances by Steve Wariner, Doyle Dykes, Todd “Banjoman” Taylor, John Knowles, Fred Mollin, Nik and Sam, Sean Weaver, and many more.

Fred Gretsch spoke during the evening on his wife’s many wonderful personal and business attributes. “She has a heart of gold and plays a huge role with the worldwide family of musicians, music lovers, family members, Gretsch artists and fans,” Fred shared. “She’s a wonderful mother to six children, sixteen grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren. She’s also a great wife and a terrific cook too.” As for business, he described her as “an organizer extraordinaire, a financial whiz, a Bigsby team lead, an educator, and the most important half of the Gretsch Company’s Dynamic Duo.”

Photo by Ed Rode

Dina Gretsch Celebrates 40 Years and Lena Thomas Celebrates 25 Years

Regarding Dinah’s many business contributions to the Gretsch Company, Fred described his business partner as “an organizer extraordinaire, a financial whiz, a Bigsby team lead, an educator, and the most important half of the Gretsch Company’s Dynamic Duo.” Dinah shared how great it has been to work with her husband and daughter and to be part of Gretsch for the past 40 years and how honored she is to work with so many wonderful artists that support Gretsch instruments. “What’s most rewarding to me, though, is being able to give back and touch children’s lives and hearts through music and the instruments we make,’ Dinah said. “I wanted to start a ukulele program earlier this year for nineand ten-year-old children. Now we have multiple ukulele clubs for students of all ages, with some meeting and playing together after school. How awesome is that? To think that this company is 136 years old, and that I’ve been a part of it and was also a main part of it when we purchased the company back from Baldwin Piano Company to bring it back into the Gretsch family, it’s been so very special.”

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Lena Thomas, daughter of Fred and Dinah and a 5th generation Gretsch, is celebrating her 25th anniversary this year and the festivities began at Winter NAMM at the GretschGear Booth. Family, friends, employees, and Gretsch artists surprised Lena with a huge cake.

Gretsch Family and Artists Celebrate Lena Thomas’ Special Anniversary Lena started working part-time when she was just 13 years old after school and worked up until attending college. “I had her working in the office after school and helping me with all kinds of projects, including a big computer conversion,” shares Dinah Gretsch. “She was my data input person and a really good one.” She began working full-time in 1994 and has worked in all departments learning the business.

“I am blessed to have been a part of the Gretsch legacy for the last 25 years,” says Lena. “And I look forward to being an integral part in the future to ensure Gretsch continues for another 136 years.”

“Fred and I are very proud of Lena and her 25 years of dedication and service to the Worldwide Gretsch Community,” says Dinah. “Plus, she’s a super daughter and a super mother as well.”

Features

What Started It All

Experience the instruments that inspired female legends

BY PAIGE DAVIDSON

F

or as long as I can remember, I have been deeply moved by music. Specifically live music, but music all in the same.

The simple fact that a variety of instruments formed different sounds, and that without one another, it was just sound. But one instrument, in particular, is the glue that holds it all together: the bass guitar.

Upon its creation in 1951 by Fender, the electric bass truly shaped the world of music in a way that we could never have dreamed. Since then, artists have taken this revolutionary instrument and have made it their own. Some female players not only played the bass guitar but became musical icons through their command of the instrument. They kept the beat of their music growing strong, taking what was once a background instrument and making it the backbone, transforming it into an integral part of the music scene.

Artists such as Carol Kaye, Tina Weymouth, Tal Wilkenfeld, Gail Ann Dors-

ey, and other players in between have created a movement where women are celebrated for their musical creativity. Kaye famously played music in almost any genre she was handed, and she did it well. Her range has been recognized for decades and simply cannot be denied. This movement has trickled down into modern-day female bassists and inspired many more women to pick up this fourstringed instrument.

At Songbirds Guitar Museum, we are lucky to have acquired some of the world’s rarest bass guitars of all makes and models. Our collection features the original instruments that started it all, including an extensive collection of Fender and Gibson bass guitars and beyond. Our most recent exhibit, Six String Queens, brings not only female guitar players into the light, but female instrumentalists of all genres. We continue to house this beautiful collection and urge you to come see the instruments that have shaped the world of music as we know it.

Songbirds North & South

One museum, two concert venues, and a whole lot of fun right in the heart of Chattanooga’s historic downtown.

35 Station Street Chattanooga, TN

www.songbirds.rocks @songbirdsrocks

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Features

Three Basses You Need to Know

BY TARA BELL Looking to add to your bass guitar collection? Start here. These three go-to basses offer broad appeal perfect for honing your skills and sounding great while doing it, on the stage and in the studio.

Sadowsky Basses

Jaco Pastorius Fretless Jazz Bass

Fender Precision Bass

Founded by true master craftsman Roger Sadowsky, the company has its roots in modification. Sadowsky started his business by tweaking vintage Fender basses, and he then began creating his own instruments with a signature sound admired by bassists Tal Wilkenfeld, Adam Clayton of U2, and Ben McKee of Imagine Dragons. Sadowsky basses are celebrated for their artful use of technology—the design adds more noise reduction tech and replaces passive electronics with an active preamp to increase the signal-to-noise ratio.

Choose a Sadowsky, and have fun making it your own—nearly every option is highly customizable.

Have your sights set on becoming a virtuoso? Then look to Jaco Pastorius, an undeniable creative genius on the bass guitar. This inspired instrument makes it possible to recreate the legendary bassist’s out-of-the-box style and warm signature sound. Just how Pastorius’ favored fretless jazz bass came to be is a story in itself. Much of the mythos surrounding his original “Bass of Doom” lies in what he did to the neck when he converted his bass from fretted to fretless. Legend has it he ripped the frets out and patched the holes that remained with wood filler, and then coated the fingerboard with marine epoxy to withstand the use of roundwound strings. One thing’s for sure—every aspect of his bass contributed to the way he fused R&B, rock, jazz, classical, and Caribbean music in a way no guitarist ever had.

Fender’s Precision Bass is a true original. Its prototype was designed by Leo Fender in 1950 as the first electric bass to catch attention. And the sound is classic. You know it—that warm tone underlying most of your favorite tracks from the ‘60s, many of them played by bass legend James Jamerson.

Today, the Fender P-Bass still offers those round lows and aggressive mids that achieve familiar punch and growl, while modern updates eliminate unwanted signal noise and hum—perfect for both live performances and recording. The 3-band active preamp adds wide-ranging tonal control with a switch to go passive if you so choose. And the alder and maple construction with ebony fingerboard makes for a bold tone that works with many genres. Add a P-Bass to your arsenal, and you’ll realize that it isn’t just the classic tone that makes it feel just right. It feels as good as it sounds. The unique shape sets this bass apart, with comfortable contours that compliment sitting or standing and a chunkier neck profile that makes even new Fender Precision Basses feel broken in and all yours from the moment you open the case. No wonder it was the choice of legends—now it’s made for you to start your own musical legacy.

Tish Ciravolo launched Daisy Rock Guitars almost two decades ago as a result of the challenges she had faced as a woman and bassist. Her goal? To create properly sized and weighted instruments that would fit comfortably in the hands and around the necks of young females and women, and a company that would nurture and encourage those very same young females and women that would play her instruments, instead of patronize and condescend.

Daisy Rock put the Girl in Guitar!

DaisyRock.com TISH CIRAVOLO FOUNDER OF DAISY ROCK GUITARS

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Features

thE WOMAN’s tOuch leavinG a feMinine MarK on the BaSS Guitar

BY LINDSEY BORDERS/VICTORIA SHAFFER

T

he bass can—and perhaps should—be considered the not-so-distant, less flashy, and more charismatic cousin of the electric guitar. It’s certainly different, as it’s an instrument you have to play in order to fully appreciate and understand. It’s bigger than a standard guitar, has fewer strings, and speaks a deeper, more reflective tone.

As an audience, we hear a significant amount about guitars and the skilled artists who shred them, but what about the bass? Despite the fact that numerous hit songs are often led and carried by the bass, it is an instrument which, on stage and off, is commonly overlooked. Regardless of its commercially perceived importance, playing the bass is much more difficult than it may appear, and unlike the standard guitar, bass requires an entirely distinctive theoretical and technical approach to playing. Yet in some cases, all it takes is a woman’s touch.

Several of the most notable bassists in the music industry—from the ‘60s and ‘70s to present day—include women who understood this specific instrument’s key importance within a successful band and demonstrated to the world what female bassists are truly capable of. As we couldn’t feature all of them in this issue, we wanted to touch on a some we believe were worth mentioning.

CAROL KAYE One of the most-recorded bass players in music history, Kaye was a cornerstone of the legendary Wrecking Crew, the Los Angeles-based group of session musicians heard on thousands of celebrated recordings throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, hundreds of which were Top 40 hits. Kaye surpassed the idea that women musicians were a novelty. Her repertoire included pop, funk, jazz, and even acoustic music.

Notable recordings include “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (The Righteous Brothers, 1964), “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra, 1965), and “Wichita Lineman” (Glenn Campbell, 1968).

ESPERANZA SPALDING Spalding is considered one of the greatest jazz bassists playing to-

auditioning and securing her position, the incredibly influential and groundbreaking alternative rock band The Pixies was conceived. Deal wrote iconic bass lines for tunes such as, “Where is My Mind” and “Gigantic,” which later inspired the likes of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. She would go on to write bass-heavy songs and sing vocals for her band, The Breeders, illuminating her creativity and solidifying her indestructible presence as a celebrated bassist.

day, and she has the credentials to prove it. With four Grammy Awards, she is recognized not only as an exceptional bass player, but a skilled singer. Her ability to do both extraordinarily well, alternating between double bass and electric bass during her live performances, is truly remarkable. With nods to rock and blues, Spalding’s jazz formula is unique and easily crosses over to new genres and audiences.

SEAN YSEULT

RHONDA SMITH If you’re playing bass for Jeff Beck and Prince, you know you’re a worldly musician—and that’s exactly what Smith is. This bassist from Canada is highly sought after in music circles thanks to her explosively funk-driven sound. Though she has also worked as a successful solo artist, Smith has consistently managed to bring her own unique talents to touring artists, providing a recognizable, compelling tone to live music that can only be achieved when a skilled bassist is in the mix.

Best known in the music world as a founding member of the late ‘80s, mid ‘90’s rock band White Zombie, Yseult successfully showcased what a solid and reliable bassist could achieve. Though a majority of White Zombie’s lyrics were written by vocalist Rob Zombie, it was Yseult who created much of the widely celebrated musical arrangements. Through these achievements, the band garnered multi-platinum success and two Grammy nominations.

KIM DEAL In 1986, Deal responded to an ad for a band in search of a bassist. After

TINA WEYMOUTH Known for her time with Tom Tom Club and the incredibly influential new wave band Talking Heads, Weymouth is another example of a reliable female bassist capable of laying down the funk. Weymouth taught herself to play the bass mere months prior to the formation of the Talking Heads and would go on to open for the likes of the Ramones at the New York City experimental rock music hub, CBGB. Though only recording music sporadically since the Talking Heads broke up in 1991, there is no doubt that Weymouth will go down in the rock history books as an exceptionally powerful female bassist.

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Features tips and onto the fret board. Alongside her lengthy career representing genres such as rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip-hop, Ndegeocello may be commercially best known for her duet with John Mellancamp with their cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night."

SHERYL CROW

MELISSA AUF DER MAUR The skilled bassist many recall as a member of two of the biggest alternative rock bands of the ‘90s, Auf Der Maur joined Hole in 1994, successfully touring the world with the band and contributing to one of their most celebrated albums, “Celebrity Skin.”

She then went on to fill the bassist vacancy within the Smashing Pumpkins. Her versatility is evident in the way she successfully transitioned between two widely successful bands.

Eventually Auf Der Maur set out on a solo career to explore the bass through her own unique artistic lens.

TAL WILKENFELD

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

GAIL ANN DORSEY

Ndegeocello is a bassist full of groove, funk, and the envied ability to convey soul through her finger-

Multi-instrumentalist Dorsey may be best known for her unshakeable bass skills and reputation. Dorsey has had a long career as a session musician and from 1995 to 2016, played with David Bowie’s band, again highlighting her outstanding skillset and adding to an already impressive resume.

Dorsey was so well regarded by Bowie that she even filled in for Freddie Mercury during a performance of “Under Pressure.”

Wilkenfeld is a vibrant young multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer who has been well regarded by a number of the most iconic musicians of all time. As a bassist, Wilkenfeld has performed alongside Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Steven Tyler, David Gilmour, Sting, Buddy Guy, and Billy Gibbons. Following her magnetic 2015 Grammy Award performance, Wilkenfeld was sought out as a studio musician

by Prince, Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, and Joe Walsh. Highlighted perhaps by her incredible run with Jeff Beck, Wilkenfeld’s career has only just begun. This female bassist is set for a long and influential career most recently releasing her album Love Remains.

And not to be overlooked, most know Sheryl Crow as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. But she is an accomplished and trained musician who started out on piano taking formal lessons as a youngster with performing musicians as parents. She wrote and co-wrote many Grammy award-winning hits and her love for bass evolved when she could not get the feel she originally intended with professional bass players so she would do the parts herself. Her influences range from Lee Sklar to Paul McCartney (she has a love for melodic bass playing). Sheryl believes in formal training but also sees listening and playing along to great music as invaluable. On female bassists, Sheryl was quoted in a recent article in Bass Player Magazine saying “I hate to pinpoint female bass players, because it’s sexist to separate the quality of their playing and art by their gender, but they’re the architects. And now with amazing younger players like Tal Wilkenfeld and Esperanza Spalding, my gosh!” On her latest album, Be Myself, Sheryl plays bass on most of the songs, and if you have not heard it already you should check it out!

Continue on and enjoy learning about the bassists featured in this edition and be sure and do your own research as there are plenty more out there!

Photo credits: Carol Kaye: Tara Low, Songbird Museums Exhibit Esperanza Spalding: Esperanza Spalding performs at the 2012 Monterey (Calif.) Jazz Festival.

by David Becker - Own work [CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21960768] Rhonda Smith: Photo by Slowline Music Sean Yseult: Sean Yseult, bassist of Rock City Morgue, performing in the Sala Gruta 77 (Madrid), on April 11, 2010.

Mario [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)] Kim Deal: Kim Deal from Pixies at Teatro La Cúpula Alejandro Jofré (djdroga) [CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)] Tina Weymouth: Tina Weymouth playing bass guitar with Talking Heads, August 25 & 26, 1978 Jay’s Longhorn Bar, Minneapolis, MN Michael Markos [CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)] Melissa Auf Der Maur: Performing in concert. Damien Lachas [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)] Meshell Ndegeocello: Meshell Ndegeocello performing in Leuven, Belgium - 2007; Yancho Sabev [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] Gail Ann Dorsey: Singing with David Bowie: Under Pressure. Flickr user Zanastardust, otherwise known as Rosana Prada [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)] Tal Wilkenfeld: Photo by Kirk Stauffer Sheryl Crow: Live at the Capitol Theatre artwork

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Guitar Girl

Features

Magazine 2019 Calendar Guitar Girl Magazine’s 2019 calendar is a beautiful wall calendar featuring some of our top guitarists we have showcased throughout the years. This 11 x 8.5-inch calendar features the extremely talented Angeline Saris on the cover, followed by 12 months each showcasing a fabulous female guitar player followed by a bonus four-month pre-planner for 2020 and two pages for notes.

Order yours today for $14.99 on our site at GuitarGirlMag.com.

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Features

January Nikki Stringfield

February Francesca Simone

March Angeline Saris

April Lindsay Ell

May Nik West

June Arielle

July Melia Maccarone

August Alexx Calise

September Tristan McIntosh

October Command Sisters

November Ali Handal

December Yvette Young

Pre-Planner Jessi Pugh

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Notes Meg Williams

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Notes Anouck AndrĂŠ

©2019 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. FENDER, FENDER in script, TELECASTER and the distinctive headstock commonly found on Fender guitars and basses are registered trademarks of FMIC. Acoustasonic is a trademark of FMIC. All rights reserved.

Features

EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. UNLOCK NEW SOUNDS WITH THE AMERICAN ACOUSTASONIC ™ TELECASTER.®

CR A F T ED IN CO R O N A , CA LIF O R N IA

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INTERVIEWS Photo by Slowline Music

When Beauty, Talent, and Vision Collide:

Rhonda Smith

BY VANESSA IZABELLA

W

ith a musical career spanning over two decades, Rhonda Smith has performed with musical greats like Prince, Chaka Khan, Beyoncé, Erykah Badu, and Jeff Beck. She continues her musical journey today not only as a premier bassist, but also as a recording artist. Known as a very focused musician with a tremendous work ethic, Smith was kind enough to take time to answer a few questions for us.

What is it about your Paul Reed Smith bass that you prefer?

I play a Gary Grainger Private Stock four string, and when I first played it, it was just butter in my hands. That’s the first thing I can say. It was different from any other bass that I had because I have a lot of basses, but it was a four-string I was looking for at the time. It had some very distinctive sounds that were different from other instruments I had. It also had 24 frets, which was something that I was really looking forward to having for playability up top. It has a great cutaway, a lot of accessibility, and the pickups in the electronics section are just incredible. Paul, I mean, he’s just a genius. He does amazing stuff. That was the number one thing, it felt amazing and had sounds that none of the others possessed. So, it was really great for that. It covered all my bases.

Which artists inspired you when you were first learning?

I was definitely inspired by Stanley Clarke, Jaco, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Ron Carter, and Ray Brown.

What is your definition of tone, and how has it changed over the years?

My definition of tone right now is my PRS and an Aguilar bass amp. Clean, clear bottom and lots of powerful overhead. I think it’s better over time since I switched to Aguilar.

Which amps and pedals are you currently using?

I use an Aguilar DB 751 head and an Aguilar

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8x10 cab for my setup. This is the best rig for me right now. I have a rather large pedalboard with my favorite MXR pedals (chorus & bass envelope filter), Aguilar’s Octamizer and AGRO bass distortion, a DigiTech Whammy, and a Seymour Duncan tap delay. This combination allows me to have effects for a supporting bass part or for lead bass solos and lines.

How do you keep your sound consistent on stage?

To keep a consistent sound and level, I try to always use the same amp and bass on stage.

You’ve played with some of the best— anyone you’d like to add to your list?

I’ll play with any great artist or musician who loves what they do!

What are you up to these days?

Well, I’ve got a new record coming out soon.

No official release date yet, but it will be out sometime in 2019. It’s my third CD, so fans can expect to see growth and it will definitely unfold the musical story that I want to tell. I’m gonna put some singles out a little bit early. I have some other little fun projects I’m working on, like a new trio for 2019 with two absolutely incredible male players, so it’s gonna be fun. I’ll be the only female in there with an incredible guitar player and an incredible drummer. I’ll also hopefully be doing some more with Jeff Beck this year. You know, what can I say? No one says no to Jeff!

Any rituals you do before a show or session to get in the zone?

First of all, I’m really happy. No matter how many years I’ve been playing, to be able to play and to have people out there appreciating what I do is amazing. My greatest prep happens before I take the gig, so usually I’m pretty good and I love the people I work with, so we’re usually pretty relaxed. Maybe it’s a little glass of wine before, or maybe it’s a little hug or a prayer.

It’s different every time, but it’s usually always copacetic and cool.

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INTERVIEWS

Angeline S

Saris

A Journey to her Happy Place

BY ALISON RICHTER

he almost became Dr. Angeline Saris— the degree in this case being Juris Doctor—but upon graduating from UC Berkeley, it became clear that music, not law, was her career path.

Today, Saris is a sought-after bassist and songwriter who has appeared on sessions and onstage with an A-list of artists, from Carlos Santana to Narada Michael Walden.

Fans also know her for the years she spent with Zepparella. Saris has recorded solo material, instructional DVDs for Hal Leonard, worked as an instructor at the National Guitar Workshop, and currently teaches via private lessons.

She is also one-half of the duo ANGELEX, which she formed with drummer Lex Razon.

Blending a musical encyclopedia of genres— funk, jazz, rock, metal, dubstep, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban, and metal—the two, joined by some of the Bay Area’s top players, released their debut album, Tight Lips, last year.

There is a comment on one of your social media posts: “My happy place will always be with a bass in my hands.” You began playing in high school at age 15. What made it the right instrument for you?

My high school music teacher knew I wasn’t happy on the clarinet and that I wanted to try something different. His bass player in the jazz band was graduating, and he needed someone for the spot the following year, so he asked me if I was interested. I had been an admirer of the jazz band from afar my whole freshman year, so the idea of joining it and getting to play that kind of music on bass was a dream come true.

What I didn’t know at the time was how much I would grow to love the bass itself. My teacher

taught me a piece called “Tradewinds” that he had written using chords above the 12th fret. I remember being captivated by the soft and melodic sounds of an instrument that could also be so thunderous and powerful. I love that the bass can be both. I also love its understated role—I’m totally OK just being in the back, standing next to the drummer and laying down the groove for the rest of the band to sit on.

Your roots are in jazz. What was the appeal, and how does it influence and enhance your work in other genres?

I love all different types of music, but I especially appreciate jazz because of the improvisational element. Learning to craft accurate and interesting walking bass lines on the spot requires an understanding of theory and chord structure that has immensely helped me in my career. I can learn songs much faster since I understand how and why a bass player is choosing to craft a bass line. Understanding the theory behind a song also allows me to have fun with the part by changing it up, adding new fills or spins on a groove. I think this is particularly important when you’ve played a song a few hundred—or thousand!—times and want to keep it fresh.

You primarily—not exclusively, but primarily—use Fender basses and amps, and you are a Fender endorsing artist. When did you discover Fender gear, and what makes it right for your music?

I remember going to Gelb Music in Redwood City, California, about 15 years ago and trying what is now my Fender Jazz American Deluxe FMT. I fell in love with the signature Fender sound, the way it played, and the honey flame color was unlike any I had ever seen before. I saved up for six months and went back and bought it. That bass has been my main baby ever since. It was even stolen about two years ago and thankfully came back to me!

Photo by Subhrajit Bhatta

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INTERVIEWS About five years after I bought it, Fender saw me in an ad for GHS Strings and reached out to me.

Their timing could not have been better because I had just blown up my other amp onstage—smoke and all coming out of it! They brought me on as an endorser and sent me the Super Bassman Pro 300watt head along with an 810 cab, which has been my main touring rig for the last seven years. The sound of tubes is so warm and powerful; it’s everything I love in a bass sound. Plus the 300-watt head has an LED readout on the back that constantly monitors and re-biases the tubes. Anyone who plays a tube amp knows just how finicky they can be and how helpful this is. I don’t know any other company that has that. It’s great.

Triumph truly sounded more like an actual acoustic upright. This really appealed to my personal aesthetic. I had them add a stacked parametric midrange pot so I have the option of more tonal variety. I also got to design the look of the bass, which was a first for me! I am a classic muscle car lover, so I picked an orange Super Sport double racing stripe on top of a charcoal flame. It came out so slick looking, I couldn’t be happier!

I also have the Fender Rumble 500 amp with a 4x10 for smaller local shows. That 500 is so clean and powerful—and only 5 pounds! It’s my favorite amp for slapping. The cabinets all have neodymium speakers, so they are lightweight, which is especially awesome when you are moving all your own gear.

In a 2014 video interview for GHS Strings, for whom you are also a longtime endorsing artist, you discussed four techniques of playing bass.

When did you discover these techniques, and how do they speak to your original material?

If I remember correctly, the four techniques I discuss are open-hammer-pluck, palm muting, finger funk, and tapping.

You recently added a Framus & Warwick Custom Triumph Electric upright to your rig. Tell us about that bass, the process of finding exactly what you wanted in this model, and your technique on the electric upright.

I taught two years ago at the Warwick Bass Camp in Germany and first tried their Triumph electric upright there. Some electric uprights can sound thin or more like an electric than I like. I found the

I use the upright mostly when I tour with Ernest Ranglin, for those deep reggae bass sounds. I have also started using it in my own project ANGELEX and with Narada Michael Walden for songs off the new 2019 album Immortality.

I discovered the open-hammer-pluck technique when I first heard Victor Wooten’s album A Show of Hands in college and was like, “What?!” Victor played the bass in a way I had never heard before, and I had to know how. I studied magazine transcriptions, read his book, went to clinics, and was even able to take a lesson with him once.

Photo by Matt Granz

I learned about tapping when I played in a Flamenco speed-metal band called Flametal about 12 years ago. Uriah Duffy had been the bass player before me, but when he got the Whitesnake gig, I filled in for him. He’s an insanely talented player and had written really cool bass parts that involved hammering on chords and fast arpeggiated tapping lines.

Those techniques were new to me at the time, so it was super-fun shedding on them and getting them under my belt.

I don’t think I talk about double-thumbing in the video, but I am a huge Larry Graham fan, and when I started to incorporate palm muting into my style, double-thumbing

was just the next obvious step for adding some extra stank in some of my funk playing.

I use all of these techniques when I play shows or write. They are all just tools in the shed for when the time is right.

In addition to funk, you work in jazz, rock, R&B, pop, fusion, hip-hop, reggae, flamenco, and speed metal. Would you say that each genre is distinct to you as a player, or is there a connecting thread in your approach and attack?

It’s a little bit of both. If you look at the history of American music, there are undeniable common threads between blues, funk, jazz, R&B, and hiphop. So with those genres, there are definitely some similarities in my approach on bass. Overall, I do my best to learn the nuances of a genre, though. One example might be tone. If I was playing metal, I’d most likely swap from my usual GHS Boomers to a brighter string, like Super Steels, or conversely use flatwounds and a P Bass if I was playing reggae. My goal is always to honor the song and the genre while also making it my own.

Low end is the universal language and Holy Grail of bass. What does that term mean to you?

When I think of low end, I think of the inherent power of that frequency range to harmonically shape and support a band, to accent a big heavy drop, or to play a funky line and make people dance.

Bass also has the unique ability to occupy the realm of both rhythm and melody. I can consider this low end the glue that holds everything together.

Is the musicality of the bass underrated or underappreciated, or perhaps unknown, by people who think of it solely as part of a rhythm section?

Yes. I certainly wouldn’t say bass as a lead melodic instrument is all that common or well known. Jaco Pastorius was one of the first players I can think of who really took bass out of its traditional rhythm section role and wrote tunes like “Continuum” and “Portrait of Tracy,” where the bass functioned more as a lead melody instrument. Since then, people like Michael Manring and Victor Wooten continue to redefine bass. They have had a huge influence on me and my own writing style and, I believe, the bass world overall.

In addition to writing, recording, and live performances, you teach privately, via Skype, and also participate in camps and clinics. What do students want to know, and what do they need to know?

Everything and anything! It varies pretty heavily from student to student. Some of my students just

Your love for the music must be the constant thread that sustains you through it all.

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INTERVIEWS want to learn tunes, others slapping, some reading music, some theory, some groove. Oftentimes they are surprised about the amount of work and consistency over time it takes to achieve small goals. My approach as an instructor is to not only teach the specifics of theory and technique, but also to emphasize the importance of patience, kindness to oneself as well as others when learning, openness to new genres, music, and people, determination and good habits, and honor and respect for the art form in all of its many manifestations.

Of course, we must talk about the new ANGELEX album, Tight Lips. Can you walk us through the recording process?

We were lucky enough to do almost the entire album at 25th Street Recording in Oakland. We used different chains for different tunes, but for the most part it was an Éclair Evil Twin for the DI and FET 47 on the bass cab with Neve Preamps. An 1176 was most definitely in there too. All of that went through the studio’s API Vision Console. As far as instruments, I mostly used my Fender Jazz American Deluxe through either my 300-watt Super Bassman Pro or my Rumble 500 amp, either direct or with my Rumble 410 cabinet. Scott Bergstrom was the engineer on the session and a total master at his craft, so we just let him work his magic.

ANGELEX began as a rhythm section that developed from practice sessions for you and Lex Razon.

How did you develop it into what it has become?

I would record our practice sessions to listen back and learn about what I could improve on and what sounded OK. In listening back, I discovered we actually had some pretty cool original ideas in our jams. I remember thinking that it might be cool to hear some of these ideas professionally recorded.

We booked a few sessions at our friend’s studio, Allegiant Recording, here in Marin, invited Eric Levy on keys, Aaron Saul on sax, and ended up with our first single, “Space Train.” We were so happy with the way the single turned out, it inspired us to do more. We revisited some of the old ideas, developed them, and realized we had enough material to make a full album, so we went for it. Two years later we had ANGELEX’s first album, Tight Lips.

