The Bass Geek

His general temprement and predeliction towards lute albums take care of that.

But man, now he’s got to turn traitor, too?

The new Garageband in iLife ‘09 features a few music lessons.  And that’s great - I’m always in favor of music lessons.

Except when they involve Sting and a guitar.

He’s famous for his work in a group where he played bass (or got the heck out of the way and let Daryl Jones play bass for solo work, which is perfectly acceptable).

Now we get to let him prattle on about the guitar?  Joy.

Big Car Gallery’s installation for the last First Friday included a couple Buddha Machines and the iPhone emulator used to create some interesting noise loops for the accompanying pictures and sticky notes (you had to be there for the full effect).  I’m playing around with this and some other apps - never did I think my cell phone would be a random music compositional tool.

The new amp is coming along swimmingly, too.  I can’t turn it above 2 for fear of damaging my house’s foundation, and the control panel can be daunting at times.  Still, I think this Trace Elliot combo should handle the bulk of my playing needs quite nicely.

And, just for fun, NPR tossed a complete streaming concert from Hiromi’s Sonicbloom online for your listening please.  They were fantastic when I saw them at Indy’s Jazz Fest a couple of years ago.  It’s great fusion that doesn’t make you feel bad because you’re listening to fusion.

VH-1 Classic was just showing the abominable Patty Smyth version of “Downtown Train” and then went dark, as if to say “Screw this!”  The new year is already looking up.

Radio Radio has Bigger Than Elvis tomorrow night, and they bring in James Intveld on Monday.  Did you like the singing in “Cry-baby?”  This guy did it, and you should be there.

Sam’s Saloon features Kory Quinn & The Comrades and Ten Foot Band tomorrow night. TBA is scheduled for tomorrow, but I bet they cancel.

It’s First Friday this evening, so there’s plenty of activity going ’round the square.  Shake off your hangovers and enjoy

What shall you do if you somehow run out of strings, picks or other necessary items while playing in Memphis and it’s past normal business hours?  Consignment Music Store in Memphis has a vending machine just outside their doors for such occasions.  Brilliant, although I’d hate to pump in $20 worth of quarters and get stiffed like a soda machine.  That’s gotta sting.

While we’re down in Memphis, we took the Gibson factory tour (plenty of pictures at my wife’s Twitter feed) - there were only two basses in the gift shop, and they only made electric hollow-bodies at this location.  So there was some geeking out, but it was only minor.

In any case, enjoy the transition to the new year, and stay safe.

Radio Radio brings in KRISTEENYOUNG and Yuki Saturday for shoegaze followed by a little vocal weirdness.  Wednesday, they close out the year with Mandy Marie and the Cool Hand Lukes with Bigger Than Elvis.  It’s part of a much larger retro New Year’s Eve celebration that ranges over the entire Fountain Square building, including dance parties in the Fountain Square Theater and the two duckpin bowling alleys.

Sam’s Saloon is closed this weekend in preparation for the Pattern-Hungry Records New Year’s Eve Bash taking place Wednesday.

Big Car Gallery is throwing a Bohemian New Year’s Eve party Wednesday night - there’s a lot going on at this particular event, but the music portion includes performances from Tonos Triad, Adam Kuhn, Beat Debris, The Tapedeck Few, Oakdale Drive and The Bone Fags.

Deano’s Vino has New Augusta tonight and the Shirtless Biddles tomorrow.  Their New Year’s Eve celebration is only described as “beer-influenced,” so there you go.

So stay safe and enjoy your New Year’s Eve celebrations.  Please get taxis, hotel rooms and all the necessary accoutrements, and take care.