The Bass Geek

The Vollrath presents Nightjar, Waldemere Revival, Slithering Beast, and Saints and Strangers for a night of Americana, folk, rock, and such. Tomorrow night, it’s a stiffer shot of hard rock from the Holland Account, Kramus, and Losing September.

Radio Radio is still off this weekend. Next week, kids, next week.

I’m assuming Naptown Juice Restaurant and Wine Bar will keep the acoustic music going this weekend, and I assuming Maria’s Pizza will do the same for their Friday night jazz showcase. And there’s sure to be some musical happenings going on at the Brass Ring, so enjoy that.

Oh, I almost forgot – renowned folk artist Ellis Paul plays tomorrow night at the Wheeler Art Center, courtesy of the Indy Acoustic Cafe series. They only do these shows once in a while, and Mr. Paul is a big enough name to bring in a big enough crowd. I think tickets are still available, so head on over and enjoy the music.

The new IMN podcast is up – download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2 Thursdays at 4pm. It contains an all-bass version of “Amazing Grace!” Why would you NOT listen to that?

In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be right over there reading Tony Levin’s book. Can’t wait to apply the lessons learned about odd-meter Chapman Stick playing to my alt-country rehearsal this very evening.

So the recording this weekend was postponed, meaning I have the full day free to participate in the myriad wonders that will no doubt take place at Bass Day this Saturday at Butler University. And they made the thing FREE! Fools – how will the regulate the neverending crush of low-end fans sure to press at the not-nearly-strong-enough doors of their recital hall?

Perhaps I exaggerate, but I am greatly looking forward to seeing the event and the associated players. They’ve only mentioned a few players, but there should be more than enough happening in the master classes, demos, recitals, and so forth to keep anybody’s attention. And by anybody, I mean bassists – Bassoon Day is next week, thank you. And there’s even a mass bass All-Play! How could you NOT love that!

Radio Radio is closed this weekend (next weekend, too). We’ll get back to them on 1/22 with a big show.

The Vollrath Tavern has Cuba, Archie Powell and the Exports, and Coltrane Motion tonight. Tomorrow, they present Win With Willard, the Red Wire, and Emulus.

The Calvin Fletcher Coffee Company has D. Mark and Jules tonight, and there’s acoustic music this weekend at Deano’s Vino (soon to be Naptown Juice Restaurant and Wine Bar, according to an Indy Star article on the subject). Finally, Maria’s Pizza provides their normal Friday night jazz show, and it’s Swing Night at the Fountain Square Theater tonight with The Blue Skies Big Band. Enjoy!

EDIT: Forgot to add that Jessica Benge and Sean Baker will lounge it up at the Brass Ring Saturday night. And by “lounge it up,” I mean play lounge music. I wouldn’t announce their intentions to relax and hang out on this blog.

The new IMN podcast is up for download – get it here or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm.

Also, there are a few new Playboy Psychonaut dates up at our MySpace page – we’re booking into May at this point, in case you’re interested.

Forget for a moment that there are no strings.

Forget for a moment that there is no bridge.

Forget, for just a moment, that there aren’t any pickups.

Just consider the possibilities.

‘Cause that’s what I’ve been doing since a friend passed this Gizmodo link on to me.

And, honestly, I’m surprised that Lucas hasn’t merchandised this idea already. With Tauntaun Sleeping Bags now available, could this bass be that far behind?

The New Year’s Eve show went remarkably well, and the sizable crowd took in a wonderful display of music and tomfoolery the whole night through. Given the number of people cycling through the stage and the huge production number at midnight (a holiday take on “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the combined Leisure Kings/Born Again Floozies orchestral choir), the production flowed extremely smoothly. I also took away some additional knowledge from the night:

• Dancers onstage mean more dancers offstage.
• Dancers onstage work harder than you. Trust me.
• Carry tools to fix electric fans for said dancers.

I also learned (a couple of days later) that sometimes you just have to play the songs you’re asked to and smile. It happens to every musician sometimes, and it’s good to get a reminder to remain flexible and attentive.

Also, Butler University has placed their musical focus squarely where it should be by sponsoring Bass Day on Saturday, January 16th. This blog entry presents some of the details and speakers for the day, but they had me at the first word. I’m scheduled to do some recording that day, but I might see if I can make it a late arrival time. They’ve got to spend three-quarters of the day getting drum sounds anyway, right?

Doesn’t look like there’s much going on tonight, seeing that everybody spends New Year’s Day recovering from New Year’s Eve. Which, you know, is the best way to start off a new year – in full-on recovery mode. With that in mind, let’s move on to tomorrow, when Bigger Than Elvis takes the stage for Radio Radio’s first show of 2010. At the Vollrath, you can attend the dance party known as Exorcism. Do not try the Green Pea Soup shot. And there’s some live acoustic music at Deano’s Vino, so have fun with that.