You and Lex perform as a full band, with sometimes almost a dozen people onstage, and the lineup rotates. How does that challenge you in terms of arrangements, interpretations, and as a rhythm section working with different musicians and their styles and tones?

Before starting ANGELEX, both Lex and I spent our careers as hired guns working for other artists.

Through that, we met so many musicians in the community. When it came time to pull people into our project, it was easy. We had a pool of amazing, awesome friends to work with. While we do occasionally rotate members, we have actually formed a more regular cast now that consists of Luq Frank on vocals, John Varn on keys, Lindsay Ferguson on percussion, Aaron Saul on alto sax, Chris Brown or Ryan Scott on trumpet, Cam Perridge on guitar, and Chris Burger, Michael Blake, and Jeremy Claw as MC. It’s a huge band and can be a lot to manage, but when we get cooking onstage, it’s contagiously electric and totally worth it.

The album is pretty varied in terms of genre, but we decided in the live setting to stick more to a dance/ funk/jazz vibe. It’s what Lex and I grew up on, and we

like that direction for keeping people dancing at shows. We are still in the early stages of nailing down arrangements and interpretations, so things grow a little bit every time we play. It requires some openness and patience on everyone’s part, but our band is down for the journey, so we just have fun learning.

From first playing bass until now: What has changed, and what has stayed the same?

What has never changed is my love for the bass and for music.

I may have had discouraging moments in my career, and moments where I questioned the viability of making a living at this, but I have never questioned my love. My heart sings when I get a free day to practice, or when I am in the studio at a recording session. I have a natural high for days after a killer show. I love teaching bass because I love meeting people who are equally excited about it. A good friend once said to me, “You’re a lifer.” I laughed because I knew exactly what he meant.

What has changed are my tastes over the years. I go through phases of what I listen to, what inspires me, and what I tend to create or write. In the beginning I used to be into more flashy technique and songs that showcased that. Now I’m really into a well-written song that has interesting parts and production, but doesn’t necessarily have to involve fancy playing.

Do you have words of wisdom and/or caution to share with young women who aspire to work in the music industry?

Big inhale and exhale …

I wish I didn’t have to say this, but it’s hard at times.

That being said, if you truly love music for music’s sake, it will be worth it.

I don’t know if I’m in a position to tell anyone what they should or shouldn’t do, but I can tell you what I’ve experienced.

In my career, I have loaded gear in the rain, in the snow, in 100-degree humidity, up two flights of stairs, down to a basement—sometimes for decent money and sometimes for terrible money or no money. I’ve stayed up all night charting out 30 tunes for a last-minute gig, or charted over 80 tunes in a week for four different gigs with four different bands.

I’ve not gotten gigs because I’m a woman and they don’t want a woman in the band. Conversely, I’ve gotten gigs because they really want a woman in the band. I’ve also just gotten gigs because of my musicianship. Yay! I’ve had a first-time “student” bring a boa constrictor to a lesson in a pillowcase—yes, scary!

I’ve wondered if I’m going to make rent some months, especially in the beginning of my career.

I’ve also learned to value my skills as I’ve grown and choose gigs that honor that.

Photo by Subhrajit Bhatta

I’ve fielded nasty comments on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube from total strangers who create fake profiles so they can troll around the internet anonymously. I’ve been doubted by my peers and even my “friends,” which particularly hurts. I’ve also received kind words of encouragement from friends, family, fans, and total strangers. I’ve had hundreds of women come up to me after shows, thanking me and telling me how inspiring it is to see a woman onstage. I’ve had just as many men, if not more, tell me the same.

I’ve said yes to just about any gig in any genre of music for the sake of learning. I’ve played disheartening gigs to three people in the audience.

I’ve also signed autographs and played to 10,000 people. I’ve been fired from a gig, and I’ve played with my heroes. I’ve been lied to about money and business by people I thought I could trust. I’ve also made lifelong friends with others.

I’ve practiced till my fingers had blood blisters and loved every second of it. I’ve also been frustrated by not having enough time to practice, but thankful that the reason is because I’m too busy with gigs.

I’ve seen people in the audience cry, make out, laugh, flash me, throw underwear and flowers onstage, and beam with an ear-to-ear grin. I’ve also seen audience members yawn, shake their heads, whisper curiously to their friend, or fold their arms across their chests with unimpressed pursed lips.

Finally, I’ve cried tears of joy—my first tour to Japan—and had moments of such deep satisfaction and chemistry onstage playing that I wish the whole world could know what it feels like when you are part of something bigger than yourself. I think we would be a more peaceful planet. I’ve also cried tears of frustration, embarrassment, and exhaustion.

I’ve even wondered, during a few dark moments, if I made a mistake trying to be a musician. But I’m still here, a bit like a cockroach who can survive anything, hungry and ready for whatever is next.

So, my advice? There are ups and downs like you can’t imagine. Your love for the music must be the constant thread that sustains you through it all. Be ready for anything.

Photos provided by artist

guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 19

INTERVIEWS Girl’s Got Rhythm:

Laying Down the Groove with Rachel Gonzales Tips for learning songs, adjusting your tone, when a pick is better, and more!

BY CAROLINE PAONE

R

How did you learn bass? What led you to it?

I picked up bass in 2004 when my friend’s original band needed a bassist.

I was fluent in guitar at the time since I had been playing guitar for six years (since middle school). So, switching to bass seemed easy enough. I knew all their songs by heart, so I figured that I could make the switch.

achel Gonzales (known as Rachel G) is a hard-working bassist with a lot of rhythmic energy. She performs in a variety of bands throughout the Las Vegas area, and on any given night you can find her holding down a groove.

Her main stints include the AC/DC tribute band Thigh Voltage, the top-40 JetSetClub, and the four-piece Every Woman, which recreates tunes by female artists throughout the decades.

Originally from Texas, she fell in love with the vibrant rhythms of Tejano music, as well as many other styles from prog rock to metal. Guitar was her first instrument, but she switched to 4-string and found her true calling.

Today, she focuses her playing on what’s best for the song but knows when to add a bit of flair. “I definitely play by feel and groove. I’m not super flashy, but I lay it down solid and keep the groove going with articulation.” She prefers playing with her fingers but uses a pick for certain songs. “It depends on what drive I’m looking for. I play what the song requires but as dynamic as possible,” she said.

Well-versed in many styles of music, Rachel’s booked solid but is also looking ahead. “I’m currently a full-time musician making a living, but I also want to start a solo project in the near future.”

A creative artist, she also endorses Neck Illusions, an accessory company that makes removable graphic fingerboard/fretboard protectors. Currently, she rocks two signature Neck Illusion designs, including Monarch and Flower of Life.

Rachel put down her bass for a bit to check in with Guitar Girl about all things low-end and funky.

Then I was passed down a bass and an amp from a friend whom I had met in passing at my work place (a traveling musician named Kevin), who didn’t need his gear anymore. That really got me learning and perfecting the basslines. It was definitely a challenge, but I was determined.

What players inspired you?

As a kid, my mom listened to Tejano music, so my inspiration came from that kind of music. But I was really in awe and inspired by Selena Quintanilla-Pérez!

She had the look, the fashion, and the dancing down and could sing! I wanted to be her. She inspired me to continue down a musical route before I even knew what music was. As I got older I was into rock and metal. In middle school I was into Kittle (the all-girl metal band in the ’90s). Then in high school I had a wide range of inspirations. I absorbed almost anything. I was into classic rock, prog rock, and metal. Pink Floyd, the Doors, Stevie Ray, Incubus, Rush, Tool, Mars Volta, to name a few.

Do you prefer playing with a pick or your fingers?

I prefer playing with my fingers, but lately I’ve been using a pick. In my AC/DC tribute group (Thigh Voltage), I do use the pick. And in my other bands, some songs do sound better with a pick. I like to experiment with tones, sounds, and articulations.

When you play different styles of music in one show, how do you adjust your tone?

I have two pickups on my bass that I adjust depending on what the song requires: a rounder bass tone or a brighter/poppy tone. So, I then tweak between my pickups on my bass. I also use a couple of pedals that I switch on depending on what the song requires, like a chorus tone or a wah.

Since you play a lot of songs for various gigs, how do you go about learning new tunes?

I do! Too many! Since I usually don’t have lots of time to learn every note by ear, I do cheat. I use YouTube and a site called Songsterr to look up tablature and to see how others play it. I pull up Spotify as well to listen to the original, then I go back and forth to get my own gist of the song. If I still can’t get a gist, since some songs don’t actually have basslines (they only have keys or synths), I look up bands that cover the song to see how they do it and/or also recreate a line that works for the song.

Do you play a 5-string on certain songs?

At the moment, I only use a 4-string. I’ve been meaning to get a 5-string bass that isn’t too heavy, since I perform for long hours. Since I play a 4-string, I do tune-down my top string if need be or tune the bass to E flat if I need to.

What’s one or two of your favorite basslines, grooves, or passages? I love “Another One Bites the Dust” and early disco tunes!

OMG, yes that one is so great and disco! I have more than one or two, but if I had to pick two: “Footloose”

by Kenny Loggins and “Rio” by Duran Duran. There are many more, but for those two I get super hyped.

My hands are moving the whole time! On those two I really work hard (laughs), but they are so fun to play, and I am exercising my hands at the same time.

Do you prefer P-Bass or Jazz bass?

I play on a P-Bass with a P and J pickup, so I do get the best of both worlds in one. I do prefer a P-Bass with both pickups, ha-ha. I used to play a Fender Geddy Lee Signature Jazz Bass—it was so awesome, but I ended up swapping it for the one I have now. I definitely miss it; I will buy one again, someday.

Tone Talk With Ashley Reeve Current bassist for Cher, Ashley Reeve has been busy. She has recently been splitting her time among touring the world with the iconic legend, playing residencies in Las Vegas, and picking up dates with the ‘90s industrial rock band Filter. A graduate of California Institute of the Arts, she studied with Alphonso Johnson of Weather Report and Wayne Shorter, as well as six-string pioneer Todd Johnson and upright master Darek Oles. Ashley is versed in many styles of music, and tone is a big factor in her sound and her work for multiple artists.

What is your definition of tone and how has it changed over the years?

I’ve become a lot less married to one idea of what “my sound” is. Whether it’s a more vintage sound for Cher and Filter or a more modern mid-rangey sound for Adam Lambert and CeeLo Green, each artist has really required a completely different type of tonal flexibility.

I used to love playing five-string active basses almost exclusively, but when I began playing for Filter, I had to

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suddenly switch to passive P-Basses in dropped tunings (lots of bass and treble with cut mids) and even with Cher, it’s all about that vintage P-Bass Carol Kaye sound. So, it’s really about being open to the sound of the record of whichever artist you are performing with.

Which guitars, amps, and pedals are you currently using and why?

I’m currently using a couple Fender American Professional P-Basses because they have that warm, vintage sound, and a new Fender American Performer Jazz Bass. They’re all so consistent—and they feel great. I can switch basses in between songs (one is in a different tuning) and not experience a big difference in volume output or tone for the front-of-house. We have a clean stage (no amps), so my EQ is largely shaped via my Aguilar Tone Hammer DI/ preamp. It’s a Swiss Army knife of pedals really—it allows me so much freedom to put out any tone I can dream up, which is great when you aren’t standing in front of an amp. I actually have two in my collection because I think it’s the most important pedal to bring with me to a gig.

Photo by Tara Arseven

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Are there certain recording techniques you prefer in the studio?

I love being able to record live with a drummer or even with a whole band when possible. There’s some real magic that gets captured in a live recording setting. But when that’s not an option, I just like to have at least the drums down before I track. Then you just layer on some saucy, groovy bass and you’re golden. It goes without saying, but that bass/drum connection is everything.

That’s why I married my drummer, Chris Reeve (who plays for Filter and recently performed with Avril LaVigne and Tom Morello).

How do you keep your sound consistent on stage?

My sound can be a bit chameleon-like depending on which artist I’m playing with. But for consistency on a tour, the secret is in my Aguilar Tone Hammer DIpreamp. The cool thing about it is that I have the option to send the front-of-house my sound either before my EQ settings or after, so I have a huge amount of control as to what bass tone the house is hearing. If I have different tunings in one set, I use two of the same model of basses—just different colors. That way I know they will have the same output.

INTERVIEWS

Tell me about Neck Illusions, and why do you like them on your basses?

Neck Illusions is an accessory for your bass or guitar.

The decals hold up great with the extensive amount of playing, sliding up and down the neck, and slap bass; the decals are still running strong. My favorite part is that it’s totally noticeable and sets you apart from other musicians who have basic guitar necks.

I usually have multiple people tell me how cool my fretboard is at my shows!

What inspired your Neck Illusions Flower of Life design? (The design has ancient Roman numerals as fret markers with floral designs in the background.)

My inspiration for the Neck Illusion design was to get something that was a little geometrical, since I think music is kind of like math. And I just love the art in sacred geometry! I’ve also always liked the boldness of the Roman numerals and thought it’d be cool to combine both into the neck design.

Once you got your awesome playing skills down, did you think about style and image?

Yes, always! That is just as important. I mean if you want to take it to the next level. I’m a girl, so I do always dress the part. The makeup, the outfit, the stage presence, engaging with the audience, it’s all important to me. Even as a kid, I watched videos on VH1 and MTV and even recorded them on VHS and rewatched them over and over to mimic the true rock stars.

When did it hit you that you were a true bassist?

After finally getting the grooves down, I fell so in love with playing bass that I never went back to guitar.

The bass had become a part of me, and I decided to make it my main instrument.

Rachel’s Gear Basses: Fender PJ Bass Amps: Trace Elliot Amp, Ampeg Cab Pedals: Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver BOSS Equalizer BOSS Tuner Pedal Dunlop Bass Wah MXR Bass Envelope Filter

What does your practice consist of?

It depends. If I’m about to do a big reading gig, I’ll read the Broadway musical Evita top to bottom in order to keep my chops up— it has a lot of odd meters and it’s very bass-centric. If I’m preparing for a tour, I’ll run the set until I know it forward and backward with or without vocals, which is how a lot of auditions are running today. So, you have to know it impeccably without that vocal reference. If I’m just home in between tours, I’ll transcribe bass parts just to keep my ears fresh. I love to use old-school manuscript paper and actually write out basslines note for note as verbatim as possible.

What is your advice for young women who hope to work in the music industry?

Empower each other! My greatest friendships in the music industry have been forged through nurturing and supporting other musicians: bassists, guitarists, drummers, all instrumentalists, really. When you go to auditions, don’t look around and see competition.

Look around and see network. Take numbers and make friends. These are your peers. In the bigger picture, you will be subbing for them and vice versa.

Auditions are a golden opportunity to reach out to one another and build a community of support. Also, don’t compare yourself to everyone else. We all have something different to offer—support and celebrate one another!

Tanya O’Callaghan 4-String Session Ace Is a Powerhouse

BY CAROLINE PAONE

O

riginally from the charming, musical town of Mullingar, Ireland, Tanya O’ Callaghan moved to Los Angeles four years ago with nothing but her bass and her ambition. Rather quickly, she established herself as a dynamic session bassist, crossing multiple genres.

Photo by Sean Larkin Photography

To date, she’s worked with artists Orianthi, Maynard Keenan (Tool/APC), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Steven Adler (Guns N’ Roses), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), The Corrs, Michael Angelo Batio, Westlife, and more.

She says it’s important to “always play for the song, not for yourself.” Whether that’s a soulful ballad or a funky line, she gets the job done with her versatile fingerstyle and a fine Sadowsky bass.

Currently on tour with Steven Adler, she’s navigating original GNR bassist Duff McKagan’s vigorous rock grooves. “When I sat down to learn the songs,” shares Tanya, “I got an instant appreciation for how complex the songs were on bass and what a really phenomenal player Duff is. I didn’t realize there was such power to those arrangements.”

The full-time musician is also a longtime animal rights activist. “Before I even picked up a bass, I spent 10 years of my life working in animal rescue centers,” explains Tanya. “So that’s my foundation and my main passion; it’s a huge part of my being.”

And she’s always venturing on new and diverse projects, like a keynote speech exploring her life as a musician. “It’s about what the corporate world can learn from musicians and the real hustle and grind it takes to survive in this crazy industry and the drive to keep going.”

What have you been up to lately?

I obviously moved here from Ireland, and I’ve had a crazy couple of years jumping between different bands, going from pop to rock, to funk, back to rock [laughs]. I’ve also been touring a lot. The last two years I spent most of my time with Dee Snider, which was awesome. And I just recorded on his newest record (For the Love of Metal), and it is great to be part of the studio side of it. At the moment, I’m touring with Steven Adler (former Guns N’ Roses drummer), so that’s super fun. I do a lot of studio work in between when I’m not traveling.

When did you move to the United States?

I’ve been living here four years now, but I first went out to Arizona eight years ago to record with Maynard Keenan. It was a one-off thing; he invited me to play on a Puscifer record. I went back to Ireland after that and was in so many Irish bands. After working with Maynard, I realized how many big artists I could potentially work with. I got the bug and decided to move out to L.A. about four years ago.

Then, you just started making contacts?

Yeah, I always do everything on a whim. I don’t know why L.A. I just woke up one morning and was like, “I need to go to L.A.” I figured the music industry was there. I had heard about a couple of conventions, ASCAP and NAMM. I didn’t know anybody out there; I just came out on my own with my bass. I went to the ASCAP convention, and I stayed for a couple of weeks. I met a few people; then ran out of money and went home and played in a bunch of bands. I did that a couple of times.

Eventually over time, I built up a little circle of contacts, and I went, “OK, I’m going to get a Visa”—and that was a whole other thing. It’s been a process and an ongoing process, and there’s never a dull moment, but if it were easy, everybody would do it.

You’ve landed some great work. How do you adjust your playing and tone from job to job?

For me soundwise, I tend to go in with a pretty blank canvas. I’m not one to overuse effects and gear; I’m not a big gear person.

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INTERVIEWS Photo by William Greenberg from Willtorock.com

Until you know what the band wants, you don’t want to go in with your sound unless they’re looking for something specific. So, because I’m a session player, and I jump between so many different styles and types of bands, I’ll listen to the music, and if it has an existing bass line, I stay true to that, like try and stay true to Duff’s (McKagan) sound or true to the Twisted sound. But then I just play with it.

Tell me about your set up?

I have the most beautiful bass on the planet, a Sadowsky [NYC J-style]. It’s a plug and play instrument. They already sound incredible and have a warm tone. I use a GK Amp [Gallien-Krueger], which I love. Everything after that, you’re adding to the sound. I look at it as a build depending on what the song wants. Sometimes you’re just playing a ballad, a beautiful, simple ballad with root notes if anything else, and you just want a warm, simple tone. Whereas, if I’m playing Dee’s new metal, obviously I have my overdrive and distortion going.

It’s whatever the session, band, or song requires.

The most important thing to sustain yourself is always play for the song, not for yourself.

You played with Nuno Bettencourt too?

I play with Nuno all the time. When he’s in L.A., he calls me for shows. He’s a good dude. And it’s a blast to play with him because he keeps you on your toes, and he never picks normal songs.

How does that go? Do you just start jamming?

We do. We don’t rehearse; we just get the list off him, and he picks stuff and rearranges it, and then you just learn it as verbatim as possible and get in and hope the best thing happens on stage [laughs]. But he’s such a fun guy to play with; he’s such a freak on guitar.

Anytime I play with him, I have a total blast.

Do you play mostly fingerstyle?

Pretty much 99 percent of the time, I’m playing with my fingers. I usually try and play it as the original bass player did. Like last night, I was playing Thin Lizzy

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(at a jam session), so I used a pick. I’ll start by playing it as the original bass player did, and if it feels wrong, then I’ll play it with my fingers. I’ll really sit down and decide, “Does this sound exactly the same?” And then I’ll play whatever feels better. I did that with Steven; I started playing fully with a Photo by Jimmy Fuson pick because Duff (McKagan) plays Photography with a pick. Then I dropped the pick during rehearsals, and I started playing with my fingers. Afterwards, What kind of music were you exposed to?

Steven said, “Wow, this hasn’t sounded as close We had a lot of what we call show bands—big bands, to the record since I played with Duff. Whatever essentially 15-20-piece show bands. My dad was a you’re doing there is awesome.” I was like, “OK, kind of booker for small venues in town, so there fingerstyle it is!” So, unless it’s a very obvious sound, was a lot of blues and rock bands and loads of my like playing Thin Lizzy, you should use whatever friends played music. I didn’t actually pick up a bass feels the best for the song and for your playing. It’s until I was 17 or 18, but I was around it a lot. We really important to be comfortable. had everything: a lot of famous, big band people; a lot of big Irish acts are from there. Famously, Niall Were you into Phil Lynott/Thin Lizzy?

Horan from One Direction is from there. It’s across Definitely because I’m Irish they were there, but it’s the spectrum of genres; we have a lot of people who funny, when you’re from a place, everyone thinks U2 came out of there. and Thin Lizzy were all over. But because my Dad was such a big music lover, I was totally exposed to You play many styles of music, but as far as Phil Lynott for sure, and he has such a cool legacy articulating, do you incorporate things like pullin Ireland. There’s a statue of him in Dublin. And offs and different muting techniques? people used to joke with me because Phil Lynott It totally depends on what I’m playing. For me, like died in ‘86, and I was born in ‘86, so they’re like, “You last night was an example, when I listened back to took it over!” We are very proud of Phil Lynott. the Thin Lizzy records and was playing with a pick, I realized how many hand-muted, ghost notes he Tell me about where you’re from in Ireland?

[Phil Lynott] used. So, sometimes I’ll play around and I’m from a pretty small town called Mullingar. It’s elaborate on that. When I know a gig really well, like right in the Midlands—we call it “Middle-earth” I know the GNR set now, I play around with it feelsometimes. It was great, and now as a grown-up wise. I love to really dig in on hits and in parts of songs musician who’s traveled the world and lived in physically with my body and my bass. I love accenting big cities, I appreciate coming from a small town hits, and using dynamics is very important for me and having that foundation and family around. live. I think that’s what creates the whole vibe of the I’m very close to my grandmother. I just love that song—playing with feel basically. If the song has a I grew up in such a small town and had a simple quiet moment, you’ve got to bring it down physically start to life before we all had cell phones. That and dynamically, and then if there’s an epic hit coming is something that I really cherish. And it’s a very up, you want to put everything into it. musical town. There’s something in the water there.

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INTERVIEWS Dee Snider is a high-energy performer.

What’s the vibe playing with his band?

I loved playing with Dee. A, because he’s a fantastic person; he’s just a good dude and his whole family, his wife, and everyone in that crew. It was absolutely exhilarating because about a year prior to that I had done a couple tours that were more poporiented and really fun and good people, but on some gigs you’re more in the background. It’s not about performance.

I’m a performer first and foremost. I love being on stage, and being on stage with someone who wants you to be present is super fun. Dee would tell us, “Out-stage me. I dare you. “A lot of fun tour photos came out of Dee and me rocking out.

All the shows were a blast because you could really go for it on stage. The crowd lives for that. For me, too, I don’t want to look at people standing there. Obviously, it depends on the genre, but I love performance and seeing people perform and be passionate. I want it to look like “where does the bass end, and where does she begin” kind of thing.

Any plans for playing with him again?

Dee is finished up with that tour. I am sure we’ll probably cross paths again in the future; these things usually have a cycle. I spent two years with him, and at the end of that, I recorded on his new record For the Love of Metal. I’m on two tracks. He called and asked me to be a guest, and it was wonderful to play on that, and I was honored; it has some amazing guests.

And then I went straight from Dee to Steven Adler. It was a few days, and then Steven called me. That’s kind of how it works in this game. Sometimes there’s a bigger gap, and sometimes it happens right away, and you have to learn 40 songs really quickly. [Laughs] It’s cool that your current bandleader (Steven Adler) is a drummer, which is a big part of bass— locking in with the drums.

We became a tight rhythm section pretty quickly. I had met Steven before, but we had never toured, just played at a jam night. When we got into rehearsing and gigging, it was a blast; he’s like a kid in a candy store with the songs. It’s fun because I didn’t grow up listening to GNR. It’s not that I didn’t like them, but I didn’t really listen to them over the years. It just wasn’t on my radar; obviously, I knew who they were. But when I sat down to learn the songs, I got an instant appreciation for how complex the songs were on bass, and Duff [McKagan] is a really phenomenal bass player. I didn’t realize there was such power to those arrangements. I really had to shed.

When did you start playing Sadowsky basses?

The last couple of years. I always wanted to be a Sadowsky player; it’s the Holy Grail of basses. I got to know Roger at a bass convention, and he is just one of the best humans on the planet. Then when I was in New York, I would use his basses for TV shows when I was playing with Jordan Fisher. Then it just evolved, and I became a Sadowsky player. I fell in love with the NYC basses, and I haven’t put them down since.

It is so important to have incredible relationships

with the companies that you use. It can be overkill out here; the more known you get, people are throwing you gear left, right, and center. But you want to have a genuine relationship with your companies and really love the instruments and gear.

I am lucky to work with such a high-end company like Sadowsky.

The big Sadowsky player I recall is Jason Newsted [former Metallica bassist].

I believe he has 12 of them, if not more. I think I first noticed them with Jason Newsted. And then I saw footage of the Paul Simon tour, and I was like, “Wow, he builds for everyone!” because at first I thought they were only jazz players’ basses. Then it’s like, “Oh wow, everybody plays these.” That’s a great thing about Sadowsky. Colin Greenwood from Radiohead just got one built. He’s one of my all-time favorite bass players; he’s incredible. And you see metal dudes with them. A lot of times when I walk out playing my bass at heavier gigs, people are like, “Is that a Sadowsky?” I’m like, “Yeah.”

And you definitely rock it!

Yeah, and that’s where I got my name, TKO. I got that on the Dee Snider tour—I kept blowing amps up. Dee christened me TKO last year, and it stuck.

And now people in all gigs seem to call me that; it’s just pretty funny.

You actually blew the amp out?

I blew many amps up, many. After about the sixth one, Dee was like, “OK, that’s it, you’re TKO.” It was funny; people were like, “Why are you blowing so many amps up?” But we were on tour in Europe doing these big festival circuits, and a lot of the time, the back line has been used to death, and maintenance hasn’t been done. If there’s one valve or anything gone with that amp and you plug in a powerful bass and turn on the distortion, chances are pretty high you’re going to fry something. [Laughing] That’s so Spinal Tap. It was totally Spinal Tap. I would be up at 10, and Dee would be like, “Louder, louder!” He’s one of my most fun tours so far. He is so cool. I love that he’s always evolving. He’s going more metal again; the last time I was talking to him he was doing Broadway. I had the best run with him, and he had Jason Sutter (Marilyn Manson, Chris Cornell, Cher) on drums. He is a close friend of mine and to have that rhythm section, I had such a blast. We had a killer lineup, Julian Coryell on guitar from Alanis Morissette, and it was like hell, this band is serious.

I love your style, and image is a part of the whole package. How did your style evolve?

Well, it’s something I get asked and told all the time, and the easiest way to describe it is that it’s just me. I’ve had dreads longer than I’ve been at the forefront of the music industry. I’ve never liked to

be mainstream, and I really love all forms of art and design; my eye is attracted to asymmetrical, flowing shapes. I didn’t consciously think, “I have to get a stage image”—it’s what I like clothes-wise and feel comfortable in. I’m not a very girly girl, but I like to be feminine but with an edge. It was funny the first time Rudy Sarzo saw me play—and now we’re good friends—but his quote that I will never forget was, “When I saw you play, I looked at you on stage and thought, “Where did she park her dragon?” I laughed my ass off. Like I flew in from Game of Thrones on a dragon. That’s brilliant!

[Laughs] With a bass over your shoulder, but he’s got a point…

He’s right. For me, again back to performance, I don’t want to walk out in my yoga gear. You’re putting on a show; there is an audience watching you. I just fell into my own style, and this is stuff that I wear anyway. I’m not afraid to be a performer and go out there and be the package instead of half a package.

It’s important to be true to yourself stylewise and not necessarily copy, but just take influence. You eventually get more and more comfortable on stage and in yourself as you get a little bit older and wiser.

As far as performing, were you nervous in the beginning?

I always liked being on stage, but at some of my very first gigs, I’d hide behind the bass amp because I was still learning. I was in my first band six weeks into holding a bass. It was my cousin’s metal band in my hometown, and they needed a bass player. They were like, “Here’s a bass and a pick, and we have a gig in a few weeks.”I was nervous because I was still figuring out how to even play the bloody thing. Of course, like everything and everyone, I became more and more comfortable with my instrument and on stage.

