Don Bassey

Music:

Member Since: 10/3/2006
Band Website: donbassey.com
Band Members: The Volker Stifler Band (VSB): ------http://www.myspace.com/volkerstriflerband http://www.volkerstrifler.com------ Long-time Ford Blues Band guitarist and vocalist Volker Strifler has formed his own band featuring his extraordinary talents as a guitarist, singer and composer. He has long been a respected sideman to an impressive lineup of other artists such as Robben Ford, Lowell Fulson, Chris Cain and many more.I play bass and sing in VSB. I'm joined by award-winning drummer Gary Silva (Elvin Bishop, Albert Collins, Norton Buffalo, Ron Thompson) in the rhythm section. Roland Condon (Steve Kimmock, Zero) adds his brilliant piano and Hammond organ work to the mix, and the killer horns of David Schrader (San Francisco Saxophone Quartet, A Case of the Willy’s, Shade, the Poyntlyss Sistars) and Carl Bowers (A Case of the Willy’s, Shade) put the big-band swagger in Volker’s arrangements.
Influences: I guess you could call me one of the wily veterans of the San Francisco rock and blues scene. I've been in the Bay Area since the mid-Seventies, after transplanting from my native Michigan (Go Blue), where I cut my teeth as a singing bass player with Touchstone, the Tiers, the Tax, and the Upper Hand. I consider the many great players I've known over the years to be my greatest influences. They constantly enrich my musical journey through life. I've had the good fortune to be able to perform with some of Northern California's finest performers. Most of my time is devoted to the Volker Strifler Band, and I also have had the pleasure of playing with the amazing Jessie Turner, guitar virtuoso and producer Kevin Russell, singer/songwriter Ira Marlowe, roots rockers the Detroit Disciples, Bay Area legends the Alameda All Stars, the wonderful Shana Morrison, and blues stalwarts Daniel Castro, Andy Just, Patrick Ford, Chris Cain, Ron Thompson, Rick Kellogg, Steve Gornall, Guy Arrostuto, and Bobby Walker.I was stuck on rock 'n roll early on - Elvis, Rick Nelson, Del Shannon, Dion and the Belmonts, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy, and Buddy Holly, to name a few, as well as the great artists on the R&B and Blues labels like Motown (of course), Stax/Volt, Chess, and Atlantic. I lived in Kalamazoo, which was exactly halfway between Chicago and Detroit on I-94. There was never a lack of great live music.I started playing guitar at age twelve (Ed Sale's "Learn to play guitar in 7 Days" course). I started with the surf music of the Beach Boys and the Ventures. I was also big on Johnny Cash. When the Beatles broke big in the USA, I started learning as much of their music as I could, as I later did with the Byrds, the Stones, Buffalo Springfield, and the Moody Blues. My sister and I saw the Beatles at Olympia Stadium in Detroit in 1966. She got the tickets plenty early - we were in the FRONT ROW!!! At 16, I switched to bass when some COLLEGE GUYS asked me to join their band to sing lead and play bass. I'm STILL workin' on it. The old walk-and-chew-gum line comes to mind.Read more about the many great musicians I call friends on my website, http://www.donbassey.com.Affiliations: NARAS (voting member), ASCAP, Sacramento Blues SocietyHere's a link to the Volker Strifler Band Press Kit:http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.asp?epk_id=128225
Sounds Like: MyGen Profile Generator
Record Label: Blue Rock'It Records
Type of Label: Indie