I'm a bassist who has been playing the local scene starting with my first professional band 'Ipso Facto' in 1990 which gave me the gigging bug that led me through a constantly changing, genre interweaving path of playing great music with incredible musicians, playing great local venues in the Northeast throughout the years opening for bands like J. geils, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Band, Delbert McClinton and more as well as playing tiny clubs with little or next to no stage room, and have for the most part, enjoyed both sides of the tracks equally. Sorry for the run on sentence.. 5 point deduction...
I was also bassist in a band with guitar virtuoso, Blues Saraceno, before he was even old enough to drive.. Seriously.. See my photo section for proof haha.
Also, I was proud to have been a member of ALL THAT IS in 1994-95, a project that was spawned by lead guitarist Frank Aresti of Fates Warning.. Fates Warning was a favorite band of mine in high school and I jumped at the chance to take part in the project. We wrote and recorded some really great music over the course of the year I was with them.. I've also had my share of recording sessions, both demo and commercial release and have had the pleasure to meet a lot of nice people along the way.
I'm currently a member of The Martin Kelly Band, whom I've been with since 1995. We play local venues around the area and gig 4 to 5 times a month. We have fun, and we get paid for it.. What more can one ask for??
My gig gear consists of one of the best basses I've ever played which has been with me since 1993, and has been used on at LEAST a thousand gigs with me since, a Yamaha TRB4p in Amber which is neck-thru.. Simply the nicest sounding and most versatile bass I've ever owned.
I prefer to use D'Addario EPS160 prosteel strings on her which gauge .050-.105.. I like a meaty g string and that big .105 provides some nice low notes with my E. of course we all know that there are a small handful of locations that strings are actually manufactured and they're all the same anyway, but this set in particular has a very nice color scheme on the wrapper.. So there you go..
I like Monster Bass cables, but all high end cables will do for an average gig situation.
My amp is an original Trace Elliot 1X15, 300 watt combo with a great low end that is easy to control. I use a Hartke 2X10 extension cabinet along with it which gives me an incredible sparkle to my mids and highs. This combo is the perfect size for any gig, large or amall, plus it is very easy to transport and fits nicely into some of the tight areas we're usually forced to squeeze into for our gigs and it all fits easily into my Accord trunk or the back of my Pathfinder without the need to adjust seats. Manageable Size + Great Sound = HAPPY BASS PLAYER...
The combination of the Yamaha and Trace amp provides me with THE best bass sound ever heard by the human ear.. If Luciano Poveratti was a bass guitar, and still alive.... this is what he'd sound like.. Ok, I went overboard on that.. Anyway, that's my setup and I'm sticking to it..
I'm a huge fan of playing for the song and I love the "less is more" concept.. It's bass.. It's meant to groove.. I'll be over here in the pocket..
Bass Player Tip Number 47: The spaces between the notes are as important as the notes themselves. if you can't play both effectively, then don't bother.
Personal thanks goes out to Billy Sheehan for ruining the feel of a whole generation of bass players. You want to play lightning fast bass solos chock full of taps and bends, then you might at well just go out and buy a bright red Corvette or over sized Hummer and complete the overall tool package you're striving for..
As well as being interested in and loving all kinds of music, I'm also very interested in science, mainly quantum mechanics and how it relates to "reality" and the holographic aspects of matter and consciousness.. So there you go.
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Fantomas - Simply Beautiful
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Fates Warning fans, check out frank Aresti's latest project, Dark Day Sunday!!
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