I have always loved the role of being a bass player because you can perform, but you’re also a little in the background, and you can do your thing and don’t have to worry about being a front person. I have definitely come out of my shell, that’s for sure [laughs]. That’s what happens after thousands of shows.

What do you love about what you do?

What I love the most is obviously having the platform and freedom of expression. What I do takes me around the world, and I get to interact with incredible humans that I never thought I would play with or see outside of a poster on the wall. It’s so far beyond music. You just grow so much as a human, traveling and being in different cultures, playing with different musicians from all walks of life.

Overall having that ability to travel as your job and play music. When you’re on stage, it’s the greatest escape of all.

Photos provided by artist

Tanya’s Gear Basses: Rig: Pedals: Strings: Accessories:

Sadowsky NYC J-style Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion 800, GK Neo 212, GK Neo 810 MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe, Bass Chorus Deluxe, Bass Envelope Filter, Carbon Copy, Bass DI Dunlop Marcus Miller Super Brights, Sadowsky Stainless Steel SBS45B (.045-.130) Warwick RockBoard Pedalboard

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INTERVIEWS

Eva Gardner Bass Tour de Force

BY CAROLINE PAONE

E

va Gardner’s been called the queen of pop bass and session player to the stars. Those are valid descriptions for a first-call bassist who’s worked alongside Gwen Stefani, Cher, and currently Pink. Those coveted bass chairs don’t come easy. You’ve got to be good, really good, ultraprofessional and versatile; she certainly fits the bill.

Eva’s musical journey began with her father, bassist Kim Gardner, who was part of the British Invasion bands such as the Birds and the Creation. He even worked with the likes of Rod Stewart, George Harrison, and Bo Diddley. “From an early age I was exposed to music and people jamming and having a good time, and it has always been a part of my life,” says Eva about her musical roots.

Fresh out of college, she played in the Mars Volta, a progressive band, where she explored sonic music-making with no bounds. Countless bass sessions and tours later, she’s an A-list musician navigating the ever-changing music industry.

This summer she’ll release a self-produced five-song EP, which tributes her love for ‘90s-era alternative rock. “You can definitely tell I was listening to K-Rock in the ‘90s,” she says about the atmospheric tracks. An early SoundCloud share reveals a blend of silky pop vocals, against tonal guitar riffs and beautifully rumbly bass that thumps around your soul. It feels like modern grunge rock with a dab of red lipstick.

Stepping in and out of the hired gun role is a juggling act pretty common with the growing list of session players finding their grooves.

Eva is very supportive of her fellow bass sisters on the scene. She offers, “We’re a community. If something comes through the pipeline that I’m unable to do, I’ll hand it off

Photo by Lisa Skarell-Schulman

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INTERVIEWS to another bassist. We all support each other. I think that’s what it’s all about.”

From an early age, I was exposed to music and people jamming and having a good time, and it has always been part of my life.

You’ve been playing bass in Pink. That must be incredible to be a part of her band?

I’m lucky because I have been with her going on 12 years, and it’s pretty much the same band since I started with her. We’ve become a family, and it’s become more than just another tour. It really, really is something that we all look forward to. We look forward to seeing each other and sharing the stage with each other and with her.

You play upright and electric in Pink’s band. Are you still playing synth bass as well?

I’ve done synth bass in the past with her, as well as other artists, but in this particular show I’m playing electric bass, upright, and singing as well.

How long have you played upright?

I actually started playing upright when I was in college. I played in the Middle Eastern orchestra and that was my start of upright.

Are you playing your signature bass on this tour?

And tell me about the design behind it [Squier Eva Gardner Signature Precision Bass]?

I do play that in parts of the show and use it for some alternate tunings that I have. Right now, my main bass is a [Fender] ‘62 Olympic White Reissue. I wanted the signature to be a mix of all my favorite basses including my first bass (a Fender Precision). It’s a tribute to that as well as my father’s vintage basses that I love so much. It’s got some vintage specs on it, and it’s basically a mix of all my favorite things.

The P-Bass has such an incredible sound and tone.

What I love about it is that it’s versatile. It’s a versatile bass, and it’s actually the first electric bass that was ever made, and that’s why they named it “the Precision.” All the basses that came before it were upright basses; Fender put frets on it so that you could play precisely and called it the Precision Bass.

It really changed everything.

It did change everything. They are just incredible workhorses. And for me, it’s like why reinvent the wheel. It works well for so many different styles of music.

Are you using any pedals?

It depends; for this particular tour the only pedal I am using is a distortion, Turbo RAT [Pro Co Turbo RAT Distortion]. I use it on “For Now” and “So What.”

I love “So What.” It looks like so much fun to play live.

That’s the one where she’s (Pink) flying around all over the arena and visiting everybody up in the rafters. [Laughs] It’s such an elaborate show. How much leeway is there for you to move around the stage?

For these bigger production shows like the one we’re on right now, there is a lot of choreography.

We have a lot of moving parts as far as the set goes, including dancers and an acrobat. Where and when you can move is actually different for each song. I do have a riser that’s right next to the drummer, and I’m up there sometimes, which is great. There are some

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songs where it’s just the band up there, and we have a little bit more room to move around. I can go over to the guitar player and hang out and rock out for a bit. When there’s a lot of choreography going on and set parts moving, unless I want to get kicked in the face [laughs], I’m staying in my allotted place. You just have to be aware because there are 10 dancers, and it literally is a safety issue, too. The band does become part of the choreography as far as knowing where and when to move around the stage.

What is the rehearsal process for Pink’s Beautiful Trauma Tour?

For these particular shows there’s a lot of different departments: lighting, dance, video. Awhile before the tour starts, all those different departments are getting together and sorting out their individual places and parts of the show. And as we get closer, we start bringing those parts together. We’ll have band rehearsals for a couple of weeks before in our own rehearsal studio. Then when we get closer to the tour, we’ll do what’s called production rehearsals, and that’s when we see the stage and sets and all those different parts start fitting together. We run through songs and see what works and what doesn’t work. Then, they start putting all those moving parts together and make sure they work as a whole. We will do that for a little while before the tour starts.

You definitely have a strong educational foundation.

I am grateful for that, but you don’t have to go to college. There are so many incredible players who took different paths. I know a lot of people who were getting tour offers while they were in school, and they took them. They made that choice, and it worked out great for them, too. I am grateful that I do have the degree; it was something I wanted to do, and I wanted to follow through on it for myself. And I got a great education while I was at it. I had accomplished that goal, and I was finally free to live the rest of my life playing music.

Tell me about your time in the Mars Volta?

That was a really amazing creative time for me. I had just finished school, and then I was like, “OK, now I learned all the rules so I can go break them.”

It was really creative. I still talk to those guys and work with them sometimes, and I’m glad that we had that time.

Before all the high-profile gigs, did you start out in local bands?

I first started playing in local bands when I was in high school and college. I had to stay local because I was in school. I was actually getting tour offers while I was in school, but I made the decision to finish college. When I finally did graduate, things just lined up magically, and I had my first tour booked for the fall.

What are some of the changes you’ve seen in the music world—good and/or bad?

It’s been an interesting shift in dynamic because, when I was in high school, the whole goal was to get signed by a label. Now that’s not the goal anymore. There are so many opportunities for people to do things on their own, and if they are inspired enough and motivated enough, they can record their own music. I travel with a recording rig. I do bass sessions in my hotel rooms. One time, I even did a bass session in the back lounge of our tour bus in Germany—while we were moving! It’s at the point where the technology is so good that it’s accessible to everybody. You can do all that on your own; you don’t need the label. There are so many distribution companies, and it’s easy to get your music online.

That’s how it should work.

It was really incredible. When you’re in school, fall is always when school starts; I never had an opportunity to go elsewhere. I was like, “Wait, I don’t have to be anywhere in the fall? I am free to go on the road?” I traveled across the country, and I experienced my first autumn. It was so crazy because I grew up in L.A. where we sort of have seasons, but it was nothing like being in a college town on the East Coast when the leaves start changing. I was actually star-struck by autumn [laughs]. I was like, “This is what it’s like in the movies,” because I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of autumn.

But the flip side of that is now the whole landscape has been oversaturated. There’s so much out there, how do you stand out from the crowd? Days of the development deal are gone— where someone sees potential and is willing to work with a band or artist and help develop their craft. Now you’ve got to have all that honed in before a label will even look at you. You need enough followers, and YouTube followers, “likes” and this and that. You don’t have the support you used to. There’s good and bad for all of it. They say that change is the only constant, so now it’s just trying to figure out how to navigate those waters.

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INTERVIEWS Do you have any side projects in the works?

I am actually about to release my own EP; talk about doing things yourself. In my off time, when I am at home, or days off on the road, I write. I took a bunch of songs that I had written, and during my last tour break in December, I went into a studio in Joshua Tree and recorded the songs and tracks that I had on my laptop. Then in the studio, I added on live drums, redid vocals, added some guitars, and I have a five-song EP. When do you plan on releasing it? Did you include guest musicians?

It will be released probably this summer. I’ve always enjoyed writing since I was a teenager, and I’ve always written with bands, but this will be the first time I am doing it all by my lonesome. It’s just me. I’m playing most of the stuff, guitar and bass. I programmed all of the drums for the demos. When I was in the studio, I had my friend come out and play live drums on it. Another friend of mine played some lead guitar stuff and solos to add some nice little flavors. It was great to have my friends come in and help me realize my dream and my vision.

That’s what you want as a musician to be creative.

To have that support is important, too. It’s a whole different facet when you’re a hired gun. It’s a different element of what I do. You’re coming into a role, and you’re there to support the artist and help them. Then that kind of shifts, and it’s like, “Now you can help support me in what I want.” It’s fun to experience that other side. It’s all part of balance.

It was a really cool experience to be at that point.

What style of music is it?

It actually has a more pop alternative vibe, pretty heavy guitars, heavy choruses. I’m singing. It’s more in the rock vein—I would say rock pop alternative.

You can tell I was listening to K-Rock in the ‘90s. It’s kind of grungy.

There were a lot of great female bassists during that time in the ‘90s.

Oh yeah, that’s when I started playing, and those were the people I was looking up to and were my inspiration. I was like, “I want to play in Hole someday!” That was my vision. I wanted to be in a band like that—to just rock and let it all out.

Earlier in life, do you remember hearing your dad play bass in the house?

I do. When I was really little, my dad had a studio set up in the living room of our house. There was an amp, his upright bass, electric basses, guitars, and a piano.

People would come over, sit on the couch, and play songs together. From an early age, I was exposed to music and people jamming and having a good time, and it has always been part of my life.

What have you learned from your dad the most about music?

He made me realize that I really wanted to play bass. When I first showed interest in playing the bass, he wasn’t that into the idea. I’d say, “Can I borrow one of your basses? I want to practice.” And he’d kind of ignore me, and it just never really happened. I was indirectly being told no [laughs]. And because I was being told no, it made me want it even more. It made me work for it harder.

How did you get to the lesson stage?

One of my dad’s best friends (sound engineer Andy Johns) actually came over and gave me my first bass lesson. He let me borrow a bass (a Gibson EB3) and an amp. Finally, when I did get my hands on a bass, I took to it like a fish to water. At that point, Dad realized I was serious about it. I proved that it was something that I really wanted, and that’s when he took me under his wing. We finally turned over that leaf, and we had some special moments where we bonded over the bass. He taught me how to change the strings and set it up. We had little jams together and recorded them in the studio. Those were really precious moments that we shared. I’m really grateful for it.

But it took me proving it and working really hard for it. It wasn’t forced on me or just handed to me.

A lot of my friends at the time had asked for guitars.

Green Day was popular at the time, so they all got this baby blue guitar that looked like Billie Joe Armstrong’s. They all got the guitars they asked for, and, sure enough, within a year all those baby blue guitars were in pawn shops.

Up to what point in your career did your father get to see?

I was about to leave for my very first tour with the Mars Volta, and I was at the point where I was like, “OK, Dad, I finally made it.” But the flip side of that was he was on his deathbed. So, I wasn’t going to leave, and I said, “I’ll just stay here with you.” And he said, “All you’re going to do is just sit here and cry, so get out there and do what I taught you to do.”

I look back now, and that was the very moment he passed on the torch to me, because I did leave for tour, and by the third show, he had passed away…he passed on the torch, and he saw me go on my way on my first tour.

I bet he was happy in his heart to see you on your musical journey?

I think he was. He was proud of me and was happy that I had gotten to that point, and he was passing on a gift. And a gift that he was passionate about, and in turn it was my passion as well.

Fast-forward, did you ever imagine you’d be playing at this level and part of such elaborate shows?

I am just doing things that are beyond my wildest dreams. My dream was just to tour. When I did my first tour in a van and was sleeping on people’s floors, I thought that I’d made it. I was like, “I have arrived!

I am on tour, and I am happy. I’ve accomplished my dream.” The amazing thing is since that first tour, it just keeps getting better and better.

Eva’s Onthe-Go Recording Rig With Gardner’s busy tour schedule, she takes a travel rig along for the ride to capture all her riffs and song ideas.

Her go-to audio interface equipment includes an Apogee Duet (2-channel interface) and an Apogee One (singlechannel interface). She loves that they are compact and portable. “The Apogee One has a built-in microphone. I use these interfaces with Logic on my laptop.”

She also travels with a bass, a guitar, an iRig Keys Mini 25-key controller, and headphones.

“I write, record and do session work right from my hotel rooms,” says Gardner. “It helps when I’m learning songs or practicing on the road. I use this interface setup to hear bass through my computer, or I use the Ampeg SCR-DI, which I love! It’s a DI preamp pedal and I plug in with an auxiliary cable and just play along.”

She runs both her instrument and the music through the pedal at the same time, then plugs in her headphones and she’s good to go.

When on the road, she says headphones are a must. “I love using headphones to learn my parts because I can hear them much better. It’s also a quiet alternative to an amp!”

Eva’s Gear Basses:

Amps:

Pedals:

Strings: Misc:

Squier Eva Gardner Signature Precision; Fender American Vintage ‘62 Reissue Precision; Kay Double Bass; Moog Synth Basses Ampeg SVT-2PRO; Ampeg SVT-VR; Ampeg Early ‘70s SVT; Ampeg Heritage B-15; Ampeg PF-50T; Ampeg SVT-810AV Ampeg SCR-DI; Pro Co Turbo RAT Distortion; MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe; MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay; Mu-Tron Octave Divider; Mu-Tron III Envelope Filter Rotosound Swing Bass 66; Rotosound Jazz Bass 77 Flatwound Gator Cases; Dunlop Picks; Seymour Duncan Pickups; Levy’s Straps

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INTERVIEWS

Ida Nielsen

You Can’t Fake the Funk

BY CAROLINE PAONE “An important thing I learned from Prince is to be 100 percent in the moment and in the music,” shares Ida Nielsen about working with her former bandleader. “That’s what made his concerts so magical. They were always soulful and special because he meant every note he played with his heart.”

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She takes this attitude with her in her performances as well. An off-the-charts funk player, watching her perform is like going back in time to a classic ‘70s show with players Bootsy Collins or Larry Graham— players she is completely inspired by and honors in her work.

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The Danish multi-instrumentalist and composer started playing with Prince in the New Power Generation in 2010 and then in his funk trio 3rdeyegirl from 2012 to 2016. Before all that she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark. And to date, she has recorded four solo albums, with her

INTERVIEWS most recent Time 2 Stop Worrying (bout the weird stuff) released earlier this year.

Live, her high-energy funk shows are packed with “good vibes” and “tight grooves.” Her signature Sandberg bass helps her achieve a versatile mix of sounds; at times she goes for a vintage P-Bass tone just like any good funk player has for decades.

Like one of her song titles proclaims, let’s “rock the bass.”

What led you to playing bass?

It all was a coincidence really. I grew up in the countryside in Denmark and went to a small school that had a great music teacher, and there was a lot of musical activity going on. I was singing in an after-school choir, and one day a girl asked me if I wanted to join a band she was singing in. They had a concert planned, but their bass player quit. I

thought “why not” and went for it. I didn’t like it at first though; I thought it was pretty boring. But then at the same concert, there was this band of young boys playing funk music, and the bass player was fantastic! I was completely floored and went home to try and do what I saw and heard. That was basically the start of it.

I love early funk players like Larry Graham and Bernard Edwards. So many classic songs that make you want to get up. What players inspired you?

Ahhh. There are SO many! I’m always scared to forget people, but here are some of the players I listened to the most over the years, in random order of course: Prince, Larry Graham, Marcus Miller, Bootsy Collins, Victor Wooten, Pino Palladino, Jaco Pastorius, Meshell Ndegeocello, Rocco Prestia, Steve Bailey, and Flea. I keep discovering great players as well. There are so many great ones out there.

Being a funk player, how has your playing style evolved over the years?

I think as musicians we are always a product of the music we listened to, and I think you can point out lots of influences by the bass players I mentioned above. They are all there, mixed in with my own personality of course. I also listened to a lot of other instrumentalists and got inspired from their approaches. And I think my style for sure evolved, but sometimes it’s hard to see it for yourself. Since I started my own band, I have a lot of space to play around, and I am sure that is developing my playing as well.

Can you share how you nuance your playing as far as muting and harmonics?

Yes. I love the muted sound, so I often mute with my right hand on ballads. I also play lots of chords on the bass because I think the sound is very warm and beautiful.

How did you come up with the song “Showmewhatugot” (in your turnitup album)?

This is actually one of the few songs I wrote where I came up with the lyrics first. Normally, it’s the last thing I do. I just heard the chorus words and drum rhythm in my head, and then the rest of the song just came along.

Discuss the specs on your signature Sandberg bass or how it suits your style?

I made the bass so it would look and sound good for my own music and for 3rdeyegirl. It has a jazz bass style neck pickup and a Music Man style bridge pickup. The combination of the two makes it possible to create so many different sounds. Since I love ‘70’s funk, it can sound like a really old P-Bass; it can also sound like a Jaco-ish Jazz Bass. And the combination of the two makes a very nice sounding bass.

It’s good for all styles. And then, of course, there is my signature position, which adds a bit more of the neck pickup; so, the sound is a little bit old (but still modern), if that makes sense? Anyway, that’s the

sound I like to use for most stuff.

The thicker pickguard is interesting, with the acrylic plates and fabric in between. (I read that it prevents your fingers from sliding under the strings.) Did you work with the builder on that?

No, actually that was a bonus. I discovered it after the bass was finished. But I am very happy about that!!

What amps do you use, and what kind of tone do you go for?

I use EICH Amps. The amp is a T-900; cabs are 1210S; both 8 ohms. They fit my bass amazingly well! I have a sound that is warm, punchy, and crispy, all at the same time. I absolutely love this combination.

What are you working on now and plans for the future?

I just released my newest album, Time 2 Stop Worrying (bout the weird stuff), in January, and we have been touring three weeks in March. I got home the day before yesterday. So, I am going to Minneapolis in April to take part in the Celebration—an honoring of the unique life and legacy of the prodigiously talented cultural icon Prince Rogers Nelson. After that, I am headed back on tour with my band in May and will be doing festivals in Europe over the summer. And then we will see.

Speaking of Prince, you were one of the last musicians to play with the legend. It must have been a dream gig musically and creatively? What did you learn from him?

It was a dream come true for me. He was always a huge influence to me even before I met him. So, of course, working very closely with him for almost six years taught me a tremendous amount in every aspect of being a musician. He really was a genius and made us all think of every decision we made, musically and practically, and I feel so thankful that I had the opportunity to watch how he worked from the first row, so to speak. I learned so much about playing, arranging, and producing. I keep diving into that pool of knowledge in my musical life; both for studio work but especially for my live performances.

What do you love the most about what you do?

I love to write and play music! So, I feel very lucky and blessed that this is actually my job. I see how people are happy when we play our show, and that makes me really happy too. When you’re a bandleader, there is a lot of extra practical stuff you have to deal with (which can be quite hard), but in the end it is super rewarding to be able to play your own music! If you follow your dreams, something good will always happen!

Explore Ida’s music, gear, and more at her website at idanielsenbass.com Photo provided by artist

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INTERVIEWS

FEELS LIKE COMING HOME

Suzi

An interview with bass legend

BY SASHA VALLELY

I

can’t tell you how excited I was to speak to legend Suzi Quatro. She was the first female to become a world-famous rock star on bass, and she has inspired countless musicians, most notably Joan Jett. She has been playing for more than 50 years and was iconic in the ‘70s with such hits as “Can the Can” and “Devil Gate Drive,” and was also a TV star, playing Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days.

Her latest album, No Control, was written with her son Richard Tuckey and harks back to her beginnings as a leather-clad androgynous queen of rock and roll. It’s a sexy slap in the face to wake you up from the boring pop nightmare of recent days.

Suzi is back with a 48 Crash!

What were your musical beginnings like?

Well, I come from a musical family. There were five children, and my father was a musician. We all had various music lessons. I took classical piano for quite a while, and I played percussion, too. All of us played quite a few instruments each. My dad played his whole life, so it was a very musical environment. I started an all-girl band with my sister

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when I was 14. Everybody picked an instrument, and nobody picked the bass. It was given to me, and luckily for me, as soon as I strapped it on, I felt like I’d come home. It was my instrument from the time I played it, you know. I found myself in that instrument. Even though I do still play the piano and drums, even on stage, I found the Suzi instrument.

What was your first bass?

My father gave me my first bass. It’s ridiculous: a 1957 Fender Precision, gold scratch plate, sunburst finish, stripe up the back of the neck and an original Fender Bassman amp. I mean, that just doesn’t happen!

That’s awesome, do you still have it?

I still have the bass, it hangs on the wall. The amp, I don’t know what happened to that. But I won’t take the bass out on the road anymore because it’s too valuable.

What was life like in Detroit back in those days?

Well you had your Motown—I was a Motown freak. I took my bass style from Jamerson. Plus, you had all your rock ‘n’ roll acts like The Pleasure

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INTERVIEWS

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INTERVIEWS Seekers, Iggy Pop, and Alice Cooper was starting at the same time. There was MC 5, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, so many. I mean, I can go on and on. It was a great, great musical city for the diversity of it, the black and the white elements, you know. Two totally different movements, both equally important.

So, no wild rock ‘n’ roll stories?

No, because that’s not who I am. You know, I’ve always been a professional about what I do. I don’t have to live the rock and roll image off the stage, I keep it for on the stage. My dad taught me that. I’m a professional.

Did you get to play with those bands when you started out?

Sure. I mean, some of them were just a little bit before us, but we did eventually gig together. They probably had a couple of years’ start on us, the early ones, because we were just beginning and learning, but from about 1966, we started playing with them, yeah.

The songs are very different styles and influences.

Yeah, I mean there is some staunch Suzi stuff, you know, like “No Control,” Macho Man,” and “Heavy Duty.” But then there is “Heart of the Line,” “Leopard Skin Pillbox,” “Going Down Blues,” “Going Home,” and things like “Strings,” which is one of my finest songs ever. You know, it’s just a wonderful album.

I’m just so proud of it.

The Pleasure Seekers were actually pioneers of girl garage band music. What was that like playing back in those days as an all-girl band?

I’m not really a gender person, I didn’t care so much about being all girl as my sister did. I just wanted to play and have fun, so I wasn’t really concerned with the gender thing. When I look back in hindsight, what a wonderful, groundbreaking thing that was! My dad didn’t bring us up to focus on gender because he had four daughters and one son, and he didn’t want dependent females. We were all pretty ballsy, I have to say.

How do you feel you were treated back in those days? Any experiences that might be considered bad today?

Well to be honest, I’ve always had the mindset and the attitude that I was serious about what I was doing. I didn’t say I’m a female musician, I just used to say I’m a musician, and that was the vibe I put out there. So, I didn’t get any s--- from people, I guess really the big lesson is, you get back what you put out and that’s what I put out. I don’t know, I mean when I try to think about it today in hindsight, well I always say, if I was going to give advice to a girl starting out, I would just say don’t ever give anybody the opportunity to say to you that you play okay for a girl. Just don’t let that happen. Just do what you do. Maybe I would like to say to some guy, ‘Hey, you don’t play bad for a guy,’ you know. Yeah, twist it.

What it was like touring back in the early days when you started out with Thin Lizzy and Slade?

Any stories from the road?

I came to London in ’71. I went solo and was offered a contract. Then it was about 18 months before I had success, and within that time period, I had finally formed an English band. I joined that tour—it was Slade and Thin Lizzy and me at the beginning.

So, I wasn’t famous yet, but I had 20 minutes at the beginning of the show and that was great. I did all my own original material. I became good friends with everybody, and I had just finished being part of a Phil Lynott documentary. I’m good friends with Nadi, I made an album two years ago with Don Powell, the drummer, and Andy Scott from Sweet. I was always just working. I’d hired my English band and I fell in love with my guitar player, and he was my husband for 20 years. We had two kids together, and he was my guitar player for 20 years.

Nadi always said he watched us fall in love, you know. Now I’ve been married 25 years to my German husband. He was a promoter, and now he kind of looks after me most of the time. So, yeah—there’s my story!

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were making an album and I wanted everything to happen naturally. I didn’t want to force a song or a style. Whatever each song we’re doing is saying, that’s what that song was going to be. I wanted each song to have a personality of its own. That is what everybody is loving on this album.

Is Richard touring with you?

Not yet. He’s in America right now with Rat Boy. But I told him that if this album does well, as it seems to be doing—it’s starting to chart and it’s in download charts and iTunes—I said I would bring him on the road with me. I told him I would bring him out as a special treat to the audience on every song we do on the album—that’s my duty as an artist and as a mother.

You worked with your son Richard on your latest album, No Control?

Yes, we wrote the majority of the tracks together.

He played guitar on all of them, and the critics are going nuts! I’ve never had such compliments or such waves in my life, it’s really quite nice. I’m getting lyrics quoted back to me, and the critics are dissecting each song. It’s just been marvelous. It had a lot to do with my son wanting to do this album. He came to me with his vision of what he thought I should be doing, and we just went with it.

We created and I produced it myself, which also was a big plus because nobody was telling me what to do, which I really like— hence, the title No Control. Talk about feeling creatively free! I’ve never felt so free in my life.

Is that the first time you’ve worked with your son?

Yes, Richard has been in bands and he quietly got very good on guitar, which I didn’t see coming.

He just kind of kept it to himself.

He had said to me a few times through the years I should be making this album, that album, so finally he came to me and said, “I need to write with you now.” So that meant he was really ready!

He pushed my Suzi Quatro buttons and showed me a riff and I just remember saying to him, “I like that. I can work with that.”

And off we went. Suddenly, we were making an album and I had a record deal. It’s great how it happened because it wasn’t manufactured.

On about the third demo, I realized it was getting serious. We

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You’re currently in the middle of a big tour, right?

I just finished Australia, and then I went to the Czech Republic. I’ve been on the promotion trail nonstop—I haven’t had five seconds to breathe! In one day I start my second headlining UK arena tour, so that’s 10 shows, no days off. Then I go to Germany and do 20, which I’m really looking forward to. Those are my solo, sit-down, two-hour shows, which I love best of all because you can show every-

INTERVIEWS thing. It’s just me with my seven-piece, sometimes nine-piece band, and it goes from A to Z. You get the whole rainbow.

Will you be coming out to the U.S. at all?

Yes, you know, I did the River Creek Casino in Canada last year, and it sold out. It was an amazing success.

So now because of that and the interest that this album is creating, I’ll do some gigs in America, absolutely. I’ve gotta get back. That’s on my bucket list.

First of all, to the females: make sure it’s what you want to do if you choose it, because it’s a really hard job and you have to give up a lot to focus on your goal. That’s true in any business. I tell people to always be professional, and if you’re going to pick up an instrument, play it properly, don’t play at it, play it. And always, if you’re a female, even though you’re one of the guys and I don’t do gender, I say always keep your femininity as your line not to cross. That is the line that belongs to you.

With all the touring, how do you keep going? Do you still have passion for it?

Oh, yeah. I always said I was put on this earth to entertain people. It’s what I get the most pleasure from.

Never in my entire 55-year career have I gone out there with the attitude that you’re going to love me, no, no, no. I’ve got to make you love me. Each gig is the challenge, I love it. I don’t need the money, so I only do it because I love it. Performing is the air I breathe.

What bass are you playing these days?

I’ve gone through a lot of different basses through the years. Fender was my first, then I went to Les Paul Professional, that’s what I brought to England.

Then I went to an EBO, Gibson’s bass version of the Chuck Berry model. I had a Ripper, then I was sponsored by BC Rich for a long time. I played Status for a while, and then finally I came back home and I’m back on my Fenders now.

How do you keep yourself going on the road? Do you work out?

What I do on stage is an aerobic workout. If I don’t keep it up when I’m not working, then I won’t be able to keep it up on stage. So yes, I jog, go to the gym, do yoga, lift weights. But nothing gives me a workout like the one I get on stage. My husband gets pissed off—I’ll do a two-hour show and come off stage, and he says, “You’re not out of breath!” I’m like yeah, I don’t plan on retirement, I don’t, I just don’t. When it’s over it’s over, I’ll know when it’s over.

the original! I’m the first female bassist to have success, that’s in the history books. I don’t think the story has ever been told properly, so I’d like to tell the true story of what it was like. Not the BS Hollywood story, the true story.

So if it did come out, you’d definitely be behind the scenes running things?

Yeah, I would have to be involved, and I would probably appear at the end.

You were once considered glam. How you would describe your music today?

I never ever was glam. I only got shoved into that category because my hits started in that era. The glam rockers had the makeup on and the crazy clothes, I had no makeup on and wore a plain black leather suit. I’m based in rock ‘n’ roll with a little bit of every element thrown in for good measure.

What message would you like to give to aspiring musicians?

So, was Elvis the inspiration for the leather suit?

Yeah, absolutely. At 6 years old I saw him and decided I wanted to be him. He stayed with me my whole life. I saw the comeback special and knew that when I had my chance, I would be wearing leather.

So, who were your musical influences other than Elvis?

Otis Redding was a big influence, Jamerson on bass, and Bob Dylan. One zillion percent, Bob Dylan. And believe it or not, Billie Holiday.

What’s your preferred amp?

I use Orange when I’m able to because they sponsor me, and when I can’t get that, I’ll use Ampeg.

You’ve done some acting in the past. Any aspirations to act in the future?

I would like to do some more, yes, but music just seems to be taking over everything at the moment. I do like acting very much and I do consider whatever comes at me.

I have a documentary coming out this year that I have been working at for four years now. It’s a great documentary, a real story. I’m a real stickler for truth. I hate BS, I like the truth.

Will there ever be a movie about Suzi Quatro?

I would love, love, love, love to do a movie about my life because I’m

What artists today do you like; are there any bands that you’re really into right now?

I like Prodigy, I like Keen, I love Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their bass player Flea is amazing. I like Ed Sheeran because I think he’s a marvelously talented songwriter. I like Adele. She’s got a great voice. Anybody who can do a Bob Dylan song better than he can, you’ve got to count.

Rock is not as main stream right now as it once was. Do you think it’s going to make a comeback?

I hope so. I don’t like all this inorganic music, you know? I think if you listen to “Easy Pickings” on the album, it’s about music reality shows. I do think that, as entertaining as they are, they have not had a good effect on the music business. The hard workers have been replaced with people who want to be famous.

That’s not what this business is all about, and it shouldn’t be. I would play for nothing. Money and fame have never been my motivation. Even though I have money today and I’m famous, it’s still not my motivation. I’m blessed to be able to do what I do.

This girl works hard for the money, I’ll tell you.

Photo credits: SPV / Steamhammer

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INTERVIEWS Photo by Demann Crawford Photography

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INTERVIEWS

Love Affair An interview with

Holy Funkadelic, I felt this girl’s energy the first time I was in her presence, I knew there was something special about her with that hair” - Steven Tyler

She inspires me. Great visual, great stage presence…

- Prince

WEST

BY LINDSEY BORDERS

M

ulti-layered and diverse musician Nik West is one of the best-known bassists in the world of music. West is perhaps best known for performing with the late and iconic funk-master himself, Prince, along with Quincy Jones and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. West has also graced the small screen on Glee and American Idol in numerous recurring appearances. She has shared the stage with such legendary musicians as Bootsy Collins, George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic, and current favorites John Mayer and Sugarland.

bringing all of my music to life. Visuals, story-telling, and, of course, I love to entertain. I get to know audiences all around the world, and each inspires me to do something a little different each time. From crowd-diving to improvising on a new song.”

For this issue of Guitar Girl Magazine, it’s only fitting that Nik West graces our cover. She is widely sought after for her talent and her unique, funky rhythm and bass lines. She has been heralded by her peers and music journalists with such adjectives as “energetic, inspirational, colorful.” She has also been featured on the covers of multiple magazines. Music icons Prince and Steven Tyler had this to say about her:

Her latest single is fun and upbeat. Called “Purple Unicorn,” a name that seems influenced by Prince himself, West says, “This single was actually written by my sister. She was playing around in the car one day and started saying, ‘I’m the Purple Unicorn.’ Everyone was already saying that about me and my image, so we went with it. The music video was all of my concept, and I wanted it to be fun and purple!” This single is one of many on her upcoming album, which West says she just finished recording. “Right now, it’s being mixed and mastered. I’m so excited because there are a lot of catchy tunes that I know people will love” West collaborated with her bass hero Larry Graham, plus included the talents of Macy Gray, Cindy Blackman-Santana, Buddy Strong of the Dave Matthews Band, and many more.”

“Holy Funkadelic, I felt this girl’s energy the first time I was in her presence, I knew there was something special about her with that hair” - Steven Tyler “She inspires me. Great visual, great stage presence…”

Prince West took a short break from touring the UK to speak with us about her music, playing bass, her upcoming wedding—she was recently featured on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress—and much more.

One of the many qualities that is obvious with West and her music is that she genuinely loves singing and performing, especially to diverse audiences. “I love

Why the bass, we asked? It’s evident she loves the instrument, which is evident any time she performs. She says, “I love the groove of bass because it makes the booty move! And when booties are moving, everyone is happy! Bass for me is a love affair, a stress reliever.”

West filled us in on the back story on meeting Graham. “Larry Graham is my bass hero. Prince wanted to introduce me, and he was shocked we had never met. Every time I was at Paisley Park, we talked about it, and he called him a few times while I was there, but he wasn’t available. So, we kept missing each other. It wasn’t until Prince passed that Larry reached out to me. He told me that he loved the way I played. He said,

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INTERVIEWS Photo by Sébastien Anex

We also chatted about recording techniques, sound, and tone from our popular Tone Talk Column: When it comes to recording, are there certain recording techniques you prefer in the studio?

I’m very simple—have a great pre and a great mic and get going. I don’t use a lot of effects or autotune. I like to get it right as if I’m doing it live. I recorded most of my bass lines at home and many of the background vocals. For lead vocals, full band takes, or drums, I record those in commercial studios. I worked with Cindy Blackman Santana and Larissa Basilio on a song called “WE CAN DO IT.” Cindy and I recorded that at Tarpan Studios in the Bay Area. She’s a pro and recorded all of her drum parts in two takes. I had the studio reserved for a few hours, and she did it all in 12 minutes!

How do you keep your sound consistent onstage?

For one, I play the same basses, and I know how to dial in my tone on pretty much any amp. I use pedals in some songs which I take along with me, so everything sounds the same. The biggest thing is KNOWING how to dial in your tone no matter what you’re given in backline. I’ve become very good at that. Because all amps are not created equally.

What is your definition of tone and how has it changed over the years?

My definition of tone is the sound that comes from my fingers first. I know this is slightly different than guitar...but for bass, most of it is in the fingers. I can give my same bass and amp sound to another bassist, but it would sound different. I always know that a bass is good for me when I play it, and it feels and sounds good before even plugging it into an amp. Of course, your string choice and amp is an extension of making the tone even better—or worse.

Over the years, tone has changed “commercially” because the player’s mentality and basses have changed.

Today things sound more juiced up and in your face. Players want to try new things, and companies offer many more options. Back in the day, it was just Fender. Bass stayed more in the background and people didn’t change their strings so much, and that created a cohesive sound on many of the old records. But Fender does a great job of offering the original sounding basses as well as the new juiced up ones— which I play!

‘many bass players have a million notes under their fingers and in their head, but we don’t feel what’s in their heart. You play with all of your heart, and that’s why I want to work with you.’ He told me that he was crowning me Queen of Funk and I would be the new funk hero. I took it and ran with it! I was just so shocked that he had been watching me for so long.”

The album was recorded in Minneapolis in just one day thanks to the prework between Graham and West. She tells us, “Larry already had the concept for a song.

He had already written the choruses, and my job was to write the verses and record one of the bass lines and bass solo. He and I produced it.”

Not only is West touring overseas and getting ready for her new album release, she’s also preparing for her wedding. Of being featured on “Say Yes to the Dress,” she says, “it was “CRAZY! There were so many beautiful dresses to choose from, but none of them would work for my offthe-cuff style. I had to get one custom made from scratch, and it was the first time the show had done that. I’m so happy with the results, and what was seen on TV was just the beginning. After doing the fittings and alterations, with add-ons of what I needed, my dress is perfect!”

For girls and women who are interested in learning or picking up the bass to start playing, West encourages those who do with fervor: “Go for it! Don’t be afraid to conquer any song. Don’t be afraid to jump into any jam session, even if it’s a room full of boys.

The only way to become great is by playing with those who are much better than you.”

Favorite song to play live: “Prince songs are just so funky and I can’t resist—songs like “Head” and “Let’s Work” are classics and full of groove and not a whole lot of notes. I can get lost for hours in that funk music.”

Female collaborations she’d like to make happen: “Lianne La Havas. She’s an amazing singer and musician. I’d also love to collaborate with Sheila E!” West is also the May Featured Artist in our 2019 Guitar Girl Magazine Calendar!

Nik West Gear Bass: Fender Elite Jazz Basses; currently working on creating my own signature bass with Fender.

Pedals: Custom pedalboard that includes the MXR Envelope Filter that was sent via Bootsy Collins, a compressor with settings that I created with TC Electronics, a Danelectro Fuzz, and an OctaBass by EBS. Strings: Dunlop Super Brights in medium gauge.

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Fun Facts

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INTERVIEWS

Closer to the Heart:

Lori Friday

One-on-One with Super 400’s

BY ALISON RICHTER

I

t’s 9:00 a.m. and bassist Lori Friday has quite the rock and roll morning planned: post-interview, she will be on her way to her young daughter’s school to assist with a pancake breakfast. There, she will be joined by a host of other musician parents, including cellist Melora Creager of Rasputina. Troy, New York, it seems, has no shortage of established talent, including Friday’s band, Super 400, and the many students of all ages who study at the Troy Music Academy, which Friday and her husband/bandmate, guitarist Kenny Hohman, opened in 2012.

Friday joined Super 400—which is rounded out by drummer Joe Daley—in 1996, after graduating from the University of Albany.

Two years later, the trio signed a deal with Island Records and released their self-titled debut album, only to find themselves caught in what became known as “Bloody Monday,” when the Seagram Company bought PolyGram Records and its subsidiary labels, and subsequently dropped almost all the rock bands from those rosters.

Friday, Hohman, and Daley circled their wagons and began rebuilding at ground level: playing locally, writing, and recording.

They released three albums: Blast the Message (2004), 3 and the Beast (2007), and Sweet Fist (2009), and toured across the U.S. and Europe, steadily growing their fan base. Until, in 2011, Friday crashed her compact car head-on into a pickup truck, suffering a damaged disc in her neck and additional serious injuries that required spinal surgery and left her unable to play bass.

Hohman and Daley remained loyal, turning down opportunities to join other bands as they waited for Friday to recover. In the meantime, they freelanced on sessions and gigs. As Friday improved, she and Hohman focused on scoring music for television programs in their home studio—you can hear their work on numerous shows including Auction Hunters, Shark Week, Porter Ridge, Hollywood Medium, Lockup, and Duck Dynasty—and opened the Troy Music Academy, where they both teach. Late last year, Super 400 began gigging again around the Troy area and laying the groundwork for a long-awaited new album.

When and how did all of this begin for you? What led you to the bass?

I started taking piano lessons when I was 7. My instructor taught out of her home. It was a very short walk from my elementary school, so my parents trusted me to journey safely there after dismissal. She had a small arts-and-crafts-style house, really lovely, and a baby grand piano in her parlor. She was tall and thin and had about three feet of flaming-red curly hair. She wore makeup and lipstick and had long, painted finger-

Photo by Leif Zurmuhlen

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INTERVIEWS nails, and she smoked cigarettes, and I was in love, because I grew up in a one-stoplight town where I had to go to the corner store and look at magazines to see anyone who dressed funky or lived any sort of a bohemian lifestyle—and I didn’t have any money to pay for magazines, so I would get yelled at by the proprietor not to read the magazines! This was before MTV. So I wanted to be just like this woman.

You have a degree in vertebrate paleontology.

What were your plans outside of music?

I went to college mostly to please my family, who were well aware of my artistic inclinations. But they were children of the 1950s, and so were preoccupied with my finding a vocation that would ensure I was taken care of in my later years. Now that I’m 46 and have a family, I get it. And I got it then.

I took piano lessons and realized quickly that I had a natural ability on the piano. Unfortunately, I didn’t practice much. I played a lot, but I didn’t practice everything she had given me to practice. If I had, who knows the potential. I do regret that a little bit. But I played the stuff I wanted to play. I played what I heard on the radio, by ear. My dad had a RadioShack Realistic brand stereo component set, and I figured out how I could record and overdub on it.

I love to learn, so going to college wasn’t a bummer for me. I put my bass down and didn’t touch it at all for four years. I got into being a student, and I thought, While I’m here, I should study something that interests me. The university had a zoology department that offered a concentration in vertebrate paleontology, so I followed that thread.

I loved it because it allowed me to research and write, which is something that I love to do. I also sought out the head of the department, Richard Wilkinson—I can’t believe I remember his name; that was 25 years ago! He was a renowned scholar, and he became my advisor.

My parents supported any inclination I had in the arts and music, and when I was 9 years old, I got an electric guitar and a Casio keyboard for Christmas.

I knew how to write musical notation, thanks to my piano lessons, so I started writing songs and continued with that through elementary school.

There was a school band with the traditional instruments, but no one was playing a drum set, there was no one to jam with, and no one that I knew of was playing electric guitar.

In seventh grade, I really wanted to play the bass.

My dad listened to a lot of Motown, the Beatles, the Stones, folk music, and artists like Little Richard and Chuck Berry. I loved that counter-melody and bottom end. The school music instructor said, “I think you’d be good on the bass. There’s a bass and an amp, and here’s a room you can practice in during your free period.” It was a black Gibson Explorer and an Ampeg SVT with 810s—the Berry Oakley bass rig—and you’re handing that to a kid? Are you kidding me? That’s what I learned on, in a practice room with soundproofing like a sound booth in a recording studio. I learned enough bass to start playing in the school jazz band the next week, and for six years that was the chance I had, once a week, to play with other human beings.

After high school, I had a volleyball scholarship. I did not want to go to college at that time, but my parents were very practical, so I took this scholarship to Syracuse. I dropped out after two weeks because there definitely wasn’t a scene that I wanted to be a part of. Playing a sport at college level is really intense. It took up too much of my life, and it wasn’t what I wanted. I came home to reassess, and my dad said, “You’ve got a choice. On Monday, you can join the military, go back to Syracuse and go back to school, or get a job.”

I got a job as an office clerk for the State of New York, and I learned so much. I was 18 years old, and it was my first time working with adults in a professional environment. I observed office politics and water cooler off-color humor, and I was sexually harassed by my boss and frightened by that. All this stuff came raining down on me, and I matured very quickly in that time. I came out of it saying to my dad, “I’m ready. I want to go to college.” That’s when I went to State University at Albany, and I thrived there. I loved it. So everything happened as it should.

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I learned so much from that experience. I learned what it’s like to have a mentor, and what it’s like to have someone to look up to in the field that you’re interested in. I grew up in a small town, and there was no one to jam with. I learned to play bass in my bedroom, and here I was doing something a lot different subject-wise, but I found someone to look up to and emulate.

What was I going to do with my degree? I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s fair to expect a kid to know what they’re going to do with their life. They want to be happy, and I wanted to be a musician, but I knew I had to do the school thing first. I’m an optimist, so to me, it was, “I want to do this school thing, and I want to be a musician,” and that was that.

You talk about having had a mentor and someone to look up to. Did that factor into your goals when you and Kenny opened the Troy Music Academy, and also when you teach?

Yes. Throughout my life I’ve had interactions with folks that have really stuck with me, and that has helped as well. When someone makes an impression on you, you get a glimpse into your higher self because it reveals a possibility for your growth. I shouldn’t say you; I don’t want to generalize. I saw possibility for myself, for my growth, because I never wanted to sit still. As a kid, I don’t think I once told my parents, “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.”

I want to squeeze every drop of life out of the time that I have.

Mentoring these students—and they’re not all kids; half of my students are adults in their 40s to 70s—you become more than a mentor to them. You become a friend, a sounding board. You listen. You become involved in their lives peripherally because they come in to glean musical knowledge and to try to take another step forward toward their higher self and who they want to become, but at the same time, maybe they had a bad day at work and they want to talk about that, and I cherish that. I feel honored to be a part of those people’s lives.

With the kids, some of them have had problems with everything from bullying to a student being accused by a teacher of plagiarizing an essay. I remember what that felt like as a kid—to feel so pow-

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erless when an authority figure would come down on you. You have no power in those situations. You only have your word. So to be able to listen to that and then say, “We’re going to turn to music for the next half hour, or hour, and we’re going to go there instead, and we’re going to leave this where it is and maybe let it go”—I don’t know if that makes me a mentor. I think I’m just helping people facilitate finding enjoyment in their life through music. But through getting to know them, it’s through humanity, really.

I have no doubt that the description was well-intentioned, but while reading some articles from years back, I came across one that said, “Lori Friday is not your average female bassist, quietly plunking away in the corner.” What in the world does that mean?

The average female bassist is known to pluck 6.25 notes per bar! I don’t know what it means. Just being honest here—and I wouldn’t have been hip to this if I didn’t teach the bass—so many students have come through my door and, after a couple months of lessons, looked at me with astonishment and said, “You know, I never really noticed the bass before.”

I don’t think that the bass has been considered a very heroic instrument. If a cartoonist were to draw a caricature of a bassist, they probably have dark hair with bangs over their eyes, dark sunglasses, they’re tall and skinny, and they’re slouched over in the corner next to the drum kit, holding it down.

Meanwhile the guitarist has more of a heroic persona. They’re up in front with a foot on the monitor and the headstock tilted. It’s not our job to change that. You just do the best you can do.

People feel the bass differently. Some students come in, and they’re very happy to play a meat-andpotatoes-style bass, where they’re playing eighth notes on the root and just holding it down. Guitar players love it because it allows them total freedom to play over the top of that. Then you come across other people who don’t want to stick with that style.

They want to play more melodic-style bass, which is what I do. That’s especially fun because you’re taking these chord changes and working around their framework in a way that makes things more interesting and hopefully more funky and enjoyable for the rest of the band to play around.

People have approached me with…surprise, let’s say, over the past many years that I would have the facility to play that way. There have been more gigs than I can count where I walked in with the bass over my back and people still think, She’s the girlfriend of one of these guys. It’s a private joke in the band. You have to make light of it. What are you going to do? If you sulk about it and get defensive, then who’s upset? You are. It’s so much more satisfying to hold your head up, go onstage, plug in, and do what you do, because the reward for that is so much greater, and it’s fun to see the reaction of the person who thought you were the girlfriend or the roadie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not who I am.

You married a guy who thought that way!

And he’s so honest about it! You’re never going to meet a more humble guy than Kenny. Kenny has abilities that run so deep that it would be really hard for me to describe it to you.

ARTIST:

MADE TO PERFORM INSPE CTOR :

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TUNE RS:

NECK :

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©2019 Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. FENDER, FENDER in script, STRAT, STRATOCASTER and the distinctive headstock commonly found on Fender guitars and basses are registered trademarks of FMIC. Yosemite is a trademark of FMIC.

INTERVIEWS When I first saw Kenny and Joe play, I had just gotten out of college and that was my time to pick up the bass again. I needed a band and did a lot of open mics at that time. I walked into this one particular open mic on a Monday night at Pauly’s Hotel. The stage is far away from the entrance, so this place is long and narrow. Albany is an old town from the 1800s, so you get a lot of city buildings that are long and narrow. You walk in; there’s a vestibule with a guy taking money at the door, a long wooden bar, some space, and three steps leading up to a postage-stamp-size stage. I’ve played there many times, and you’re eating your neighbor’s headstock on that stage.

These guys had bass, guitar, drums, and a Hammond B3 organ on that stage, and it was the biggest thing up there, so they were all together real tight.

I hear this playing and singing, and I felt like I’d been lifted up on a cloud. I looked up there to see who was the source of this sound, and I saw Kenny and Joe playing. I couldn’t believe my luck. Just to hear them play would have been a gift enough, but me being me, I can’t help myself! They had a bass player onstage with them, but that was where I was supposed to be, so I went up to Kenny on a set break and told him I played bass and wanted to jam. I didn’t hear from them, but I didn’t let it get me down because I knew things would work out the way they were supposed to.

Luckily, Joe has the soft touch and a very open mind, so I was able to connect with him. He’s always had faith in possibilities, and I think he opened the door in that situation. But having to prove myself to Kenny is really funny in retrospect. At the time, I was hanging by my fingernails off a branch on the edge of a cliff, because I wanted it to work out so badly.

Now it’s just a joke, of course, because when things work out, you look back and say, “Wasn’t that funny?” But you want the best life you can have, and I’m so lucky that it worked out with those guys.

Tell us about your basses—how they came into your possession and what makes each one right for you. Also, are there certain recording techniques you prefer?

For many years I’ve been playing a 1964 Precision bass. I saw it hanging from the ceiling at Drome Sound Music Store in Schenectady in 1996. The price was $1799. I was just out of college, living in an apartment with a roommate, working as a hostess in a restaurant, playing in Super 400, and I had no money. I had a black Jazz bass, it was fine, but when I saw the P bass, I wanted it. I scraped up $150 as a deposit, and I didn’t pay my rent or any of my bills for the next four months so that I could get that bass. I’ve had it all this time, and I love it. It’s my favorite. It feels like a piece of wood, it’s not very heavy, it conforms to my hand, and it’s wonderful.

That bass is special, and hopefully I will always keep it in my collection.

I always had a steady collection of two or three Jazz basses that I would tour with, because I wouldn’t bring the P bass on tour. It’s my recording bass. But I was in a really bad car wreck eight years ago, and now I have a range of motion limitation and a weight limitation for what I can handle, and two pounds makes such a difference between being able to stand up with a bass and not being able to stand. I

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I’m fortunate enough to have played with world-class musicians for 23 years.

I’ve met and performed with my heroes and studied every move! want to feel comfortable enough onstage to feel natural and not be distracted by how uncomfortable it is to hold a standard-size bass, and I want to be able to play more than one night in a row, so in order to do that, I had to switch.

So I got two Gibson SG basses. They’re very light, and the necks are shorter scale, so when I’m playing at the first fret, it’s very doable and not uncomfortable. I’ve had a bit of a frozen shoulder issue with my left shoulder, so when my left arm goes up at shoulder height, it’s not very comfortable anymore.

These shorter necks are saving me. I don’t know what I would have done if there was no such thing as a short-scale bass. So those are working out great.

I also got a couple of Fender Musicmaster basses.

They have a nice little pickup in them. It doesn’t have a very high output, so I had those outfitted with some hotter pickups, and those are the basses I’m playing live.

When I record, I generally plug my P bass into an Ampeg B-15, which has a microphone on it, and also run a signal direct to the board, which I can color after the fact, if there’s not enough dirt on the signal.

Sometimes we end up favoring either channel, depending on which sound is best for the song.

With all that happened within Super 400, professionally and personally, how did you continue pushing forward?

We’re a family. It’s very precious, and we are loyal to the end. We’ve had an agreement for years that we would stick together. All three of us have been offered other gigs—more lucrative gigs, much more high-profile gigs—but we didn’t feel the pull strongly enough to step away.

Joe is such a special human being and such a singular drummer. I’ve enjoyed playing with other drummers, but with Joe, our souls connect when we play together. The other day we were recording a rhythm track for our new record, and I almost start-

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ed crying. I’m looking at him playing in the same posture he’s had for 23 years, and so much love came pouring out of me. He listens intrinsically to what I’m playing and feeling, and he’s anticipating it, taking it in, and making it better. He’s like a ship. He’s strong and steady and true. I can’t get that feeling with anyone else.

We’ve all done different stuff here and there apart from the group, but when it starts to look like it’s going to get into a touring situation, we turn it down. A lot of people would say that’s crazy, but what kind of life do you want to have? I’m really happy with what we’ve chosen to do.

As far as the surgery and recovery, it was challenging. My pain levels were at the point where I isolated myself from my friends. We would try to go out to dinner, say, with a group of people, and I would be so uncomfortable sitting there that I couldn’t contribute to a conversation or laugh in any sort of a genuine way. It was isolating. But I got so much support and love from these two, and I always found something to do and a way to keep my mind occupied. When I was ready to start playing again, it wasn’t fun. It hurt. I will live with chronic pain for the rest of my life, but it’s manageable. I can deal with it.

What got me through—everything’s relative. We all have stuff we go through. Everyone has had awful challenges, heartbreak, terrible disappointments, sadness, struggles. That was one of my struggles, but I never had any doubt that I would play again with those guys.

Late last year, the band was studio hunting and preparing new music. What is the status on the next album?

We’ve got a house in the country where we’ve rehearsed for many years, and we made a lot of the Blast the Message and 3 and the Beast albums here. We’ve got a little girl in kindergarten, and we’ve got “grownup time” from 9 in the morning until well into the afternoon, so we figured a great way to take advantage of that, instead of going to

INTERVIEWS a studio, is to try to recreate a studio here and do the best we can with what we’ve got. We got some more gear, and we’re going to make a Super 400 record out in the country.

Kenny and I have done a good amount of recording in our home studio over the past several years.

We’ve been writing and recording music for television and that has revealed itself as such an asset, because even though we haven’t made a Super 400 record in 10 years, we have been recording consistently in that time, so we’re still in the head of what it takes to get a recording, a good performance, what it takes to lock with a track. So everything is working out as it should. It always does.

According to Kenny, “Lori’s mind is filled with music, she thinks about it a lot, but she doesn’t practice a lot, especially with the physical limitations that she’s had. She does most of her practicing in her mind. I’ve never heard her play a scale or anything remotely like that.” Do your students know you “don’t practice a lot”?

My practice is in the form of performance. There are monuments I aspire to, every time, which are to play as deeply in the pocket as possible; to connect with the drummer through a dance with both the snare and kick, pushing and pulling, changing the shape of the thing; to reach for patterns that are unfamiliar and outside the safehouse of my muscle memory; to plough the path for Kenny’s guitar solos, intuiting his needs, building to the apex with a thunder of sound that I can feel in my bones; to make space for the vocal, the most important part of the song; and to put just enough strut in my phrasing.

I hold myself accountable for this and always step onto a stage as though it could be my last time.

I’m fortunate enough to have played with worldclass musicians for 23 years. I’ve met and performed with my heroes and studied every move! What better education could I receive?

When I talk with my students, I don’t make a distinction between them having to put the hours in and me already having done it. I demonstrate by trying my best to lead by examples within the lesson, treating each of them as a unique individual with their own special ability.

If they’re looking to learn something that’s outside of what they thought was possible, they’ve got to practice it to achieve it. If they’re the type of person who has such focus that they can visualize it, maybe they won’t have to spend quite as much time

with their hands on their instrument, but it took me years of shedding on the bass to get to a point where I could do a lot of the work in my head.

stincts. If you want something, you can have it. It’s yours for the taking. The work is what needs to be done, and every situation is different.

I don’t have the physicality to practice anymore. If I practice the bass for even an hour a day, every day, I end up with quite a bit of inflammation, so I do a lot of work in my head. I’ve always had a strong connection between my mind and my body. Even as a kid, I would say, “The mind controls the body.” It was like my mantra. I believe it. I think the mind can heal the body and train the body, and so when I think about something I want to play on the bass, I’m not thinking about where my fingers are going to go. I’m thinking about where is the sound that I want and having faith that it will be there for me when I put my hands on the bass.

Another thing I’m still learning as an adult, and probably always will, is to be a good listener, observe, and don’t just dive right into a situation. Observe it first. Check the temperature. Get to know people. Learn how to work with all different personalities. Not everyone is going to agree with you right away, and as a woman, you do have that extra boundary to be aware of. There’s also a balance of being a woman in a man’s world and not to approach things in a combative way. Learn how to have a soft but firm touch.

So how can I tell my students to practice? Every student is different. You can’t treat them all the same.

There’s no one method. I have some students that don’t have to practice as much as other ones, and that’s fine. What is fulfilling to you? There’s no requirement that says, “At the end of six weeks, you must be able to play this Bach etude.” What makes you happy? What are your goals? I will help you reach your goals.

Looking over everything you’ve experienced and overcome—growing up in a small town, no one to jam with, sexual harassment at work, not being taken seriously as a woman playing bass, surviving a head-on collision, opening a music school, teaching, becoming a parent, having a daughter—do you have some words of wisdom or encouragement for young women who aspire to work in the music industry?

I think it’s crucial to have support. Whether it comes from a family member or a teacher, it’s so important to have support to reinforce the fact that you’re not alone. I think women tend to isolate themselves.

They hold feelings in, if they’re feeling threatened, because there has been a taboo against women speaking their minds, or they are perceived as being weak, because it’s hard enough as it is.

The older I get, the more important it is to me to see women succeed. I wish I could wrap my arms around them all and give them love and support, because I remember what it felt like to be a kid. You’re so full of life and so full of dreams, but you just don’t have the power yet. You don’t have a foothold in the adult world, and maybe you don’t have the means of that.

Or you’re at a disadvantage economically or sociologically. I wish there was even more support for women than what I have seen, but I know there are a lot of really good people out there helping young women to achieve their dreams and to be able to stand tall with their chins up and not be apologetic for being smart or for having good ideas

If you are feeling threatened, it is crucial to get support and reinforcement from a trusted source. We all need support. We need support for our mental health, our physical health, and our emotional well-being. You can’t do it all alone. That’s a lesson that I’m still learning. I’m 46 years old, and I still have to relearn that I can’t do it all on my own. I do need to rely on help from other people sometimes.

It’s a cliché to say this, but be true to yourself. Serve yourself. If something’s not right, trust your in-

Lori Friday Gear List Basses: 1964 Fender Precision 1975 Rickenbacker 4001 1970s Hagström 8-String 1970s Gibson SG basses 1970s Fender Musicmaster basses (modified)

Amps: For stage: 1970s Kustom 200 watt head on top of 2x15 closed-back ‘White Tiger’ cabinet with Sica speakers For recording: 1970s Ampeg B15

Pedalboard: Zvex Box of Rock RGW Electronics Bad Bob Booster Arion Bass Distortion Whammy Pedal Radial Active Direct Box Sonic Research Strobe Tuner

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INTERVIEWS

Tone Talk with Jules Whelpton Photo by Chuck Lapinsky

S

outhern California native Jules Whelpton is known by many as #thatblondebassist, but she also plays guitar, violin, viola, cello, and piano. She credits her parents to introducing her to ‘60s music and funk, but also grew up listening to classic rock. Bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, the Beatles, and Earth, Wind & Fire influenced her bass playing.

In a recent interview with us while at the Winter NAMM Show, she said that she is empowered by her bass. “Being a short person, playing this large bass guitar with the thundering sound allows me to be a larger person. I am a small person with this big bass, dancing around and getting lost in the music. That is what I want people to take away and make happen for themselves.

She initially performed with the LA band Daddy Issues and is currently holding down the low end with the Roni Lee Band and with San Diego band Fairplay.

When not playing, she is busy writing and teaching students in Del Mar, Calif.

How do you define tone?

Tone is how you make your instrument sing. I used to think I needed a certain pickup, pedals, or a new amp head to make my tone better. While most of that is a bit true—different basses with various pickups, for example, will change your sound—I have learned that about 80 percent of your tone is how well you strike, slap, tap, pluck, mute, or pick your instrument. I do believe your hands are your best tone makers.

Saying Yes: Insights from Joyce Irby

BY VANESSA IZABELLA

N

icknamed “Fenderella,” Joyce Irby is best known for her work with the all-female band Klymaxx, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles. She was also part of George Clinton’s P-Funk collective in the ‘70s. Throughout her career, she has been an instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and singer. Irby has recently been back in the studio creating new music and working on her memoir, I’d Still Say Yes. From this memoir, she shares about her

background in music and how she started playing bass. Enjoy these excerpts from her book, used with permission from Irby and her publisher. “…I used to sing with a hairbrush in the mirror. And I begged my mom for a guitar, and she got me a real one when I was about 12. I couldn’t make my hands hold chords properly, but I would pick the bass notes out on the lower strings of the guitar.” She recalls talking her father into buying her a real bass guitar and says, “It was a black Fender Jazz Bass. I played and taught myself while dealing with the customary prize of swollen hands and blisters for a while. I also picked up trumpet and played tenor sax in the Reid Ross High School Stage Band.”

“By the time I got to my senior year in high school, my dad got me a car, a Mustang, which I did not appreciate nearly enough because it did not have power steering.

I decided to start driving all over a three-state area, usually alone, to attend concerts by popular groups like Earth, Wind & Fire, Graham Central Station, The Ohio Players, Parliament Funkadelic, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Bootsy Collins, Gladys Knight, Al Green, New Birth,

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Which guitars, amps, and pedals are you using?

For my main axes, I use a Reverend Thunder Gun, a Fender Jazz Bass, a Fender Mustang, and a 1985 Fender Precision Lyte. All four of these basses have certain purposes for whatever gig I get called for, such as rock gigs, cover gigs where versatility is required, jazz fusion gigs, metal or punk gigs, etc. Some pickups are brighter, some are warmer, and some are active. As for my amp, I have just recently purchased a Markbass Little Marcus head, with a Fender 115 cabinet. I used to play a 2x12 Markbass setup but realized 15s have a deeper tone and can blend well within a band. For pedals, I have recently decided I would only actively gig with not more than four at a time. My go-to pedalboard is: one tuner (either BOSS TU-2 or my Shure wireless tuner), one Digitech Drop pedal for alternate tunings, one wah for solos or synth effects (Dunlop Cry Baby Bass), and one EQ pedal to boost any frequencies needed for the gig (BOSS GEB-7). If I’m feeling crazy, sometimes I will add distortion or compression if the backline amp lacks it. All of this is housed on a Pedaltrain Nano with an MXR Brick for power, and I exclusively use Pig Hog Lil’ Pigs for cables. A small set up in general, but it has been effective.

Are there certain recording techniques you prefer in the studio?

For bass, I love the idea of direct inputs into mixers.

There are a ton of great amp simulators on different DAWs, as well as some great preamp pedals. I love using my Tech 21 Fly Rig to record on. The ways of recording bass through actual amp and cabinet setups are a thing of the past these days.

O’Jays, the Brothers Johnson, LaBelle, KC and The Sunshine Band, The Jackson 5, and more.

When it comes to major influences in her life, Irby credits George Clinton. In her memoir, she devotes a section to him titled, “Make My Funk the G Funk!”

She writes, “George Clinton has been a primary force in my life for decades. He has been a mentor, a good friend, and a musical father figure. He always made time for me, even in the midst of every crazy thing he had to deal with throughout his career. He was always complementary, and just cool. I feel like he saw something in me, and that’s what I’d hoped.”

Irby got the nickname “Fenderella” from another bass player in North Carolina. “I was so crazy about getting my dream bass, a black Fender Jazz Bass, but somebody broke into my apartment and stole it after ‘I Miss You’ was a big hit. I never replaced it. I’m probably the only bass player who relentlessly promoted the Fender brand and never got anything from Fender. Even in all my writing and production credits on our hits, I used only the name ‘Fenderella.’”

Irby writes the best parts of being successful can be found in the little things. “You know you are a success when you can buy whatever you want to eat! Seriously, that is how I measured it. Probably the coolest thing is that musicians you have admired for years may now know who you are without you having to explain. I’ve had this experience so many times! Even 30 years after

INTERVIEWS How do you keep your sound consistent on stage?

This factor was tricky for me to master, but I’ve been getting close to having a system. Dialing in your bass sound is just as important as having a tuned instrument. Every amp is different, every room is different, every rig is different. I like to begin dialing in my bass tone with my amp first and foremost since I like to keep it in the same position the entire time I play.

Once I find the sweet spots for each knob, I tap different frets on my bass and see which ones get lost in the mix. Next, I boost any lost frequencies with my EQ pedal or fade any unwanted ones. Finally, when I line check with the band, I’ll make any last-minute adjustments with volume or EQing to make sure I can cut through the mix but still blend well with all the musicians.

What does your practice consist of?

These days when I practice for gigs, I’ll typically begin with more straightforward songs to warm up my hands a bit and have some fun. This helps me want to practice the harder ones. When I get to those, and there are parts I don’t know right away, I’ll stop the song, sing it back to myself, and find the rhythm and notes through my auditory memory. If there is a technique I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll search up a video on YouTube explaining how to play it. Going a tad under tempo when you are first starting out is a really effective tool for learning songs and techniques faster than just jumping right into the context in which you’re playing.

What is your advice for young women who hope to work in the music industry?

My two cents? Girls, this industry is still very much a man’s industry. You’re automatically going to get attention or hurdles thrown at you right from the getgo. Yeah, it’s getting better, but if you’re good, practice, gig, and go above and beyond the stereotypes, you’ll be surprised how many opportunities will be thrown your way. Most of all, do something because you want to do it.

the fact, I still meet people I admire who also admire me. It is humbling and a blessing.” She adds, however, that it’s important to stay humble. “One of the worst things is, you start to think you are so special because people tell you that. It usually comes from people who admire what you do, but they don’t know you on the inside. This can be confusing and dangerous depending on how you perceive yourself. I think it happens to everybody at some point.”

Irby has pursued music for years because she loves it, and that is the advice she shares with young women getting into the industry. “Passion is the only reason to do anything. Trust yourself first, but be open to suggestions and criticism—it usually comes with good intentions. Understand that this is a business and sometimes you won’t get paid, but if you pay attention to the right people, you may get an education you can’t pay for. Share your gift with others. There are so many kids that can play me under the table right now, and I am always encouraged and get excited when I see a young lady playing any instrument—but especially bass!”

These days, Irby is back to writing and recording for herself after spending years supporting young artists and producers in Atlanta. “I miss the love exchange from live audiences, so I’m also doing some performing with my Atlanta-based version of Klymaxx. I’ve got some great female musicians I work with and I love it.”

Photo provided by artist

Carolyn Sills On Songwriting, Storytelling, and Spaghetti Western Swing

BY ALISON RICHTER

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usic has always been a given for singer/songwriter/bassist Carolyn Sills. She grew up in Chicago around a musical encyclopedia of sounds and styles, via her father’s record collection. As a child, she discovered her voice, which came naturally to her and became a second language: singing in the car, singing with her father, and joining school choirs. Music was a passion, a hobby, and a source of joy, but not something she considered as a profession until she attended college. There, for the first time, she began fronting bands, and the desire to sing and play full-time became a career goal.

During that time, she met fellow student and guitarist Gerard Egan. The two bonded over their love for Stevie Ray Vaughan— Egan, it turned out, owned an impressive collection of SRV bootlegs—and from there, over hours of listening, personal and professional relationships developed. The two began writing songs together, performing locally, and eventually moved to New York to pursue music full-time. Their repertoire expanded to include country, swing, rockabilly, and a lot of Patsy Cline, which led to steady work on the club scene and European tours. After several years, the couple moved to Santa Cruz, California, and formed the Carolyn Sills Combo with Sunshine Jackson on vocals and percussion, Jim Norris on drums, and Charlie Wallace on steel guitar.

They’ve released two albums, The Carolyn Sills Combo (2013) and Dime Stories, Vol. 2 (2016), showcasing the sound they call “Spaghetti Western Swing.” This year will bring a unique new project, Return to El Paso, which Sills describes as “a study on the characters in Marty Robbins’ song ‘El Paso,’ which was recorded and released in 1959.

The album is a collection of original songs that gives more backstory to that fateful night at Rosa’s Cantina. It’s dear to my heart, and we are very excited about it.” The recording was co-produced and engineered

by Sylvia Massy. Notes Sills, “She is amazing, and it was such a thrill working with her!”

Along the way, the Carolyn Sills Combo has racked up a hefty list of awards and nominations: 2018 winners and three-time Ameripolitan Award nominees for Western Swing Group of the Year, two-time Ameripolitan Award nominee for Sills in the Western Swing Female of the Year catego-

ry, two-time Academy of Western Artists Award nominees for Western Swing Group, and two-time Academy of Western Artists Award nominees for Western Swing Album.

When she’s not onstage, Carolyn Sills is Head of Operations for the Santa Cruz Guitar Company, where Egan also worked for eight years. While on tour, she works remotely, noting, “I love my job, and I love playing in the band, and I feel very lucky that I’m able to do both.”

When did things start taking off for the Combo?

The band has progressed naturally. We got together a couple of years after my husband and I moved to Santa Cruz, and our goals were to play the music we love, write good songs, and have fun with it. My opinion is that each show leads to something, so we kept playing and taking the next steps, booking bigger shows, and we were asked to open for people and play festivals in California. We followed the path that’s been laid out for us, and so far, so good. Last year was the first year we toured outside of California, and that’s expanding even more. I’m excited to keep touring, writing, and putting out records.

You play a number of instruments. What led you to play bass?

I’ve been singing all my life. As a kid I naturally took to it, singing in school choirs, singing in the car with my dad. Back in the day, everybody played piano, and we had one in the house, so my parents signed me up for lessons. In fourth grade, I signed up for band. I wanted to play oboe, but the spacing was too far apart for my fingers, so I moved to the saxophone.

When I graduated high school, I went to college, and I wanted to play music. I had always sung in ensemble settings, and it never occurred to me that I could be in a band.

When I saw some ads at school for bands, I joined them. It was fun, but it was the 1990s and the era of jam bands, and I would get bored when they took 18-minute solos, so I thought, I’ve got to get on an instrument because this isn’t doing it for me. There were too many guitar players, as there always are, so I thought, I’ve got to do drums or bass. Bass seemed more accommodating to being a lead vocalist, so I started working on it, and it turned out to be a great instrument for me. Once you’re able to make it second na-

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INTERVIEWS larity. After playing in Europe a couple of times, we realized we could do more with this than just play in local bars. A friend of ours there, who is a drummer, called one day and said, “My brother plays steel guitar. Why don’t you come over and play some Patsy Cline songs?” Her phrasing and delivery were like a master class in singing. We began playing shows in Brooklyn, and before we moved we were playing at B.B. King’s club in Times Square, and I sat in with Les Paul at the Iridium. Doing the Patsy Cline thing won some really big shows for us and took my singing to another level. We had a great time in New York, but it got to the point where we wanted to move to a place with a slower pace, and someplace warmer, which led us here.

Photo by R.R. Jones

ture, it’s fun to provide that solid foundation for the band and focus on my singing.

Did those childhood music lessons come back to you in a positive way?

It was invaluable. Piano helped train my ear and taught me how to sight-read. The left hand on the piano kind of mimics the bass line, and I learned a lot of scales and where the notes were, and that helps with any instrument. I read sheet music in band practice, and it gave me a feel for rhythm, how many beats are in a measure, the changes, when they happen. As you learn, it becomes ingrained, and you naturally hear when things should be played and when they shouldn’t, which is sometimes even more important.

You moved to Santa Cruz by way of Chicago to Brooklyn to Arizona to California. Can you walk us through the trajectory?

I met Gerard in college in Connecticut. He’s a guitar player, and we decided to write music together.

We’re a really good team, and we’ve been playing music together for so long now that we can anticipate each other. We both bring something different to the table, songwriting-wise, and we benefit from each other’s skills to make a complete picture. It’s a nice collaboration.

We were playing in bands in Connecticut, and around 2000, we decided to move to New York. We were drawn to the music scene, and we both have family there. We started playing around town in a rockabilly trio, and the band started gaining popu-

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What attracted a child of the ’80s and ’90s to Western Swing?

One of the things about growing up in that era is that you were no longer only influenced by the music going on in your community. Everything was accessible. It was before the internet got as crazy as it is today, but you had the radio, you had access to music at libraries, people trading music at school, and, of course, my dad was big into the doo-wop of the ’40s and ’50s, so that was always playing. I just gravitated to blues and country music, and when Gerard and I got to New York, we were playing rockabilly and peeling away the layers of who influenced whom. Once we discovered Western Swing, we found it was open to so many styles. They were mixing jazz, blues, country, polka, and they would cover and do their versions of other modern songs of the day. It was like jazz with a cowboy hat on, and it was everything we wanted to do.

We never wanted to be beholden to one genre because we love so many styles of music. I love a good story song and telling a tale through music, and this is a nice platform for what we want to do.

folks, we could bring a song or an idea and not have to say much about what we want for the parts or harmony vocals because they get us musically. We have something good here, and it inspires us to write more of these songs and get them out there. If you look at our music from when we left New York to when we settled here in Santa Cruz, it definitely took on a more country vibe and Western vibe than it ever had before.

Let’s talk about your gear.

I am just in love with my Harmony bass! I played a Fender Jazz reissue for a long time, which was great and solid, but the more we started playing some of these other styles, I wanted to get more of the upright sound but playing electric. I play upright, but I need to get more proficient on it. The Harmony was everything I was looking for: shorter scale, lighter weight, and it has that nice thump-y tone. I got it from a shop in Brooklyn called RetroFret. I get their newsletters, and Gerard spotted the bass. I called them and had it a week or so later. It’s a ’64, and it was made in Chicago, just like me, so I felt like we had some kinship there! It’s a great instrument. I’ve never needed to have too many instruments, but I’ve somehow acquired a couple of vintage basses over the years. It’s super-comfortable to play, and it responds well. It stays in tune all the time, and it wants to be played. It’s my buddy up there onstage.

Are there certain recording techniques you swear by for bass and vocals?

For Return to El Paso, Sylvia set up a vintage tube mic and compressor for my vocals, and that worked really well. I play direct when we record the bass. I’m a consistent bass player, and I don’t use any effects.

I prefer solid tones, and usually I prefer to track live and play and sing at the same time, because the exhilaration I get from playing and singing—I don’t think I can duplicate it if I break them up. The Harmony has been great for recording.

What are your goals when you perform?

I love playing live, connecting with my band and the audience, and just being in the song. When I perform, I want to tell the story. As a singer, I like to take my time and not purposely try to sing behind the beat. I don’t rush. We have a wonderful drummer, so I try to lock in with him, as bass players should do, and create a solid foundation for me to sing. There’s a lot going on in our band, but everyone plays tastefully and for the song.

How did the Carolyn Sills Combo come together?

I love our band! We’re so lucky to have met Charlie and Jimmy and Sunshine. Jimmy and Charlie had worked together—not consistently in a band, but Do you have some words of wisdom for young with artists and on shows and recording sessions. women aspiring to work in the music industry?

We met Charlie first. He was a last-minute sub for Work your butt off. That’s a big part of it. Put your a Patsy Cline show we were doing after we moved nose to the grindstone, practice your instrument, to Santa Cruz, and he was recommended to us. He and find your unique voice. You can play any style recommended Jimmy when we were looking for a of music you want—whatever speaks to you. You steady drummer. Sunshine joined after we’d been should never be afraid to explore it, if it’s something playing for a year. She’d been in other bands, and you genuinely feel love for. we’d done some shows together, and we invited her to sing on our debut record and do harmony on a couple of songs. We had such a Carolyn Sills Gear List good time that we became friends and musical partners, and she’s 1964 Harmony H22 bass been an awesome addition ever 1962 reissue Fender Jazz Bass since. I couldn’t be happier.

1968 Hofner Club bass Bergantino 1x12” bass cabinet with a Trace Elliot ELF head We’re always writing, and once D’Addario flatwound strings we got the ball rolling with these

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INTERVIEWS Photo by Scott Simontacchi

The Talented Shelby Means: She Means Bass!

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overs Leap is a self-titled debut EP that involves an easy groove with a three-part harmony on six tracks—from “Walnut Tree” to the album-closing cover of “California Stars.”

Recorded by the four-member band of the same name, it features upright bassist Shelby Means (Sally & George, formerly of Della Mae), Mary Lucey (formerly of Biscuit Burners), Joel Timmons (Sally & George, Sol Driven Train), and Billy Cardine (Acoustic Syndicate, formerly of Biscuit Burners).

Shelby Means is a virtuoso upright bassist who has performed in over 30 countries as a music ambassador and who garnered a Grammy nomination in 2013 for her work with Della Mae. She doesn’t stop at bass either; when she’s not playing, you will find her teaching yoga and fifth-grade Hebrew, walking dogs, taming wild cats, growing plants, and paddling

through chocolate rivers. This multitalented bassist recently spoke to Guitar Girl Magazine about Lovers Leap and upright bass.

When did you know you wanted to play the upright bass? Did you choose the upright bass, or did the upright bass choose you?

I was 14 when I started playing upright. My parents encouraged me to call the junior high orchestra teacher to ask if I could borrow a school bass. I had a history of starting to learn an instrument and then growing cold on it, so they wanted to make sure I was truly invested in the bass before investing their money into one for me! I was inspired to try the bass after watching Erin Youngberg play at an old time and country music contest in Wyoming. Even though my mom taught me not to stare, I couldn’t

pry my eyes off of Erin’s fingers! I was lucky enough to get a lesson from Erin once I procured a bass from the junior high. I chose the bass, like I chose so many other instruments before it, but then the bass chose me back, and we have been together for 17 years.

Who inspired you when you were young growing up in Wyoming, compared to who inspires you now? Where do you draw your inspiration?

Alison Krauss and her band with Barry Bales and Nickel Creek were major inspirations for me growing up. Now, living in Nashville and being surrounded by musicians who are following their dreams, inspiration is everywhere. Joel Timmons, Jacob Means, Lihi Haruvi, Molly Tuttle, Rachel Baiman, Lake Street Dive, Paul Kowert, my parents, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga... I could go on and on because the talent and hard work of these friends and people is really rewarding to watch. I try to stay open to inspiration coming from as many different places as possible. Stories, human interactions, news, children, nature, animals, sisterhood, holidays, love, sex, etc.

Formerly with Della Mae, you now have formed Lovers Leap. Tell us more about Lovers Leap and how this collaboration came to be?

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INTERVIEWS Photo by Steve Atkins

ought to be. With my touring lifestyle, I enjoy playing basses that are a little more durable/made with plywood. One day I hope to own a carved bass, but the problem with owning multiple basses is figuring out where to put them...there are only so many corners in my house!

Is there anyone you haven’t collaborated with that you would like to do a collaboration with?

I am a huge fan of collaboration, and there are so many people I’d love to collaborate with. I’m currently dreaming about Gillian Welch and I’m With Her. There have been many changes in the music industry, from music streaming to how record companies do business. What do you think are the positives and negatives?

As an independent artist, the ease of getting music out into the world now is a positive aspect that I see in the music industry.

More artists can produce more music. It is a bit of a catch-22, however, because with more independent artists producing music, there are more fish swimming in the sea, and it might take something truly special to rise to the top and greet the masses. Today we are lucky because there are more roads to success and ways to directly connect with an audience.

After I left Della Mae four years ago, I formed Sally & George, an experimental duo with my then boyfriend Joel Timmons. One of the first festivals we were booked at was the French Broad River Festival. Justyn Thompson believed in the duo and hired us a few years in a row. In 2017, he again hired Sally & George but asked if we would also play a set on the main stage with another musical couple, Billy Cardine and Mary Lucey. Of course, we agreed, and the band was born! We asked the crowd from onstage to help us come up with a name for the new group, and someone pointed up at the rocky outcropping across the river and said, “Lovers Leap”! It stuck, as did the collaboration between Billy, Mary, and Sally & George.

Lovers Leap has released their first single, “Walnut Tree,” which was inspired by an actual walnut tree.

What was it about that walnut tree that inspired you to write this song, and do you know how long the walnut tree has been around?

Mary Lucey composed “Walnut Tree.” She explained, “The walnut tree on our property is giant!

It must be one of the oldest trees in proximity to our house. Its majestic silhouette dominates the mountain between our property and my parents’. The squirrels seem fairly dependent on it, and I thought there weren’t enough songs celebrating its beauty and importance in the forest.”

Your self-titled EP will be released April 19. Tell us more about what we can hear on the EP? We recorded six songs together at Billy and Mary’s home studio in North Carolina. The landscape of the hillside their house is perched upon and the solitude of the area allowed us to dive deep into the music and the themes of nature and love. Mary, Joel, and

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I brought songs to the table, and we added a Wilco/ Billy Bragg cover to the EP. The lead vocals rotate between the three songwriters, and we all had fun coming up with harmony parts for each other’s songs. Billy’s dobro fireworks spark joyful interplay between the guitar, banjo, cello, and bass. The gentlemen had a lot of fun laying down a percussion jam on “Great Expectations.”

How was the recording process for this EP? Do you have a favorite moment in the recording process?

The recording process was unlike any other experience in the studio I have had before. From preproduction to engineering to mixing, the entire EP was produced by the members of Lovers Leap. Each song used a different approach; sometimes we recorded the body of the song and added the vocals later, and sometimes we recorded a few instruments with a scratch vocal and then added other parts on top of it. Bill was the main engineer, but at times Mary or Joel would take the controls. One thing I am super excited that you can hear on the album is my cello playing debut! My favorite moment in the recording process was when Joel and I snuck in to the studio late one night and added cello parts to “Walnut Tree” and “Red Dawn Awakening.”

What kind of upright bass do you play? Do you have a favorite?

I play an Engelhardt Swingmaster and a Chadwick Folding Bass with D’Addario Helicore strings. Both basses have their strengths. The Swingmaster was my first bass, and I used it to record on the Grammy nominated album This World Oft Can Be with Della Mae. It will always be dear to my heart! The folding bass I have dubbed Woody Ganesh, and it is a true road warrior, trusty and supportive like a good bass

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Lovers Leap has already been touring and will continue to tour throughout April and a little in May; do you have any expectations on this tour? Do you have any preshow rituals you do before a performance?

We just finished taping for Mountain Stage and have exciting shows coming up in Asheville, N.C., Johnson City, Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., Charleston S.C., and Charlotte N.C., along with a few great festivals this summer. I’m looking forward to introducing some of our favorite towns to the Lovers Leap EP. It is nice to release a body of music and have that be the focus of the shows. I expect the band to be tighter than ever before, to introduce a few new instrumental tunes to the live show, and to expand the jam sections of the songs to shine a little light on my virtuosic bandmates.

My preshow rituals include casual vocal warmups/ breathing exercises while curling my hair and putting on makeup! When I am traveling with my folding bass, the set up and tuning of that instrument is a preshow ritual that makes me feel centered.

What’s next for Shelby Means and Lovers Leap?

I am so happy to have a plate full of delicious musical projects. You can expect new music from Sally & George later this year, and I am looking forward to continuing my work as a side woman with Rachel Baiman. After a hiatus from IBMA, I am delighted to return with Lovers Leap this fall. 2019 is the craziest year of travel I have had in a while. January and February brought me to NYC, Boston, England, Wales, France, Scotland, Ireland, and St. Thomas, USVI. March will bring me to Cuba and the southeast U.S. I’m heading to Colorado and Wyoming before a big trip to Israel for my brother’s wedding this summer.

Joel and I will meet up with Lovers Leap in France for the La Roche Bluegrass Festival.

INTERVIEWS Photo by DTC Photography

Music and Matrimony: An interview with

Amanda Hamers

BY TARA LOW

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manda Hamers is a bass player and vocalist who writes, performs, and records in the threepiece rock band Sunshine & Bullets. Last year, she got married during a music video on stage in front of a live audience of fans, friends, and family with her now husband and bandmate, Rich Keane, Jr. We checked in with her to hear what’s new with the band and the new couple.

piece, and we have a different drummer, Matty Exile. He is also an amazing singer, writer, and guitar player.

We first interviewed you back in 2014 after discovering Sunshine & Bullets on “The Bubba The Love Sponge Show” when you got to play a live show. Tell us about that experience.

I have to admit—I was a bit nervous for that one! I was familiar with Bubba’s reputation and show personality, so I knew that I didn’t know what to expect! It turns out he’s really cool in person off the air, and we had a great time! We still listen to Bubba every morning. It’s one of our favorite shows.

Was there always a romantic connection between you and Rich?

The truth isn’t as exciting as the rumors. Rich and I were friends before the band, and we became best friends over the years, though we did fight a lot! Yes, it is possible for a man and a woman to be best friends without a romantic relationship. We were both in other committed relationships, and unfortunately those relationships didn’t work out. When we were both single, we started spending even more time together. I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but we were starting to go on dates. I ended up telling him I didn’t want to date a musician, but that I’d think about it. It was actually right after the Bubba show that I told him, “OK, let’s give it a shot.” We haven’t fought since.

How did Sunshine & Bullets come to be?

We started in 2010 and went through a few changes, but Rich Keane, Jr., has always been on vocals and guitar, and I have always been on vocals but switched from bass to guitar and then back to bass. We started as a three-piece, but experimented all the way up to being a five-piece at one time!

Our fifth member was an on-stage lighting guy-slash-hype-man. Right now, we’re back to being a three-

I believe you even got married on stage during a live performance?

What a dream! I was never the type to fantasize about a wedding as a young girl, but this was better than anything I could have imagined! We wrote a love song for each other (our only true love song in the band) and made our wedding into a music video shoot. The wedding invitation was a (free) concert ticket. We filmed it with our good friend and awesome videographer Christian

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INTERVIEWS Cousin, and our musician buddies were in our wedding party. I wore a red and black dress and held it at an iconic music venue in Saint Petersburg, Fla., The State Theatre. It’s a historic 1924 building that holds a lot of memories for Rich and me as friends, best friends, bandmates, and now as husband and wife.

Now, let’s talk about music. What’s your journey been like?

I was born in New Orleans, and my mother said I loved listening to the local jazz musicians from the womb. Like Rich, my parents picked up on my enthusiasm for music and encouraged me to play guitar. I thought that if I could play “Purple Haze” on guitar, then I could do anything. So that’s the only thing I practiced! Later, I started writing my own stuff. It wasn’t until I met Rich that he noticed I played guitar like a bass, and he let me borrow his Ibanez five-string. I fell in love! I still tinker with guitar here and there, but deep down I’m a bass player Who are your favorite female role models in the music industry today?

There are more now than ever, but I think that until we have enough diversity to not think about whether a role model is female or of another race, then we can’t say we’re there yet.

I admire many female artists such as Joan Jett, Sia, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna, Chrissie

Hynde, Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift, Pink. For bass specifically, I appreciate Tal Wilkenfeld and Carol Kaye.

How do you define tone?

I like to think of tone as a character—you want the right actor for your part. For example, I used to have an acoustic fretless bass that had a tone I imagined was a jazzy tenor female singing in a smoky nightclub. For my current setup, I think of it as a powerhouse diva who has a raspy grit when she belts it out, but a soft, sweet side that’s also really expressive (when I use the clean channel).

What gear are you currently using?

I have two Dean Edge Pro five-string basses. I call them my twins because they’re identical, except one is red and the other is black. Each is detuned half a step, but one is standard and the other is in G#. I got rid of all my amps, and now I play direct through my beloved Darkglass B7K Ultra to the house PA system for live gigs. For recording, I use a Kemper, and it’s awesome for finding great bass tones! As for accessories, I switch between hands and custom-made Sinister guitar picks—they’re little black heart picks that we got for our wedding! I dig my NYXL bass strings, and I have a few comfy and cool looking Levy’s straps. I store my gear in Gator bags and cases. (Disclosure: I work in the

industry for two of the brands I mentioned, but I love them all!)

Does your gear change between recording and live performances?

I change only from the Darkglass to the Kemper. Every once in a while, I’ll try a different pedal or bass for a different pickup selection as long as it serves the song well.

What advice do you have for young girls pursuing music?

Some people will tell you that you’re a goddess just because you’re a female in the music industry, and others will criticize every move you make. Surround yourself with those rare few who will be honest with you about what you can rock out on really well, but help you where you need it. I would tell girls to make sure to be honest to themselves, too. The industry can be fickle, but if you can find that balance between diva and shoegazer, you can weather any storm.

What’s next for Sunshine & Bullets?

We’ve been gigging really heavily for the past few years, so it’s time to focus on writing. We will release our love song and wedding video soon and will be writing more music after that.

Rich and I always have ideas brewing in the background.

Photo by Aqua City Digital

Amanda Hamer’s Gear Bass: Pedal: Accessories:

Two Dean Edge Pro five-string basses Darkglass B7K Ultra (live); Kemper (recording) Custom-made Sinister guitar picks

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guitargirlmag.com

Strings: Straps: Bags and cases:

NYXL bass strings Levy’s straps Gator

Š 2019 PRS Guitars / Photos by Marc Quigley

INTERVIEWS

DISCOVER YOUR SOUND

PRS SE Acoustics are built from an array of beautiful, solid tonewoods and tonewood veneers, each with its own unique voice. Sharing the DNA of our Private Stock acoustics, PRS SE Series acoustic guitars come in either our Angelus Cutaway or Tonare Grand body shape and feature PRS hybrid X/Classical bracing, so you can choose just the right details to complete your sound and style. Go to your local PRS SE dealer to guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 49 find the one that connects with you or visit www.prsguitars.com to hear more.

INTERVIEWS Inside the Industry: Helene Webman of ToneWoodAmp day Ofer became aware that it is possible to excite a surface and use it as a speaker, and he came up with a concept that was worth exploring. In its simplest form, the idea in question was: what will happen if we excite the back of a guitar with effects ONLY while the string naturally excites the top of the guitar? From one crude prototype to the next, the experience proved itself to be intoxicating, and we were convinced that we needed to put all our eggs in this basket—ToneWoodAmp.

ToneWoodAmp also has a great group of artists who love your product. What do you look for in an artist seeking an endorsement?

I get the fantastic job of finding the great artists you see endorsing the ToneWoodAmp. There is enormous talent out there, but when you see and feel someone who has that extra something, it just stands out. It’s talent, it’s passion, charisma, personality, and when its feels real with an honest heart, you just know. All ToneWoodAmp artists, well known or less well known, all have that something special. We are extremely fortunate to have such an extraordinary group of artists, and they are so much fun! To love what you do is a gift, and these artists all have that.

You had quite a successful Kickstarter Campaign in 2014. Did you expect to exceed your goals so quickly?

We didn’t know what to expect once we pushed the green button to launch our ToneWoodAmp campaign. Every day we rolled out of bed to check the progress and checked again before rolling into bed at night. It was a stressful time, as it felt that our future depended on

How do you see your product benefitting musicians, and what impact on the music industry do you see it having overall?

The answer we always hear from pros and casual artists is that the ToneWoodAmp inspires them to play more, to explore new ideas, and to love practicing or creating music more than they ever have. That’s a huge deal for us. To inspire such happiness, joy, and creativity for so many makes what we do all worth it. Mike Dawes’ recent album ERA was fully inspired by the Tone-

BY TARA LOW

I

nnovation plays a part in today’s music just as much as heart, soul, influence, and talent does. Today’s music wouldn’t be the same without the technical tools that make it possible. One of those innovations, the ToneWoodAmp, got its start on Kickstarter and has quickly become a phenomenon that allows musicians to amplify and try effects without the bulk of traditional amps or pedals. We sat down with the brains behind the innovation to learn how their dream came to life.

You and your husband Ofer are the masterminds behind ToneWoodAmp. What was the inspiration behind the product and how was it developed?

The official version of the story is that Ofer smoked something really strong, and very illegal! But the simple truth is that Ofer always felt that the acoustic guitar lacked something that electric guitar players always had. One

Tone Talk with Amy Epperley

I

am the Platinum Viking and, as they say, one of the hardest working musicians out there. I love my job! I’m a full-time musician who plays in several projects in Atlanta bands, including Vices of Vanity, Sash the Bash, and Siamese Dream–The Smashing Pumpkins tribute, to name a few. I’m a classically trained cellist and currently play electric cello for various original projects and tribute bands. I recently picked up the bass guitar, which has become my main instrument and passion. I also sing, am a songwriter, and a multi-instrumentalist with guitar, piano/keys, bagpipes, and the theremin.

while at a local show, I heard it: a searing, driving sound with a powerful punch and aggressive, gritty bottom. I’d never heard these sounds coming from a bass live before! I knew it was what I wanted to emulate.

Outside of music, I am an avid animal lover who runs a local pet rat rescue organization and am happily married to the love of my life.

Tone is often defined as all-encompassing—pitch, quality, and strength. More importantly, I feel it’s your sound’s ultimate character. It is what is you speaking through the instrument. I equate this to what some call “tone color,” which is the final element of pitch and involves understanding and detecting the subtle nuances Photo by of sound that correspond to colors, but I David Hobbs take it a step further. I consider how the sound feels when it’s heard. To me, it’s that feeling that is most important, as well as being heard in the mix, which tone plays a huge role in.

Being heard is critical when you’re a five-string bassist who spends a lot of time on the E and B and in drop tuning (as low as drop C) for my notes to be well defined with a good amount of attack and sustain. I want that solid deep thundering bass with an edgy growl, even mids that punch through with a bite and sustaining highs that can sing tone. Basically, I want it all! But I also want a tone that is immediately identifiable. I want someone to say, ‘Wow, what tone—that is definitely such-and-such bassist’ no matter what I play through, on, or with.

What is your definition of tone?

Welcome to a sneak peek into my five-year journey to find the perfect bass tone! When I was just starting out, tone was not a main focus for me. Then, one day

Which guitars, amps, and pedals are you currently using?

I’m enjoying switching between my MusicMan StingRay5 bass and my new five-string Fender American

I also tour, do studio session and recording work, manage and book for several local bands, host songwriting workshops, serve as program director for the internet streaming station Moon Rock Radio 88.8, and am the creator and host of local Atlanta festival GarageFest. I volunteer for music festivals, teach music theory and math lessons, write gear product reviews, and recently started venturing into modeling and acting.

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the campaign’s success. Luckily, folks believed in our idea and helped us exceed our goal of $100K. We are forever grateful since without that, the ToneWoodAmp would not have happened.

guitargirlmag.com

Elite Jazz Bass. With the larger five-piece band that has two high fuzz/distortion guitars and organ/keys, the Fender Elite stands out among all the noise with a tone that can be heard. It has a strong, distinctly punchy midrange while still giving me decent amounts of lows on the E and B. It also has robust, balanced highs for soloing and octave pedal applications. I also use this bass when playing with the Smashing Pumpkins tribute. Originally, I started using the Fender Jazz for the reasons above, but in researching the tones and equipment of the Pumpkins’ bassist D’arcy Wretzy, I learned that she also used Jazz Basses early on for similar reasons (she also used MusicMan StingRays later, as well). In most of my trio projects, I play often on the E and B string, so the MusicMan is best for giving me that huge, full bottom end that fills up the soundscape well while still giving me balanced mids and highs.

Amp-wise, I use MarkBass amps almost exclusively.

It’s either the Little Mark III bass amp head with a SWR Goliath II or Ampeg 410HLF speaker cab and the Mini CMD 121P 1x12 bass combo. I love MarkBass for two main reasons: the power-to-weight ratio is bar none, and the reliability is the best. I can also easily and fully drop in my tone preferences and preamp into its modeled sound. In the practice space, I also occasionally rock out on my Ampeg SVT-7Pro 1000watt tube preamp bass head with an Ampeg SVT810E Classic Series 8x10 bass cabinet for classic rock projects needing big sound and the AC/DC tribute, though I rarely take this out to a gig or on the road due to its size.

So let me preface this part with: I‘m a pedal nerd! I don’t think bassists should ever be afraid of using pedals or trying out lots of new and varying effects. In fact, I often have a bigger pedalboard than my guitarist!

A well thought out, quality board can make a great bass sound live or in studio and can be a huge part in defining your unique tone. Often, pedals are necessary to build a bigger, better, more complete show. That being said, my current board is slimmed down to only the essentials needed for the actively gigging bands and contains a TC Electronic’s Polytuner for the way

INTERVIEWS WoodAmp. Steve Mandile, a singer-songwriter from Nashville, released his first album Beautiful Brand New Day where some songs were also inspired by the ToneWoodAmp. Calum Graham is now releasing an album inspired by the ToneWoodAmp, Becky Langan from the UK, and many more. We see the impact of the TonewoodAmp on these artists, and also on the casual artists who share their music with us on social media every day. It’s truly inspiring.

Did you have a mentor who influenced you?

Ofer and I both started knowing close to nothing about how to begin this journey. All we had was our life experience and a strong belief in our mission. We are two people who took an idea and made it happen. As we slowly got to know folks in the industry, we were most fortunate to meet leaders such as Richard Factor from Eventide— he recently received a Technical Grammy Award.

When I say this man is unique and kind, that is an understatement. Richard has been there for us any time we give him a ring. He’s extremely polished, intelligent, visionary, and has opened our eyes to many things. Richard always asks us the questions we don’t have the answers to.

Larry Fishman of Fishman Transducers Company has been there for us as well with solid advice.

These two men are generous, insightful, and were always happy to answer questions we had. Musicians also helped guide us. From the

it effectively tunes the B string and lower, the DigiTech Drop pedal for half-step interval drop tuning on the fly or nice octave capabilities, the Electro-Harmonix Op-Amp Big Muff Pi for more driving distortion and overdrive, the BOSS Bass Chorus for layering and building sounds, the MXR Phase 90 for layering and as a phaser application, and finally, the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI for preamping, on stage DI option, tone control, and better EQ controls at your feet. I use the industry standard Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 plus to power my board and have them all mounted to the Pedaltrain Classic 2 SC 24”x12.5” pedalboard. When playing with my Black Sabbath tribute, I add the Dunlop Geezer Butler Cry Baby Bass Wah at the front of the chain.

Are there certain recording techniques you prefer in the studio?

Being a bassist in the modern recording era often means simply putting a dry signal through a DI and into the studio rack. You would play your part directly to a scratch track of drums, rhythm guitar, and sometimes vocals while sitting in the control room. Any effects and amp modeling is done right then on the master computer after the track is recorded. This is pretty much how I’ve recorded most of my work.

I prefer to record this way, as it gets the job done quickly and efficiently—always important when paying for studio time. I like to give one to two takes max and let the magic happen on the mixing and mastering.

How do you keep your sound consistent on stage?

This is actually really hard! Something is always changing depending on the venue, the sound system and PA, whether the room has a crowd or not, whether you’re using your own backline or another band’s, etc. What I’ve found helps is using a good preamp on your pedalboard for easy tweaking and using high-end multi-driver

beginning, Grammy Award winner and producer Larry Mitchell gave us insight from a musician’s point of view, as have artists Mike Dawes, Jake Allen, Morf, Andy McKee, Denise Kaufman, Kaki King, George Benson, and more.

What tips or advice do you have for other women who would like to launch their own business?

If you believe in your idea, go for it. If you have the fire, gumption, hunger, and desire to do something you believe, that’s the start. Once you have that drive, keep pushing through the walls and don’t give up. There will be days you will be exhausted and discouraged, but just know there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you feel you lack some skills, find a way to educate yourself or find a great partner to work with you. When you run a business, you always need help. Take the time to find the right person. It should be someone you trust, who has your back, and who feels the same passion for what you are doing. That’s key.

I know you’ve got something in the works for 2019. Can you give us a little teaser?

We are presently working on a new product, and it’s still a BIG secret! The sky is the limit for ToneWoodAmp, and we hope to create something amazing for you all again.

Photo provided by ToneWoodAmp

in-ear stage monitors so you can really hear what you need to. I’ve found that most sound engineers prefer to take the cleaner signal off the SansAmp DI bass driver than from the back of an amp, though some will also mic the amp to get your full percussive sound within the room for the mix. Also, as a bassist who plays a fivestring and often in lower registers with drop tuning, it’s important that my in-ear monitors are custom molded to my ear and have as many high-quality drivers as economically possible.

What does your practice consist of?

Unfortunately, at my current level of playing and touring, I am not as consistent with a personal practice routine as I was when just starting out.

Most of my ‘practice’ ends up being learning new material in a very short amount of time, writing new songs or riffs, live practices with the many bands I’m in, and studio session or recording work. When I was just starting out, however, I remember working on scales to get familiar with the fretboard as well as practicing fingering and fretting techniques to a metronome. Later on, I practiced by building up a significant song repertoire and becoming versatile with both finger playing and playing with a pick equally.

What is your advice for young women who hope to work in the music industry?

My biggest piece of advice for all women of any age is that it is never too late to pick up an instrument and pursue music at any level.

I came into the industry at the age of 33 and had been told many times that not only was I an insignificant woman in a male-dominated industry, but that I was way too old to try to start. Good news—in this day and age, both of these conventional ideas are being challenged, and we are becoming much more comfortable with the concept that you can be young, old, new, seasoned—whatever—and still find success. It’s great to see the different women making and playing music today!

TAKE FIVE WITH...

Blu DeTiger When music vibrates with you

B

lu DeTiger is a young 20-year-old bassist from New York City who recently released her debut single “In My Head” produced by NYC electronic duo The Knocks (Carly Rae Jepsen, Foster The People, Big Boi). As for the inspiration behind the song, DeTiger says, “I’m always running around NYC doing a bunch of different things at once—I can never sit still. The song is about creativity and being really passionate about something you’re working on.

The ‘beat that’s in my head’ means that feeling you get when you’re creating, and you just need to let it out.”

DeTiger has been playing bass since she was 7 years old. Not only does she play bass, but she also DJs and improvises live bass lines during her DJ sets. Besides music, her second passion is ping pong!

One of your first gigs was a Rolling Stones tribute show at CBGB. How did that experience set the stage for your future in music?

Performing is my passion, so it introduced that feeling for me really early in life. I remember I had a black Gretsch bass that I could barely hold up. It was bigger than me! I dressed up in some sort of ‘60s-70s outfit with bell bottom pants and fringe. I played bass on some tunes but I also sang “As Tears Go By.” I was 7 years old, so it’s difficult to know how aware I was of how it was affecting me, but I think that was the moment I knew I wanted to do music. I was never shy about being on stage after that, and I’ve pursued music since then. I went on to play so many shows, practice my instrument, start writing songs, DJ, and do all things music. I also think the legendary venue and the energy of the Rolling Stones rubbed off on me.

You compiled a list of 12 songs by female artists on Soundcloud for International Women’s Day. Tell us about some of the artists who inspired you.

I’m inspired by girls who aren’t afraid of being themselves. They just do them and don’t care what other people think. I have contemporary artists like Lizzo, Madge, Yaeiji, Robyn, etc. in that mix.

I also believe in the power of dance music.

If it can make you move, if the music vibrates with you, it can literally move you—not only physically, but emotionally, too. It can change the way you think and perceive things.

Photo by Brantley Gutierrez

guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 51

INTERVIEWS When did you get the urge to get involved in music, and what inspired you to choose the bass?

I grew up in a creative household and my parents always taught me to follow my passions. I started playing music when I was seven. My brother was playing drums at the time, and I wanted to play an instrument, too. At the time, I felt like everyone around me was playing guitar. I remember thinking guitar was so mainstream. I wanted to do something different, so I chose bass and never looked back. I grew attracted to the groove, the rhythm, the backbone of the music, and the purity of the bass.

Hammer 500 Head and Aguilar SL 410x cab. I love the new Aguilar SL series because the cabs are so lightweight. That’s very important for touring.

When I do my own sets, I go direct into the amp without any processing because I prefer a clean tone throughout. When I play bass for other bands, I always have the following on my pedalboard: Octaver, Chorus, Big Muff distortion, Aguilar Filter Twin, Empress compressor, and more. Recently, I’ve been messing around with a Moog MF-101 Envelope Filter Moogerfooger, which is great when playing live bass in electronic music settings.

What gear do you use?

I play a Fender Jazz Bass through an Aguilar Tone

“In My Head” was your debut single released earlier this year produced by The Knocks, and you

just released another single and video called “Mad Love.” What inspires your music, and how was it to record the video?

I take inspiration from everything around me: New York City, my family, my friends, the experience of touring and playing shows. Sometimes I start with how I’m feeling or the movement of the city, sometimes it’s a bass groove or a drum beat I make on Ableton, or sometimes I’m inspired by a certain aspect of a song I just heard and I roll with that. Shooting the “Mad Love” music video was so much fun! It was basically a dance party with all my friends in a club that I’ve DJed at. It captures my energy and essence and in a really fun way.

TAKE FIVE WITH...

Suzie Vinnick

Shake The Love Around

C

anada may be known for its polite, generally happy population, but for decades, musician Suzie Vinnick has been giving her fans the blues. Known for her solo work as well as her time with The Marigolds, Vinnick Sheppard Harte, and Betty and the Bobs, she has won multiple awards, including 10 Maple Blues Awards, and is also a successful commercial musician. She recently took time to tell us about her new album Shake the Love Around, and the inspiration behind her playing.

You play both guitar and bass. How did you get involved in music?

I always gravitated toward music as a kid. When I was 9 years old, my buddy Doug and I talked about starting a band with a couple of his friends. Problem was, neither Doug nor I played an instrument! I asked my mom if I could take guitar lessons and she said, “Sure,” just like that. So I took my first guitar lesson at the age of nine, learned to play saxophone in elementary school band at 11, and picked up bass guitar in high school junior stage band. There was an electric bass no one playing, so I asked the music teacher if I could play it with the stage band. He gave me the go ahead and bass ended up becoming my main instrument for the next 17 years. I played in jazz band and jazz combo through high school and a couple of years of university. As a teen, I also went to the local Saturday afternoon blues jams as often as I could. I gigged some weekends in a duo playing cover tunes all over Saskatchewan, and I also attended some week-long jazz workshops. Music was huge for me growing up.

Shake the Love Around has been receiving rave reviews. Tell us about the inspiration behind the new album.

I have released six solo albums and another eight albums with other projects. “Shake the Love Around” is my latest, and it’s a full band album, though I play a big part in the band. I wanted to try something different because my last two albums, Me

52 Guitar Girl Magazine

‘n’ Mabel and Live at Bluesville, had been acoustic—one with voice and guitar with some special guests, the other with just me and my little Larivee parlour guitar. I felt it was time to do an album that featured every one of my voices–as a singer, as a guitarist, as a bassist, and as a songwriter. I also played some lap steel on a few tunes.

The album was recently nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for producing. Tell us about the process of creating it.

I co-produced the album with my friend Mark Lalama, which was a great experience. Mark is really easy going. I could bounce ideas off of him, he’d suggest things to me, and we played with different musical ideas as the album was recorded at his home studio. We chose songs for the album with a focus on positivity—I had been through a bit of a dark few years, and it was important for me to try and put some light into the world. The album isn’t all Pollyanna, though. It has some darker leanings but is generally pretty upbeat. The title track “Shake the Love Around” is named after a friend’s meal-time grace tradition. They’d have us all hold hands as someone said grace, and at the end, they’d say, “Shake the love around!” Then everyone would shake hands around the table, like doing the wave. I always liked how my friends created community through their meal times.

It makes a fun title for the album.

What’s the instrumentation of the album like?

Who joined you in the studio?

I tracked the bed tracks on guitar with drummer Gary Craig, known for his work with Anne Murray, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, and Tom Cochrane.

Afterward, I added bass guitar, acoustic, and electric guitars where needed, then background vocals.

Mark is a keyboard player, so he added some organ and accordion. Other players that contributed were John Johnson, a Toronto-based saxophone player,

guitargirlmag.com

and Kevin Breit and Colin Linden, two of my guitar heroes. Each played solos on a couple of tracks.

The album was also recorded with a full band. Are these your regular band members?

I do a lot of solo shows, but when I do a band show, I’ll often call on Mark Lalama, Kevin Breit, and Gary Craig to support me.

You’re racking up quite a few awards being recognized for guitar, bass, songwriting, and vocals—Congratulations!

The awards are great and varied—it certainly is nice to be acknowledged by your peers.

What basses and guitars do you play?

My main bass is a fan-fretted five-string Dingwall Designer Afterburner. Sheldon the builder calls the color “fifth margarita green”—it’s a metallic light green, really beautiful. The bass is great to play— very fluid! I have a few other basses: an Eminence upright and a lack Yamaha fretless bass that I bought in the ‘90s for a couple hundred dollars. I also still have the Ibanez Roadstar bass I bought myself when I was 17 years old. For guitars, I play a Yanuziello electric guitar, which has a metallic candy-apple red top with white sides and back.

My main acoustic guitar is a Yanuziello Mariposa— similar in size to a Martin OO. My main electric guitar for 13 years has been a maple Larivee parlour guitar. I still have it but keep it at home now. By the way, Joe Yanuziello is an Ontario-based luthier, and he’s our neighbor. Joe is an amazing builder with incredible aesthetic sensibilities. He’s also a gifted musician, as well.

Photo provided by artist

ASK ALEXX

ASK ALEXX Dear Alexx, I live in a small town and have been gigging and doing everything DIY for the past couple of years and seem to be getting nowhere. What do you think would be the next best thing for me to do? YouTube channel with covers, move to a bigger city, hire a publicist? ~ Lost in a Small Town

Dear Lost in a Small Town, Let me first start off by saying I feel your pain! These days, it’s easier AND harder than ever to get your music out there as a 100 percent indie artist. What we have now that we didn’t have before is social media, which is a great tool for getting your music out there to the masses, but the problem is, everyone is using it.

How do you differentiate yourself from all of the other people who are doing the exact same thing?

The answer is, it’s a multi-pronged effort, and it’s going to take a huge investment in terms of time (and probably some money). Unfortunately these days, you need to spend a good majority of time on branding and marketing in addition to just being a good musician.

Would I hire a publicist? Perhaps.

The problem is though, that they usually start around $1K a month. I’d say if you’re going to go that route, maybe do an isolated campaign with them, for a single or album release.

Also, ask around and get a good recommendation on one from friends.

Ask them about their results, and which publications they were actually able to place them in. If you’re on a budget and you want to be able to target your own publications, research some zines or blogs that cover music like yours, and write directly to one of their writers to ask for a review or feature. First though, read some of their past work and comment on it when you write to them.

Make it a personalized message. No one likes to feel like they’re being networked with. Make a friend. Build a relationship. That’s what publicists do, and their relationships are what you pay them for. Expanding on that, don’t ever do a blanket email to a list of writers, labels, or anyone that you

ever plan on working with.

That’s the fastest way to get blocked or for your material to go right into the trash.

Moving to a bigger city isn’t necessarily the right answer. Being a big fish in a small pond definitely has its perks, and with the Internet, you can reach so many more people than just the ones in your small town.

Doing some covers for your Youtube channel is a good way to draw in some new fans. You can also pepper some of your originals in once you’ve hooked them.

Here are some other immediate things you can do to work your existing social media pages and official site. Learn a bit about SEO or hire someone to do it for you. It’ll boost your Google ranking so you’ll come up higher in searches. Post content with consistency. If you don’t have time every single day to create content, pick one day and spend it making a bunch of promo or live performance videos. Then, you can schedule it over the course of a week with scheduling tools like Later. You’ve got to keep the machine well oiled.

Have fun with it. You don’t always have to post something music related, and you shouldn’t, because people not only want to get to know you for you, but they don’t want to feel like they’re constantly being marketed to.

I sincerely hope this helps you on your journey. Most importantly, don’t feel discouraged. Even the people at the highest levels are trying to figure out what to do and how to draw new fans to their content. Just be you, keep material coming, and be willing to learn some new skills, like video editing and maybe the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, and ask questions of people who are more successful than you! People are more willing to help than you think, myself included!

Best wishes, Alexx Calise

Photo by Anabel Dflux

Alexx Calise is an accomplished singer, guitarist and songwriter. Perhaps best known for her hit song, “Cry”, which became a staple on the show “Dance Moms” and boasts millions of hits on Youtube, Calise’s raw emotion, heart-and soul-lyrics and unmistakable vibrato have impacted thousands of young girls all over the world. Calise is currently working on new solo material and songs for licensing, and she will soon be releasing a new EP with other music project, Batfarm. In addition to her musical pursuits, she also works in GHS Strings’ A&R and marketing department and owns her own party entertainment business. When not playing shows or writing music, she enjoys horror movies, exercising or taking a well-deserved nap.

Have a question for Alexx?

She has an answer!

Email info@guitargirlmag.com.

guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 53

Kirk’s Korner

Kirk’s Korner

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guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 55

GEAR: REVIEWS

Martin Performing Artist Series BCPA4 Bass Guitar

By Steve McKinley From the center of the acoustic guitar universe, Nazareth, Pennsylvania, comes the Performing Artist Series BCPA4 Acoustic Bass Guitar from the C. F. Martin Company. To vast oceans of players across time, Martin guitars are considered to be the beginning, middle, and end of acoustic guitar, and the BCPA4 bass guitar shines in the pedigree.

“A wonderful, dream-come-true guitar” From its classic beauty, vocal woods, and natural feel, it has the vigor and allure of the Muses, the Greek goddesses of music.

It’s certainly a beauty to behold, yet the challenge of the acoustic bass is to clearly contribute the pure low registers. When I first took the BCPA4 bass out of its ply hardshell case, I was pleasantly greeted with its woody rose-like fragrance. With its larger size, flawless X-braced Pleked construction, you instantly sense its balance, authority, and timelessness.

“Its presence is undeniable” I first played it lightly on its own to get a feel for it, and, even at low volume, its presence is undeniable. The Martin Acoustic SP Bass Light strings on its ebony fretboard are a heavenly marriage, and the satin cherry

finished neck and its profile are welcoming and inspiring.

I kicked it up a notch and started getting in the grove with Carol Kaye’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” Fleetwood Mac’s iconic bass line in “The Chain,” and the acoustic meets rock anthem of Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On.” My fingers glided easily throughout the neck like an Olympic equestrian dressage exhibition, and the notes bloomed like a sonic morning glory. Even more so, its organic acoustic voice is copiously powerful and commanding. Plugged into an amp, the Fishman Matrix VT Enhance NT2 electronics sprung to life to magnify its low frequency aural sunshine. When I played it with my band, its organic tone was clearly bold and beautiful.

The BCPA4 is a wonderful, dream-come-true guitar that moves you to perform.

“Balance, authority, and timelessness” To wrap it up—with its world-class design and build quality, genuinely inspiring feel and definitive voice, the Martin Performing Artist Series BCPA4 Bass Guitar is the ultimate gold standard for the acoustic bass. Become one with your Martin for an “all of you” performance.

MSRP: $2,199.00 Street Price: $1,799.00 MartinGuitar.com

Yamaha BBP35 Broad Bass 5-String Bass Guitar - Midnight Blue

By Platinum Viking Yamaha is certainly a popular name in the instrument world, known for its superb craftsmanship and attention to quality control, and if I were handed this bass while wearing a blindfold, I would have probably guessed it was a Yamaha right off the bat. From the balanced tone across the board to the way it feels and plays, you generally can’t go wrong with a Yamaha. In the past, I’ve owned and played a fretless BB line bass, and the BBP35 brings me right back to why their basses are immediately identifiable, consistently well made, a joy to play, and sound great.

My first impression of the BBP35 from the Pro Series was how “played in” it felt right out of the box, generally something one wouldn’t immediately get to experience outside of a vintage buy. Whether this is due entirely to Yamaha’s exclusive Initial Response Acceleration (I.R.A.) build technology that offers a mature instrument experience from day one, according to their tech specs, or a testament to their attention to detail, you’re still sure to have a well-balanced, responsive sound and basic harmonic clarity. “…nice, harmonically clear rich sustain and spectacular resonance, particularly in the low to midlows.”

The BBP35 brings in the reliable bottom end with some nice upgrades on the technology we’re already familiar with and some well-thought-out design enhancements. It features the classic P/J pickup configuration with simple but effective volume/ volume/tone wiring options, but added some design changes, like use of standard-sized

56 Guitar Girl Magazine

pickups over the previous BB proprietary ones, which will allow for easier customization, if desired (though the Alnico V single-coil stock pickups are just as good in their own right). It also features a thinner but still rigid 5-ply maple and mahogany laminated neck for the modern player and a smaller, lighter alder/maple/alder multi-laminated body with lightweight, vintage-looking open gear tuners. The addition of a sustain-enhancing 6-bolt miter neck joint design and convertible bridge seems to give it a nice, harmonically clear rich sustain and spectacular resonance, particularly in the low to mid-lows. This model isn’t plagued with the dreaded muddy low B that I encounter a lot; it’s taut, and while still having a deep tone, each note is still clearly audible and distinct in its own right.

The BBP35 gives the player that meaty punch many Fender players look for but with Yamaha’s own sophisticated uptake on construction and a slightly more refined sound. The BBP35 offers plenty of extra perks and a solid namesake, and I would certainly include this bass in my top lineup of basses. Its cool midnight blue finish and overall comfortable fit make it look and play like a pro. If you’re looking for a reliable go-to passive 5-string bass that gives you clean, articulate tones and that classic vibe but with tenable modern updates, then this often-underappreciated bass is for you.

MSRP: $2,575.00 Street Price: $1,599.00 Yamaha.com

guitargirlmag.com

GEAR: REVIEWS

Córdoba Mini II Bass EB-E Travel Bass

By Platinum Viking I’ve always been fascinated and excited about the concept of travel guitars, but rarely do I find ones that are practical, instantly playable right out of the bag, or play similar to the real thing. The Córdoba Mini II Bass gives me everything I’d been looking for and wanting in a travel bass.

I recently took it out on our SXSW 2019 Road Tour and enjoyed hours of impromptu jamming, a little on-the-road practice, and quick warm-ups before the shows. With a half-sized gig bag, its rounded big acoustic tone, and good out-of-the-box setup play as-is, it quickly became a trusted travel buddy.

Córdoba is generally known for its nylon string, lightweight, Spanish heritage-inspired instruments, and the Mini II reflects a lot of that in its style, construction, and sound. The EB-E model sports a bright spruce top and nice dark ebony back and sides that give it more of a clear and defined tonewood sound, but I was pleasantly surprised at the deeper body depth it offered and the nylon-core, phosphor bronze strings that gave it a warmer, deeper, and richer sound, more than I was expecting. I like how the neck is nearly full-sized, but the body is nice and compact. “…definitely a fun couch noodler and an excellent, casual way to work on learning scales and melodies any day.”

Once home, I quickly plugged it into my favorite amp and enjoyed a wonderful, responsive, full bass tone instantly without a whole lot of EQing. You could almost play this as a full electric bass on stage, at a jam, or at a practice or songwriting session with multiple instruments present.

With whatever you do, it’s definitely a fun couch noodler and an excellent, casual way to work on learning scales and melodies any day. The onboard tuner gives a clear, easy-to-read signal and lights up in the dark or onstage, and the tuning pegs hold standard tuning comfortably and are sturdy and easy to adjust. Even on the road, exposed to many temperature changes, it stayed in tune with only minor adjustments needed.

The Mini II feels and sounds enough like a full-sized bass that it was enjoyable, easily playable, and practical for multiple uses; and with a $299 budget price tag, I think you get your money’s worth out of it. I enjoyed how much it sounds and feels like a real electric bass but is compact and light enough for easy travel wherever you may find yourself. This is just the kind of fun travel bass I’ve been looking for!

MSRP: $420.00 Street Price: $299.00 CordobaGuitars.com

Paul Reed Smith SE Kestrel Bass

By Platinum Viking While I’ve always generally played and been a huge fan of humbucker pickups, I’ve recently been delving into finding a place for single-coil pickups in my repertoire.

I find the PRS SE Kestrel Bass takes this traditional single-coil bass platform to heart with a solid build and clear punchy sound while adding plenty of elements of personality and character in to round out this solidly playable bass. With an approachable price point, it would fit well into one’s everyday choice workhorse basses or as a very viable beginner’s choice that could carry them through all the growing pains and triumphs.

mid-lows, harmonic building high-mids, sweeping top end potential for slappers, and scooped mid-range to rock out with. While sometimes single-coil pickups can be more sensitive to ambient sound, PRS seems to have taken the time and effort to effectively eliminate any humming or buzzing potential. The 34-inch scale/22fret-length beautiful bird inlaid fretboard is plenty expansive enough to use this bass as a beginner bass, up to an everyday workhorse for the daily player.

“The Kestrel 4B “S” type single-coil pickups are definitely punchy, brighter, crisper, and focused, with walkable midlows, harmonic building high-mids, sweeping top end potential for slappers, and scooped mid-range to rock out with.”

One of my favorite design choices is the addition of the Hipshot TransTone bridge, an advancement over the old BAII design, that allows for strings through the bridge or the body and changeable inserts that can add further controls over intonation, string height, and actual string spacing adjustment possibilities with no need to slot it yourself.

The two things I like best about this bass are its overall look and feel as well as the effortless well-rounded tone it gives right out of the box for the money. I thoroughly enjoyed playing this bass, and it just looks good. The neckthrough construction was a nice additional feature I was not expecting on this price range of bass, giving the tone a good amount of natural sustain and reinforcing the feeling that this is a rock-solid bass under your fingers. Its alder body, maple/walnut neck, and rosewood fretboard additionally give it a further balanced but dynamic tone with a distinctly pronounced mid-range bite that is useful when trying to stand out among the noise.

This was overall a very comfortable and easy-to-play bass. My only hesitation is the use of the Hipshot Ultralite HB6 tuner keys, as I wonder how well this part functionally ages with heavy use and lots of wear and tear, how well it holds up with much heavier gauged strings, or how it would react in different weather conditions. Only time and putting it through its paces may tell, but I would probably upgrade those as soon as I had the chance before taking it on the road.

Ultimately, this bass really looks and sounds great and is solidly one of the best bangs for your buck in this price range.

The Kestrel 4B “S” type single-coil pickups are definitely punchy, brighter, crisper, and focused, with walkable

MSRP: $849.00 PRSGuitars.com

guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 57

GEAR: REVIEWS

Taylor Guitars GS Mini-e Bass

By Sasha vallely I’ve been a fan of short-scale basses for some time, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to test out the new Taylor GS Mini-e Bass. At 23-1/2-inch scale length, this small-scale acoustic bass is around 10 inches shorter than a standard bass guitar. It has a solid Sitka spruce top and sapele layered back and comes with a built-in tuner and the Taylor ES-B system pre-amp with volume and tone control. The Mini-e Bass also comes in a maple option for an additional price.

“I love the portability.”

I found it that this mini bass was very easy to play and has a great acoustic tone and good action, and I love the portability. I could easily see myself with one backstage on tour working on some songs or jamming with some friends around a campfire. Although it isn’t as loud as I would like unplugged, for its size, I think it’s a great travel companion. As a music teacher, I would recommend it to my younger students with smaller hands that might struggle with a full-size bass, and it would also be a good transition from a guitar for a beginner on bass.

“I could easily see myself with one backstage on tour working on some songs or jamming with some friends around a campfire.”

According to the Taylor specs, the custom nylon-core strings with phosphor bronze wrap wire were developed especially for this bass by D’Addario, and no other strings will work on it. To protect your Taylor bass, it comes with a hard bag, slightly tougher than your average soft case. It’s crafted with high-quality materials and double stitching, and I think offers pleasing aesthetics that you would expect from Taylor and is really a great addition.

Plugged into an amp, it has a great round bass tone; I found the sweet spot for me was with the tone dial at around 11 o’clock. I’m not quite sure how it would do in a large live show setting as I didn’t have the opportunity to try it out in that environment, but definitely for small venues, coffee shops, practice, songwriting, recording, and for just playing for fun, this would make a great addition to anyone’s collection—it would get a lot of use from me if it were in mine. Overall, I found it very enjoyable and would recommend it for guitarists and bassists to try one for themselves!

Also available in maple option.

GS Mini-e Bass: $699.00 GS Mini-e Maple Bass: $799.00 TaylorGuitars.com

Darco D9500 Medium Electric Bass Strings

By Steve McKinley As guitar players, we write that sincere but edgy, inspiring personal triumph fight song, post about it on social media until your fingers are sore, and pour your heart out on stage until there’s nothing left but a puddle of your totally spent, yearning to be heard emotions.

Now what is the one thing that can cause a complete breakdown of your moving, emotional, near religious live performance that brings the crowd to their feet, hands in the air, tears to their eyes but with smiles on their faces? A broken guitar string, that’s what.

“Feel and sound right” Darco strings are made by the people who created “the” original tone and know the hard-earned value of being dependable. Darco strings are made of authentic nickel and steel for true strength, pleasing clarity, and consistent reliability. The best part is Darco strings do all this…for less. With their focus on what’s important and not on the flashy frills, they are—hands down—an unbeatable value so you can always have the strings you need when you need them. Even with a player’s TLC of their guitar, all strings will eventually break.

With Darco strings, you can have extra sets, change them more often—like you should anyway—and get back to the divine acts of creation, recording, and performance.

“Tried-and-true design and construction”

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With the Darco D9500 Mediums electric bass strings I was given to review (.45-.105), I put them on my trusty Fender Precision “Sid” bass and got to work. As their heaviest string gauge, they have a robust and sturdy feel to them, and when you plug in, they have a big and full tone. All new strings have an initial brightness, but after their break-in period, they settle in for their true voice.

The Darco D9500s were right in line with the feel and sound of the other brand names you know that start with D, E, and G. I did the “close your eyes and just listen” test, and they sounded right where they should. Admittedly, there’s no special core, coating, or revolutionary new design, but that’s the point. They use tried-and-true design, construction, and features. You get strings that feel and sound right and that you can depend on. All this, for an excellent value. THAT is when less IS more!

“When less IS more” While you’re at it, pick up a Martin string winder, as they’re super useful and handy.

Now I’ve got my Darco strings and a set in my guitar case, because you should always have extras, right?

Play more—pay less!

Price: $16.99 DarcoStrings.com

guitargirlmag.com

GEAR: REVIEWS

Morley George Lynch Dragon 2 Mini Wah

By Platinum Viking When I saw the two names attached to this little gem, I was super excited to try it out.

George Lynch is a guitar legend, known for his unique playing style and signature sound with Dokken and Lynch Mob, so I was curious to see how he would work with well-known guitar wah effects company Morley to offer a different option. The limited Mini Dragon 2 features the well-received George Lynch Dragon 2 signature pedal but with a cool, new smaller footprint and artist-created custom graphics on board. So, when it was time to rock ‘n’ roll, here’s what I found…

First look at this pedal is that this is a pretty rad looking, take-notice kind of pedal (I’m a sucker for hot neon zebra stripes anyway) that offers a lot in a small package. And sure enough, this compact pedal gives all the Wahs and WOWS of the full-sized version but in mini—easy to pack away and a better fit onto your board. “…gives a tone that cuts right through across the board and no loss of volume.”

This wah features three versatile modes: Wah, WOW, and Wah Lock. The 1st Wah mode is preset to George’s classic tone and sweep, but the 2nd WOW mode was easily my favorite!

This mode gives you a higher gain Wah tone

that works well for soloing but still delivers a deep, crowd-commanding effect without sacrificing any volume or tone due to its buffer circuit design. All too often I find some wah pedals will muddy my bass tone, especially in the lower end, but the Dragon 2 still gives a tone that cuts right through across the board and no loss of volume. And finally, the 3rd Wah Lock mode allows you to park the wah in position for your desired levels with a simple adjustment of the NOTCH nob. The notch filter allows for the wah to become a static filter for even more tone options; in a recent practice, I pulled this little baby out and was excited when I engaged the notch filter with the WOW mode and got a sweet little heavy bass distortion boost that helped cut through the fuzz of two guitars and keys.

I’m also a big fan of the switchless activation design (instead of the classic footswitch wah requiring a hard toe press to activate it), after recently investing in another wah pedal for a Black Sabbath tribute project, and love that the Dragon 2 also has this immediately engageable feature while being just as innately natural and easy to use right away. The LED light conveniently shows you when it’s on or off, which is great for when you’re playing on stage, and you can adjust how many seconds

it takes for it to turn off, which is a nice little feature.

“It’s a lot of attitude packed into a small package…”

It’s also specifically voiced to blend in your dry signal when in the heel-down bypass position but quick to resound when you push the pedal forward, which I’ve found invaluable with bass to further preserve original tone and retain a clean sound option. One downside to this pedal is that it does not include a 9V adapter with a new purchase, and according to the specs, only the use of a Morley brand 9VDC 300mA regulated adapter is recommended (or a 9V battery).

I’ve had a few wahs on my board, and this is by far a fun, easy addition to any pedal board or modern effects toolbox. It’s a lot of attitude packed into a small package—and with all the essential bells and whistles you could want at a reasonable price!

Price: $249.00 MorleyPedals.com

Trace Elliot Transit-B Bass Preamp

By Platinum Viking I, for one, am very glad to see Trace Elliot back in the saddle again under U.S.-owned Peavey, after such a long hiatus, with the rollout of this well-designed, practical piece of equipment.

It was THE brand back in the day, and I even owned a hefty Commando FET Bass Combo for use in my jazz projects. As part of their re-emergence, the Transit-B Bass Preamp was rolled out at NAMM 2017 and seemed to offer all the functionality and routing options of a full rig but in a portable floor unit with plenty of high-quality front end processing power in an easy-to-use setup, so I was very excited to try it out.

I took both a passive Fender Jazz Bass and an active Music Man StingRay 5 Bass and plugged into my Markbass Little Mark III (with no additional effect pedals) for this trial run. The first thing I noticed was how well made and sturdy it was and featured some very wellthought-out, sensible design choices. The single row of illuminated, color-coordinated according to function footswitches of Mute/ Tune, Drive, Compression, Equalisation, and Pre-Shape are well suited for a dark stage and function intuitively. The Mute/Tune functions as both an onboard mute switch and an accurate tuner with light up moving green into red when in tune. With the Compression feature, I was able to fine-tune my high and low frequency compression levels, and with

the simple but effective 5-Band Equalisation feature, I could easily change my EQ levels on the fly. The Drive feature gives a rich and smooth but still well-defined distortion that can be dialed up with its own Level and Blend controls.

“I really had a lot of fun with this little unit and would recommend this for any bassist from beginner to the modern pro-touring musician.’

My favorite feature was the Pre-Shape option that immediately engages that classic Trace “smiley face,” distinctly contoured full sound with a bite that I have enjoyed for a long time and come to love. I was more than pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to dial in my tone and easily explore the many others it offered, and in fact, I never really found any bad ones. There’s even a separate Bass Enhance switch for a nice little bass boost, Ground Lift switch, and DI Pre and Post among the many other useful features this offers.

Adding a high-quality preamp into my everyday, every gig, must-have equipment staples was the best decision I ever made. The Transit-B offers the player all the sweet comforts of the familiar AH Series amps and the distinctive meaty Trace tone but in a portable, competitively priced solid option with onboard DI capabilities. As I’ve recently found myself traveling lighter and lighter these days, often flying from gig to gig, I definitely rely on preamps (along with a pedalboard setup and high driver IEMs) to ensure I get my same sound and tone consistently for each show. The Transit-B does this solidly well and then takes it to the next level for a great value well worth taking a look at.

Price: MSRP: $399.99 Street price: $299.99 TraceElliot.com

I really had a lot of fun with this little unit and would recommend this for any bassist from beginner to the modern pro-touring musician.

guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 59

GEAR: REVIEWS

Squier Classic Vibe ‘70s Jazz Bass

By Alex Windsor As a devout Fender Jazz Bass player and teacher, I always enjoy checking out what Fender introduces each year. The new and improved Squier Classic Vibe series relaunched this January at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, Calif., and the guitars and basses are a nod to the popular instruments used in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.

I had the chance to review the new Classic Vibe ‘70s Jazz Bass. The super slim C-shaped neck profile paired with the comfortable 9.5” radius fingerboard makes it easy to really dig into every note, especially some of those more difficult ones closest to the nut. The knob configuration – neck volume, bridge volume, master tone – is simple enough for all beginners to use, yet it still gives players enough flexibility to dial in their desired tone –

from bright and twangy to warm and booming, and all the sounds in between.

The beautiful soft maple body with the gloss finish with the Jazz Bass body really adds to the vintage look as well as the slotted barrel saddles and the period-correct headstock markings. Fender really went to great lengths to give this bass pizzazz. It not only looks great, but it’s a versatile workhorse and serves as a foundational piece to any bass collection.

MSRP: $549.99 Street Price: $349.99 Fender.com

B & G Guitars Big Sister Bass LATINU viking So the first thing I noticed about this bass was just how good-looking and wonderfully vintage it was! I knew almost nothing about B&G basses before I was handed the Big Sister Bass to try out and boy, was I in for a treat! Starting from the stylish classic hard-shell case to the posh honey burst figured maple top to the all custom elegant brass hardware, this bass makes quite the statement. This bass makes you want to play it, and so I immediately plugged it in and soon found myself in “the zone” resulting in an all-night creative songwriting session before I knew it.

I hadn’t played that many hollow bodied basses but this one made me reconsider this as a very viable addition to my regular rotation of roadworthy basses. This hand-crafted bass employs traditional build techniques, exquisite tonewoods, and traditional fine finishes like Nitrocellulose that give it a snazzy vintage look, solid feel, and classically balanced warm sound.

The African Mahogany body has a refined, sophisticated shape with two elegant f-holes, a favorable cutaway design for high end soloing, and is quite comfortable to play. It’s remarkably lightweight compared to a lot of the other hollow bodied basses I’ve tried, which for those who have a bass strapped to their backs for hours a day every day, that’s a winner.

The Honduran Mahogany neck with Indian Rosewood standard 34” fingerboard plays fairly fast and is just naturally comfortable to play. Any player would instantly feel right at home on it (especially if you’re used to smaller, more compact basses). The neck fits snugly and securely onto the body, and with its carved chambered body, the Big Sister has a very nice natural resonance and warm organic tone. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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It also has enough of an innate acoustic sound that you can continue your quiet late-night practices without even having to plug it in. Once plugged in, it definitely lives up to its good looks. The model I reviewed featured the notable Aguilar Humbucking Pickups. The matching brass covered double humbuckers are from a company known for delivering top quality bass gear and tone, so I was more than happy with the nice punchy and responsive sound I got right out of the box. Experimenting with the onboard tonal controls (Neck Volume-Bridge Volume-Tone), I was easily able to get everything from a bright, punchy sound to a rich, mellow tone through some knob adjustments and playing style changes. However, I did seem to always go back to maxing out the neck pickup and the tone and then adding in some of the bridge to get a deeper, broader sound with better sustain and more lowmids while still keeping some of that upper punch.

While this Big Sister Bass is an impressive, beautifully handcrafted instrument and given the base price set at $3,950, this puts it easily into the top pro-level class of basses that may be out of reach for many players but in the custombuilt instruments’ realm, it sits reasonably well in it, especially given everything you get with the Big Sister. It’s plenty versatile enough for at-home playing all the way to the big stage, for the traditional to the progressive bassist, and for playing everything from rock to jazz to country.

However, I think it would take more external effects and amp tweaking to be able to get more of the bigger, darker tones often used in more

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extreme genres like metal. I’ve also been informed that B&G will be coming out with their Crossroads version of the Big Sister later this year which they say will be based on the same classic design of the Big Sister but at a more affordable price range of $1,499.00.

On balance, the Big Sister gives the player everything they would expect and more from the top-notch build quality with prime tonewoods and quality hardware, responsive pickups with a well-balanced sound across the fingerboard, and the very much sought-after vintage look and feel in a very good looking, playable bass. Ultimately, this will be a bass you’ll want to keep for a lifetime as it just gets better and better with age and, undoubtedly, you will find yourself passing this down to the next generation as a treasured keepsake.

Price: $3,950.00 BNGGuitars.com

GEAR: REVIEWS

Taylor Guitars Grand Pacific Builder’s Edition 517e and 717 While not a bass, we couldn’t pass up not mentioning Taylor’s new Builder’s Edition Grand Pacific models introduced at Winter NAMM. These models offer a new round shoulder dreadnought body and add a unique sound to the Taylor lineup--Andy Powers, master guitar designer at Taylor Guitars told us in a recent interview, “It’s a whole different flavor for Taylor. It’s a different direction. A lot of our guitars are known for being a very modern, very real vibrant kind of thing, and this is a guitar that in some ways looks backward a little bit. It’s a sound that’s familiar, you know, it’s the kind of sounds that we remember from the records we heard when we grew up.”

Powers designed the Grand Pacific models with this idea and concept in mind. With the V-Class Bracing system, a new rounded-shoulder dreadnought design, and specific wood combinations, Powers has developed three models--the 317, 517, and the 717 which deliver new “flavors” to the traditional Taylor sound.

Here, we have reviewed the 517e and the 717.

There is a lot to love about these guitars.

Let’s start with comfort and playability.

From the West African Ebony (sourced from Taylor Guitars’ Ebony Project in Cameroon) fretboard to the soft chamfered body edges, compounded carved neck profile, and rolled fretboard edges, to the Silent Satin finish that is only available on the Builder’s Edition models. We found the carved neck design to be ex-tremely comfortable and feel it would be accommodating for females or anyone with smaller hands.

The 517e has a torrefied Sitka spruce top and Neo-Tropical Mahogany back and sides which produced such a rich, warm tone. It has a beautiful vintage look with its Wild Honey Burst top, nickel tuners, and Taylor’s Arrowhead design grained ivoroid inlays. Plus, it was outfitted with the optional ES2 electronics on board with a subtle jack input located in the strap pin on the butt end of the body so once you plug in, you’re amplified and bringing it!

The 717 that we reviewed is for the acoustic lover who plays without amplification and wants to enjoy the bright and crisp sound coming from the sound hole that can fill a room. It is made of a torrefied Sitka spruce top with Indian Rosewood back and sides. Aesthetically, the 717 came in a natural finish, nickel tuners, and Taylor’s Arrowhead design Mother of Pearl inlays. This guitar is a dream to hold whether standing or sitting and its weight lets you know you are holding a high-quality, well-constructed instrument, yet light enough for comfort and movement. Strumming this instrument immediately reveals a robust and resonating sound and the action was spot on right out of the box.

These guitars are perfect for strummers or fingerpicking as notes ring out with an unbelievable sustain on both of these guitars which are in part due to Taylor’s innovative V-Class Bracing system, along with the new round-shoulder design, and the combination of woods used in crafting these new models. Suitable for the hobbyist to the professional, from the recording studio to stage, these guitars get a big thumbs up from Guitar Girl Magazine.

Builder’s Edition 517e

Builder’s Edition 717

Andy Power’s desire was to build a modern interpretation of a guitar that would give us the “sounds that we remember from the records we heard when we grew up” without giving up on today’s guitar technology--a good fret job, the wonderful intonation from V-Class bracing, and the balance and sustain of modern guitar design.

Andy Powers…you did it!

Price: 517e Wild Honey Burst - $2,999.00 717 Natural Finish - $2,899.00 TaylorGuitars.com

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MUSIC RELEASES

MUSIC RELEASES Molly Tuttle When You’re Ready April 5, 2019

Reba McEntire Stronger Than Truth April 5, 2019

Kelly Augustine Light In The Lowlands April 5, 2019

Melissa Etheridge The Medicine Show April 12, 2019

Jade Bird Jade Bird April 19, 2019

Elise Testone This is Love April 19, 2019

Chloe The In-Between April 19, 2019

Anna Tivel The Question April 19, 2019

Arielle Suspension / Dimension April 22, 2019

Olivia Brien Was It Even Real?

April 26, 2019

Ali Morgan The Silverado Cover Sessions April 26, 2019

Lucy Spraggen Today Was A Good Day May 3, 2019

Caroline Spence Mint Condition May 3, 2019

Charlie Marie Charlie Marie May 3, 2019

L7 Scatter The Rats May 3, 2019

Patience Dizzy Spells May 3, 2019

Jamie McDell Extraordinary Girl May 10, 2019

Emma Hill Magnesium Dreams May 10, 2019

Dakota Danielle My Mother’s Daughter May 13, 2019

Danielle de Picciotto Deliverance May 15, 2019

Joanne Shaw Taylor Reckless May 17, 2019

Kara Connolly Life In Rear View May 17, 2019

Shonen Knife Sweet Candy Power June 5, 2019

House and Land Across The Field June 14, 2019

Hatchie Keepsake June 21, 2019

Ruby Fields Permanent Hermit May 3, 2019

Dawn Landes My Tiny Twilight May 10, 2019

pronoun I’ll Show You Stronger May 24, 2019

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Jordan Reynolds I Will Only Come When It’s A Yes May 31, 2019

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Eljuri Resiste: La Colección Reggae de Eljuri April 12, 2019

LESSONS / TIPS

Run, Don’t Walk

A lesson on breaking away from expected blues basslines

BY LEIGH FUGE

F

ed up with the same old bass patterns under your blues progressions?

Maybe it’s time to think outside the box. Sure, you have gotten plenty of mileage out of those tried-and-tested walking basslines, but now it’s your time to shine. Let’s bring the bass to the forefront of the track and add some impressive licks to your already solid rhythms.

In this lesson, we’ll be looking at the 12-bar blues in the key of A. The rhythm we will be following will be a triplet rhythm with the notes falling on the first and last beat of each triplet. This is a similar rhythm to what you might hear keeping the pulse on a ZZ Top track, or Al Green’s “I Can’t Get Next To You.” 1&a2&a3&a4&a Here is how that would look as a standard 12-bar cycle when we stick to just the root note:

Shape 1:

Shape 2:

Both of these shapes are made of the five notes mentioned above in different fretboard positions.

Now let’s take a look at how we can use these scales to add some interesting transitions to our existing 12-bar patterns. Remember to keep that rhythmic pulse solid all the way through. You don’t want the bass to lose the groove, even when adding some of the busier passages at the end of some lines.

If you look at the embellished version of the 12 bar you will notice that each bar starts the same, so we can follow where we are in the structure. Further down the line, you can expand on this, but for now, let’s get comfortable just adding fills at the end of bars. In this example, I’ve added fills or movements to every single bar except 11. While I’ve done this to illustrate fitting the most content into a single 12 bar loop, feel free to make modifications. You could save your fills and use them in specific places for dramatic effect, or you can incorporate movement across the whole loop as we’ve done here.

To take this to the next level, we are going to use some notes from the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. This is a scale that is very much associated with guitarists but can be used just as effectively on bass. The scale looks like this: A I

C bIII

D IV

E V

G bVII

These five notes are taken from the A Major Scale: A I

B II

C# III

D IV

E V

F# VI

G# VII

The Pentatonic Scale does not make use of the II or VI notes in the scale, and it flattens the III and VII notes.

Bar 1: The fill in this bar is a simple pull off from the 7th to the 5th fret of the D string before ending on the 7th fret of the A on the 4 & a.

Bar 2: The fill here is just moving to the 8th fret of the E string and the 5th fret of the A string on the 4 and a on the way into the next bar.

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LESSONS / TIPS per the chord we are playing over, and the a beat will be covered by the 6th fret. This will walk us back to our IV chord in Bar 10.

Bar 3: The fill here is the same as bar 1.

Bar 4: The fill here is a four-note phrase that fits over a triplet. On the third beat, you will be playing a hammer on from the 5th to the 7th fret of the D string and on the & a beats, you will be repeating that 7th fret note. This will enable you to fit four notes across a beat split into three. Repeat on the fourth beat.

Bar 5: The fill is the same as Bar 1 but we are starting from the A string, meaning the fill is now on the G and D strings.

Bar 6: This fill shares the same third beat as the fill in Bar 4 where we fit four notes across a triplet. The fourth beat of the bar contains a descending run on the 7th, 5th, and 3rd frets on the A string.

Bar 7: The fill in this bar is a simple one-note move on the fourth beat to the 8th fret of the E string before landing back on the root note of A on the a.

Bar 8: The fill in this bar will walk us up to the V chord (which, in this key makes it an E) that occurs in Bar 9. On the a 4, we move from the 8th fret of the E to the 5th fret of the A before hitting the 6th fret of the A on the a of the fourth beat.

Bar 9: The fill in this bar happens on the fourth beat where you’ll play three notes across the triplet. The first two notes at the 7th fret of the A string, as

Bar 10: The fill here is a simple drop down to the 3rd fret of the E on the a of the fourth beat.

Bar 11: No fill here.

Bar 12: This whole bar is one big fill that will turn us around back to the start of the progression. The first two beats mirror what we did in Bar 4, where we fit four notes across a triplet beat. Beats three and four involve us running down from the 7th fret to the 6th and 5th on the A string before moving down to the 3rd fret on the fourth beat, followed by the 5th on the E and back to the 3rd on the A. We can then restart our progression.

Your Turn All the bass parts in this lesson are in the key of A Minor but can easily be transposed to any position on the fretboard. As I mentioned, you don’t have to play fills in each bar of the progression. You can simply choose key moments to add them to suit the track you are playing. What I’ve covered is more a concept than a rule, so just enjoy it, get familiar with the scale shapes, and try to come up with your own fills at the end of bars. Here’s a great way to get started: take some of the fills in this lesson and replace them with other notes from the scale groupings to get different variations at the end of bars.

Listen to the licks at: https://soundcloud.com/leighfuge/sets/the-guitar-girl-magazine-bass-lesson

The Power of Bass in Songwriting

BY NIKKI O’NEILL

“

Cannonball” by the Breeders. “Never Miss the Water” by Chaka Khan and Meshell Ndegeocello. “Come Together”

by The Beatles. “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. These are songs in which the bass guitar, not electric guitar, is front and center, playing the cool signature riffs or very catchy bass lines. This songwriting lesson is all about the bass. I want to share some ideas that both bass and guitar players can try out.

Songwriting and arranging is often about playing with energy levels. If you stay on the same idea for too long, the energy tends to sag. A subtle change might be just enough to raise the energy, also known as temperature— or perhaps a more drastic change is what the song needs. These bass ideas are song craft tools that can shift the energy in your songs to give them an emotional charge.

THE BASS RIFF If you’re a guitarist writing a song, explore what happens if you center it around a bass idea instead of, say, strumming chords or playing a guitar riff. You might come up with a riff that becomes the song’s signature, like “Another One Bites the Dust” or “Cannonball.”

These two examples couldn’t be more different if you compared them from a genre point of view. But they both have a great

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groove. Now, in order to make something groove, you need to give it something—a pulse—to groove against. Another instrument needs to provide that pulse. It can be a drum, your voice beatboxing, a guitar part recorded on a loop pedal, or even just a static metronome click.

BASS LINES BETWEEN GUITAR CHORDS An ascending bass line can create intensity and expectancy, as in “Like a Rolling Stone,” while a descending line might evoke calm or melancholy, as in “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” for example. I like to incorporate little bass lines into my rhythm guitar playing in certain spots of a song (usually where there are no vocals, like the intro, an instrumental interlude, or end of a lyric line). It can be a walk-up line between, say, an AM chord to a C chord (where I’ll play the ascending single notes A, B, and C,) or a walk-down from a G chord to an Em chord (playing the descending notes G, F#, and E), or it can be a line that’s a little more elaborate.

If I play a solo show, I tend to play these kinds of bass lines more often—for instance, when I transition from a chorus into a bridge. And people do notice it. They hear something different about the music that isn’t just chord strumming, and it makes the songs more interesting for both them and me.

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If you’re playing in a band, make sure your bass lines on guitar don’t clash with the actual bass player’s parts. It’s always best to record yourselves and check.

PEDAL TONES When you stay on the same bass note while the chords change, that note is called a pedal tone or a drone tone. Listen to the first half of the chorus in “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. The synth bass stays constant on one single note, A, underneath the chord progression Am, Dm, F, and E. In the second half of the chorus, the bass moves around, playing the root notes of each chord.

That subtle change is just enough to energize the rest of the chorus some more. If they had kept the pedal tone idea throughout the chorus, it might’ve become tedious.

Another song that uses the pedal tone idea is “That’s What Love Can Do” by yours truly. You’ll hear it in the intro, first part of the verses, and the ending. The constant pedal tone is F, while the changing chords are F – Bb/F – Bbm/F – F. The story of the song is about somebody who allows herself to take a chance and open up to a new and unfamiliar kind of love relationship, which ultimately transforms her. To me, that chord progression and pedal tone provided the right feeling of intensity and vulnerability that the lyrics called for.

LESSONS / TIPS VOICE LEADING Let’s take a C-chord going to a G-chord: could you play something different (and less predictable) than a C note and then a G note—the roots of each chord? Absolutely. Voice leading is a way to enhance the melodic movement between chords.

Bass players usually outline the chords in a song by playing chord tones. There are three or four important notes in a chord: the root note is the most important, next is the note that gives the chord its major or minor sound. The other two chord tones create layered sonic effects.

If you don’t know music theory, think of how singers produce harmonies: one will sing the main melody, while another singer might place her notes at a close distance above the melody.

If there’s a third singer, he might sing a harmony above the second singer, or create a lower harmony underneath the melody singer.

Often, the notes singers stack together will

be the same notes that make up the different chords in the song.

Now let’s go back to our C chord going to G. The chord tones of a C major chord are C, E, and G, while the chord tones in a G major chord are G, B, and D. So, if you have your C chord and choose to play the note E instead, this will create a nice sounding variation for that chord. But what is voice leading?

Let’s start from that E note in your C chord; hit an F note next and then land on G. You just created an example of smooth voice leading. You started on a chord tone of the C and landed on a chord tone of the G without making big jumps between notes.

The iconic studio bassist Carol Kaye, who started out as a jazz guitarist, used a very chordal approach (including voice leading) to create her basslines on “Good Vibrations” and other classics by The Beach Boys.

Since the bass won’t be sticking to root notes, it’s best for the guitar player to avoid playing barre chords with all five or six strings. That’s because barre chords have root notes on the 5th or 6th string, which can clash against the bass notes.

Sometimes you’ll want the sound of barre chords or power chords plus bass guitar, playing root notes in unison. It creates a powerful effect. But other times, you’ll want more openness and space in the music, especially if the song has vocals.

Beyond the Root:

Tips for Writing Your Own Bass Line

By Alex Windsor

T

he bass guitar has often been underutilized in popular music.

Although songs such as Pink Floyd’s “Money” and the classic Beatles tune “Come Together” have added color to the lower register, the general perception of the bass is that it clings to the root note (the first note of the chord/scale). Whether you are a beginner to intermediate bassist looking to start composing your own bass lines or an experienced songwriter looking to add a stronger foundation to your melodies, these tips will help pave the way for a more enhanced bass line.

Getting started Begin by identifying the key of the song and the chord progression. In this example, we will be in the key of C and our chord progression will be the widely used Dm—G7—C. The root notes of each chord will be D, G, and C. Adding the fifth note of the chord Playing only the root note over these chords is perfectly acceptable.

However, if you want to create something more exciting, the next note to consider adding would be the fifth note of the scale of the current chord.

The reason we would most likely add the fifth note is because it does not change regardless of if the chord is major or minor (be careful around jazz chords, though). On a four-string bass, the fifth can always be easily found in two places no matter what key you are in: 1) on the same fret of the string directly below the root note, and 2) over two frets and up one string.

consists of a root, a minor third interval, and a fifth. In the Dm chord used in our example, the notes are D—F—A. Note that the third is F and not F#. This is what gives the chord minor qualities. In the G7 chord of our example, the notes are G—B—D—F. Again, the F note is what determines that this chord is dominant chord. While these notes are essential for breathing life into your bass line, they can do more harm than good if not completely accurate.

Adding direction Once you know all of the notes you have available in your palette, it’s time to piece them together. At this stage of the writing process, you should begin to examine which notes can be used to shift from one chord to another. You

may also consider adding passing notes, which note not belonging to the chord but used to create a smooth transition in bass lines.

Example Take a look at Example (X). Here we have constructed a bass line over the ii—V7—I progression from earlier. Notice how the F note enhances the Dm and G7 chords. We also tie in root notes and passing notes to create an ascending and descending bass melody.

Adding the third or seventh note of the chord Next, you might consider adding the third and/or seventh note of the scale of the current chord. These notes are used to define the true characteristics of the chord, such as major, minor, and dominant. For example, a minor chord

Next Steps If you have not already decided on a rhythm for your bass line, make sure you do so. Bass lines such as the one provided above are often played in quarter notes, but playing these notes in different ways is where the true musical magic happens.

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LESSONS / TIPS

Bringing it Home:

Beginner and Intermediate Bass Recommendations

BY ALEX WINDSOR Whether you are totally new to bass or if you are just looking for another piece to add to your arsenal, here are three basses you should know about.

Squier Classic Vibe ‘70s Jazz Bass As a devout Fender Jazz Bass player, I felt it was necessary to start with this one. Initially launched in 2012 as an exceptionally affordable Fender alternative, the new and improved Squier Classic Vibe series just re-launched at Winter NAMM 2019. These guitars and basses are a nod to the popular instruments used in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. The new '70s Jazz Bass, in particular, is one that all beginners should test-drive. The super slim C-shaped neck pro-file paired with the comfortable 9.5” radius fingerboard makes it easy to really dig into every note, especially some of those more difficult ones those closest to the nut.

The knob configuration – neck volume, bridge volume, master tone – is simple enough for all beginners to use yet it still gives players enough flexibility t o d ial i n t heir desired tone; from bright and twangy to warm and booming, and all the sounds in between. This bass is a versatile workhorse and serves as a foundational piece to any bass collection.

Ibanez SR300E Electric Bass

Fender Mustang Bass PJ

The Ibanez SR Standard series is another excellent entry point for new bassists.

For thirty years, SR basses have offered comfort, tone, sleekness, and playability at a competitive price point. The SR300E is an ideal model for players looking for something a little more lightweight without compromising their low end. The neck profile of this bass is thin with a satin finish, making it a great instrument to practice faster bass licks on. SR300E basses come with passive PowerSpan dual coil pickups and a Power Tap switch to go back and forth between articulate single coil and warm humbucking tones– this, along with the 3-band EQ, gives players ultimate versatility in shaping their desired sound. Last but not least, this bass comes in a variety of beautiful colors, ranging from Charred Champagne Burst to Metallic Sage Green.

Though it is a little more expensive than the other two basses, I felt it completely necessary to include this iconic piece. Initially introduced in 1964, the Mustang bass has been utilized in a wide variety of genres. The 30-inch scale length is not only more comfortable and accommodating for smaller hands, but it also helps to reduce string tension, which creates a more relaxed playing feel; as a result, lower notes seem to have a more “full” quality while the higher notes appear to be a little sweeter.

The lightweight, offset body is a bit more comfortable for players with a smaller frame. The “PJ” in the model name refers to the Precision-Jazz pickup configuration, bringing the best of both classic Fender bass tones to the playing field. Make no mistake about the size – this little bass still rips!

Three Bass-ic Pedals to Boost Your Tone

BY ALEX WINDSOR I’ll admit, I have always been a bit of a purist when it comes to bass tone. Just give me a simple Fender Jazz Bass through an Ampeg SVT Classic bass amp and I’m a happy girl.

However, as our audio landscape continues to evolve, I find myself becoming more and more adventurous with my sound. If you are like me and looking to add a little color to your low-end palette, here are a few tools to check out:

Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2 – From live shows to recording studios, this preamp pedal has been a secret weapon for many bassists since 1989. The flexible EQ options make it a must-have for any bassist playing through a venue PA system instead of a bass amp (hence the name SansAmp). The blend knob allows you to choose how much of the pedal’s dry or wet signal you want, while the presence knob gives you rich definition on every note. The optional drive knob adds a layer of fat distortion to the mix, making it ideal for tracks that need a little more edge. Overall, if you are skeptical about getting into bass pedals, this is a great place to start. Whether you want to be able to emulate a variety of tones or if you are simply looking for a little added boost to your existing setup, the SansAmp Bass Driver is ready to deliver.

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Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi – If you are a punk or metal bassist looking for the ultimate bite, this is the weapon you need. Unlike the SansAmp Bass Driver, the Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi has an extremely versatile collection of distorted tones, all ranging from bright and crunchy to dark and heavy. This pedal is a grandchild of the original creamy, ultra-rich Big Muff Pi pedal—a leader in guitar distortion for more than 40 years. The blend knob balances dry and wet signals and the tone knob adds brightness and clarity. To add more or less distortion, simply adjust the sustain knob.

The gate control allows only louder frequencies to pass through, which eliminates excessive sound caused by hand movement. My favorite feature is the crossover switch, which engages the HPF (high pass filter) and LPF (low pass filter). This feature allows you to dial in an even wider range of distortion. When the HPF knob is turned all the way up, it generates a piercing screech that is sure to summon a demon!

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MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe – This playful pedal is one of a kind.

When engaged, the Bass Chorus Deluxe adds a shimmering layer of liquid texture to your low end without compromising its integrity. Like most other MXR products, this pedal is simple and easy to use from the beginning. It consists of a standard EQ for tonal shaping while the intensity, rate, and width knobs allow you to dial in your preferred level of saturation. One of my favorite features is the flanger button. When pressed, it sends you into an even more exaggerated, whooshing, warbling tone that can help spark your inner creativity and pave the way for experimentation. This is the perfect pedal for anyone looking to create isolated, atmospheric bass lines that stand out and captivate audiences.

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Summer NAMM 2019

is fast approaching - July 18-20, 2019 The Summer NAMM show in Nashville, Tenn. will be held this year from July 18 -20, 2019 and will offer plenty of great instruments, music, education opportunities, and the Top 100 Dealer Awards. It will be held at the Nashville Music City Center, 800 Korean Veterans Boulevard, Nashville, Tenn.

Open to the public on Saturday, July 20.

For more info, visit namm.org.

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FUN STUFF

Every month, we select a guitarist from social media that has tagged themselves with #guitargirlmag to be featured on our website and here in our magazine.

So, head on over to Instagram and tag yourself.

You may be next!

Hannah Dunton

rAbout Me: I’m a 17-yea g at old double bassist startin of 2019. I started as conservatory in the fall with the bass, and soon e lov in a guitarist but fell upright ctric bass, I took up the after starting to play ele ny different ma g yin pla e z tradition. I lov and delved into the jaz upright bass is a nt to show people that styles of music, and I wa ment. fun and versatile instru Esperanza Spalding, osers and musicians like My Inspiration: Comp s, who have taught Nyro, and Becca Steven Maria Schneider, Laura ietal reinforcement soc e pit des s boundarie me that music knows no of gender norms.

ThomastikSB80 double bass with My Gear: I play a Shen vid Da a s, ing str m gauge Infeld Spirocore mediu an Emile Dupree Gage Realist pickup, and GSR200 bow. I also play an Ibanez nt red. are nsp tra in electric bass

68 Guitar Girl Magazine

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FUN STUFF

Word Search Puzzle Word List:

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FUN STUFF

70 Guitar Girl Magazine

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FUN STUFF

1. What anniversary is Dinah Gretsch celebrating at the Gretsch Company?

2. What was the name of the character Suzi Quatro played on the TV show Happy Days?

3. On what TV show did Nik West recently appear?

4. Who is this issue’s #GUITARGIRL? 5. What three basic pedals did Guitar Girl Magazine recommend in this issue to boost your tone?

6. Which artist in this issue got married on stage during a performance?

7. Who is April’s featured artist in the Guitar Girl Magazine 2019 Calendar?

8. What four songs were mentioned in the opening paragraph of the article on “The Power of Bass in Songwriting” by Nikki O’Neill?

9. What new book on bass songs did Hal Leonard release?

10. What band featured in our Fan Favorites went to SXSW?

Word Search and Trivia answers on page 73

May Contest Sign up for our monthly Newsletter to be entered to win great prizes each month!

U.S. only, Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 05/31/19 Slap Bass Bible Hal Leonard $24.99

April Contest U.S. only, Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 04/30/19

How to Play the Electric Bass Carol Kaye

Guitar Girl Magazine Package - $55.00 Winter 2019 Issue / Spring 2019 Issue 2019 Calendar / 2018 Calendar

June Contest U.S. only, Ends 11:59 p.m. ET 06/30/19 Yamaha SessionCake SC01 $69.99

Go to GuitarGirlMag.com sweepstakes page. guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 71

FUN STUFF

What We’re Reading Now Everybody Has a Book Inside of Them: How to Bring it Out Author: Ann Marie Sabath Publisher: Career Press (June 13, 2019) $16.95 In her latest in a long list of books, Ann Marie Sabath tackles the challenge of how to write a book. An inspirational and directional “how to” for anyone who may have thought about writing a book but did not believe they could, did not know where to start, and did not know how to prepare for the journey from beginning to end. This book helps the budding author get started by sharing the nine reasons why people write a book and by asking authors to think about which one relates to them.

Planning and introspection become the guide throughout the book and tips to engage and stay focused are given along the way. Sabath emphasizes the importance of knowing what genre you will write about, how long your book will be, who your readers will be, understanding the importance of market research, and developing a “Sounding Board Advisory Group.” Other key factors will be assuring a commitment to the project, and she also speaks about having knowledge, experience, and passion. Writing a “Pledge of Allegiance” can keep you focused on your project.

Slap Bass Bible Hal Leonard $24.99 The world’s largest print music publisher, Hal Leonard, recently released the Slap Bass Bible featuring 30 songs from some of the most prolific artists and bands exemplifying the technique, including: Graham Central Station (“Hair,” “Pow,”); Primus (“My Name is Mud,” “Tommy the Cat”); Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Aeroplane,” “Higher Ground,” “Naked in the Rain”); Sly & the Family Stone (“Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)”); Stanley Clarke (“Lopsy Lu,” “School Days,” “Silly Putty”); Victor Wooten (“What Did He Say,” “You Can’t Hold No Groove”); and more. Each song featured includes note-for-note transcriptions with tab.

Their press released stated, “Since the 1960s, the slap technique has been an extremely popular technique bassists use in funk, soul, rock, and many other genres. From legendary innovators Larry Graham and Marcus Miller, to modern icons like Flea and Victor Wooten, the style has long been utilized in music to help create a unique sound.”

How to Play the Electric Bass Author: Carol Kaye $21.50

You may not have thought about this, but deciding what to wear while writing, selecting the best place to write, and grabbing a “pack and go tote” or a “writing bag” are also important, and plan on being ready to go when the “writing” moment strikes. Finally, Sabath shares advice from authors who have written between one to 76 books…plenty of wisdom coming from here!

Originally written in 1969 and then rewritten in 2004, Carol Kaye shares with the reader her knowledge and expertise on how to play the electric bass.

If you’re looking for basic scales and diagrams, this is not the book for you. Kaye gets you right into playing more exciting and interesting bass lines. How to Play Electric Bass is a simple 28-page book broken down into five sections where she discusses different styles of music; how to choose and use a pick; tips on tuning, action, pick-ups, strings and amps; the importance of learning current bass lines and playing along with music; and then includes the bass lines she played in several songs.

Ann Marie Sabath is the founder of At Ease Inc., a 32-year-old business consulting firm. She has authored nine other books, which have been translated into eight languages and have been read by more than 250,000 readers. Sabath’s books have been recognized by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Inc., Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, CNBC, 20/20, and Oprah.

Included with the book is Carol Kaye’s list of music his along with TV & Movie bass hits, books, and students she’s taught over the years, as well as a copy of a pay stub from 1996 from the American Foundation of Musicians showing a payment of $70.03 for their use of the Phonograph track in the movie Mission Impossible. Also, play along with the included CD to the bass lines in the book to ensure you’re playing correctly. Kaye’s advice: “Surround yourself with real music and music-learning, you’ll be a real musician.

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FUN STUFF

WORD SEARCH ANSWERS

Trivia Answers:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

40 Leather Tuscadero Say Yes to the Dress Hannah Dunton Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2, ElectroHarmonix Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi, and MXR Bass Chorus Deluxe Amanda Hamers

7.

8.

9.

10.

Lindsay Ell “Cannonball” by the Breeders. “Never Miss the Water” by Chaka Khan and Meshell Ndegeocello. “Come Together” by The Beatles.

“Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen.

Slap Bass Bible Vices of Vanity

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FUN STUFF

FAN FAVORITES Vices of Vanity sets out on an road trip like no other, here we come SXSW! #vicestour Starting out from our humble home here in Atlanta, we rocked and rolled through the southeast on our way to and from Austin, hitting such highlights as New Orleans, San Antonio and Biloxi along the way. Piled into a van with our rockstar dreams, we enjoyed everything that the SXSW music festival had to offer, meeting many cool new bands, amazing friends and new fans.

We ended our escapades with a starry night bonfire show at the favorite local Texas Music Ranch on Austin limits for a week to remember! Photos by Elevin Photography (@elevinphoto). Leave the last sentence.

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CONTRIBUTORs Tara Bell is a Cleveland-based writer who is proud to reside where rock ‘n’ roll began. She got her start two decades ago at Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, and has been working in the book, magazine, and retail industries ever since. She is a passionate classic rock buff and lives at home with her talented bass-player husband and futurerock-star 4-year-old.

Lindsey Borders is an avid music enthusiast and has worked in every capacity that music and entertainment have to offer. Because her parents had her young, she grew up on mostly ‘70s and ‘80s music, which was a staple in their household every day. She has interviewed a wide range of artists from Huey Lewis & the News to DJ Tigerlily and Lzzy Hale to name a few.

Alexx Calise is an accomplished singer, guitarist and songwriter. Perhaps best known for her hit song, “Cry”, which became a staple on the show “Dance Moms” and boasts millions of hits on Youtube, Calise’s raw emotion, heart-and soul-lyrics and unmistakable vibrato have impacted thousands of young girls all over the world. Calise is currently working on new solo material and songs for licensing, and she will soon be releasing a new EP with other music project, Batfarm. In addition to her musical pursuits, she also works in GHS Strings’ A&R and marketing department and owns her own party entertainment business. When not playing shows or writing music, she enjoys horror movies, exercising or taking a well-deserved nap.

Marco DiSandro is based in the Washington Metropolitan Area, is a public relations consultant, freelance writer, and guitar teacher. Aside from his passion for spreading appreciation and knowledge of music to his students, he enjoys traveling, fishing, and performing at local bars and coffee houses. His biggest guitar heroes include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dickey Betts, Chuck Berry, and Chet Atkins.

Leigh Fuge is a professional guitarist and tutor from the UK. He works as a session guitarist, plays with a number of live bands, writes for various

high-profile guitar publications and works daily with his own music students to develop their skills and careers. He is passionate about sharing knowledge and helping aspiring players hit their potential with technical and song writing abilities.

Steve McKinley is the bass player for Joel Kosche (of Collective Soul) in his solo band and for the Led Zeppelin tribute Led Zeppelified. He’s been part of the Atlanta music scene for years playing in bands (i.e.

Julius Pleaser, Sid Vicious Experience, Pretty Vacant et al) and has recorded and toured throughout the Southeast. His songs have been played on the radio, he has appeared on television and is an ASCAP member. With his electronics skills and experience, he runs Atlanta Tube Amp and Steve McKinley Electronics and is an Instructor on JamPlay.com. He roots for Atlanta United, works on cars and drinks his coffee strong, hot and black.

Nikki O’Neill is an Americana singer, guitar player and songwriter with a deep love for soul music. Her records have been played on many blues and roots music stations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Based in Los Angeles, she performs actively with her band and she will release a new album in 2019. Official website: NikkiOneill.com

Kirk Stauffer is a Seattle-based photographer who has two passions - live music and photography. Over 10 years ago he began to combine them and has covered nearly 2000 performances to date. His photos have been published commercially, featured in Rolling Stone magazine, and one found itself on the front cover of Pollstar magazine. Kirk has been a contributing photographer for Paste Magazine, LiveDaily, No Depression and Back Beat Seattle, and is a regular SXSW attendee.

Sasha Vallely has been performing across the globe for over a decade with bands such as Sash The Bash, Midnight Larks, Spindrift and The Warlocks, she has guested with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, members of QOTSA, The Hives, Portishead, Massive Attack, Cat Power, Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, The Seeds, The Blacks Angels and Jello Biafra along with many others. She has composed independent film scores and feature films such as El Gringo starring Christian Slater, directed music videos and produced and starred in the documentary Spindrift, Ghost of The West.

Alison Richter interviews musicians, producers, engineers, and other industry professionals.

Amy Epperley, aka The Platinum Viking, is an Atlanta based classically trained multi-instrumentalist specializing in cello and electric bass guitar.

She is currently a full-time musician that not only does studio session and recording work but also teaches music lessons and theory. She is involved with multiple projects and bands spanning everything from cover bands to tribute bands such as Siamese Dream (Smashing Pumpkins Tribute) and Evil Women (All Female Black Sabbath Tribute) to original bands Vices of Vanity, Sash the Bash, and Motorage. She has played with, been direct support to, and toured with several national and international recording artists and bands and will be releasing new material and on tour starting in 2019.

Victoria Shaffer has an obsession with music history and a passion for classic rock ‘n’ roll. As a student, Victoria graduated with a degree in English and is currently pursuing a masters to continue her growth as a writer. She strives to successfully combine her two obsessions by writing about the musicians and musical events that motivate and inspire her.

Alex Windsor is a passionate musician and educator with over 15 years of experience. While she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music with an emphasis in Jazz Studies (Bass), she has also extensively studied rock, blues, and classical guitar. She currently serves as the Educational Affairs Specialist for Guitar Center Lessons. Alex can be found regularly performing around the greater Los Angeles area.

Caroline Paone is a freelance music journalist. Her work has appeared in Bass Player, Guitar Player, ROCKRGRL, and Bass Frontiers magazines along with websites Classic Rock Revisited and SFGate.

Artists interviews Music industry news Guitar gear reviews Fun rock lifestyle finds Insider tips and much more GuitarGirlMag.com

guitargirlmag.com Guitar Girl Magazine 75

Guitar Girl Encourage. Inspire. Empower

Spring 2019 | Issue 8 • $12.50