View Full Version : Anyone here play?
Worf101
03-16-2004, 06:25 PM
If so, what instrument? What kind of music? How long and what's your major influences..
I play bass guitar and standup (in a pinch)
I'm a soul man (pun intended) but can fill in on almost any genre cept hard core Jazz....
Been playing for pay off and on since the Nixon Administration...
James Jamerson (Motown), Willie Weeks, Ron Carter... a little Paul McCartney.....
Can you fill the seat? Can you take a chair???
:D
Dusty Chalk
03-16-2004, 07:34 PM
Yup. I am a professional synthesist. I got paid to play the first time out. Sure, it was a whole $12, but it's better than paying to play, y'know? It was the highlight of my life.
I kind of suck. I can't vamp worth sheet, I like to play mostly original tunes. Fortunately, the band I was in, the music was cool, so I could play it.
Can't improvise in a group context.
But I can play. I'm better than most of the drivel you hear on the radio. Keyboards, that is. 10 1/2 years of formal training, been playing on my own since 1980. A little less the last couple of years.
On guitar, I'm pretty much relegated to "rhythm" (no, not as in "rhythm guitar", as in I damp the strings and play rhythmic noise). Drums I can keep a beat, but most guitarists are better drummers than I.
Finch Platte
03-16-2004, 08:15 PM
If so, what instrument? What kind of music? How long and what's your major influences..
:D
Piano and trombone for years. Hated 'em. Then, in high school, I found drums. That was almost 30 years ago. Played ever since, altho have tapered off in the last couple of years. Loved playing country and western in seedy dives and making $80, altho I can't stand to listen to it. Getting drunk and jamming originals out in the barn rank up there w/ my all-time favorite things to do. Originals turn out sounding like dada or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Influences? None. Altho I wouldn't mind playing like Dave Weckl :D
fp
topspeed
03-16-2004, 11:31 PM
If so, what instrument? What kind of music? How long and what's your major influences..
I play bass guitar and standup (in a pinch)
I'm a soul man (pun intended) but can fill in on almost any genre cept hard core Jazz....
Been playing for pay off and on since the Nixon Administration...
James Jamerson (Motown), Willie Weeks, Ron Carter... a little Paul McCartney.....
Can you fill the seat? Can you take a chair???
:D
Drums and percussion for 30 years now. Yes, I can actually read music (the Hell you say!). I've played in rock, alt-rock, jazz fusion, and straight up jazz bands. There are few better releases in this world than beating the life out of your kit. Sound, fury, adrenaline, finesse, rhythm, sweat...that's what I'm talkin' about! There is nothing better than just jammin' with your bro's and being in a groove...feelin' the music instead of playing.
Influences include Neal Peart (bought Tama because of him!), Jeff Porcaro, and Dave Weckl
nobody
03-17-2004, 06:13 AM
I used to play drums...badly. Primary influences were beer and drugs, and trying to get teenage girls to take off their clothes.
ForeverAutumn
03-17-2004, 07:04 AM
I have a couple of acoustic guitars which I like to fool around on. I went to a high school with a really good music program and one of the courses that we could take was classical guitar. That got me started on guitar (also played tenor and alto sax and clarinet back in those days. I regret not continuing with the sax). We also had an English teacher who was a good guitar player and he used to give informal folk guitar lessons at lunch time. I started to sit in on those too.
I just play for fun. No-one would ever pay me to play! It's more the kind of strumming that you can do when friends come over for a barbeque and you sit in the back yard, sip a few beverages and sing a few songs. I'm a campfire guitarist. :D
tugmcmartin
03-17-2004, 07:05 AM
My music career officially started in the fifth grade when i learned to play the recorder in music class. From there i went on to piano, where i took lessons for a whole 4 months before getting bored with it. I then picked up one of my dad's acoustic guitars and its been my instrument of choice for the last 15 years or so. I took lessons in college for a couple of months, but ran out of funding for that, so i'm basically self-taught. Can't read a lick of music tho. While i really enjoy electric blues to listen to, when playing i prefer a bluegrass/country style. The acoustic just speaks to me more and i seem to be able to produce more interesting sounds with it than an electric. I've learned lots of songs throughout the years but probably couldn't play any of them straight through. I prefer to take bits and peices of what i learn from them and create my own stuff. I think i suck, but a lot of friends say i should join a band. Probably just lip service. My goal is to able to play like Norman Blake and Tony Rice at some point in my life.
T-
Dave_G
03-17-2004, 07:48 AM
I played the Coronet in 5th grade and hated it.
I also had to sing in the choir at church for a few years.
Hated that too.
I was in plays as a kid though and loved that, especially if I was the lead character.
I could have easily been a frontman for a band, altho I'm not very tall (5'8"), but I have the personality and ego and all that. But my singing is gawd awful.
I wanted to be the lead singer for Uriah Heep when I was 14.
I never pursued any other instruments, got into music at age 12 (i.e. buying rock lp's) and quickly became the music fan and never thought abour playing an instrument again.
I would sing in a band these days if the opportunity presented itself just for the hell of it, or be the sound engineer.
Dave
My 13-yr old son is interested in electric guitar, so Santa gave him a pretty cool, $100 guitar & amp package for Christmas from Behringer. (It got very good reviews in spite of very cheap price http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHGPACK ). So I am noodling around with it 4-5 times a week, anywhere for 15-60 minutes at a time. (my son is a little frustrated with it not being automatic, but he's not completely ignoring it) All my teenage guitar lessons seem to have come back to me, and I'm starting to hear some real sounds come out.
Being older of course makes it so much harder to put the time in, but I have a much better time understanding the damn thing than when I was a kid, so I am expecting to get reults faster. There are a lot of free guitar lesson sites online too (cyberfret.com seems best for me), and I am hoping to stick with this.
My wife reckons the only thing I play well is the fool :D .
I've played geeetar badly for years, played drums in a band for maybe 10 years through university and into my late 20's (many years ago).
My biggest claim to fame is that I have 'jammed' with John Miles regularly for 30+ years as I have known him nearly all my life and despite his worldwide travel and music industry credits with the likes of Tina Turner et all we still enjoy a regular pint and I get the chance to demonstrate just how bad good gear can sound at his home :o . These days he insists I play drums which suits me as anyone who has experienced a professional player close up will know your own inadequacies are very evident.
I took piano lessons when I was young and didn't carry it on. I've always regretted it too but I intend to make amends. My dear Dad passed away early in January, he was an accomplished musician, professional for many years and very enthusiastic amateur during the last 20 yrs who enjoyed the piano and keyboards all of his life. I have spent the last few weeks sorting out his estate and inherited a very sophisticated Yamaha electronic keyboard/synth which I am currently tinkering with. It would be a shame for it to stand idle and I couldn't bear to part with it anyway. I need to refresh my ageing skills and perhaps now have the encouragement to do it.
jdeare
03-17-2004, 08:35 PM
Played clarinet with the intention of moving to sax when I was in Jr. High. Quit.
Sang in church and HS choirs, and was in a high school band where I sometimes played guitar (rhythm) and mostly sang. We played classic rock and semi-originals, for example, an old set list:
1. Hey Joe
2. Can't Explain
3. Fire
4. Red House
5. Smoke on the Water
6. Take the Deadheads Bowling (a takeoff of the Skinheads Bowling)
7. Casey Jones
8. Dear Mr. Fantasy
9. Moby Dick (our drummer channeled Bonzo, I swear)
10. The Freshman Song (a terrible original)
We played parties, mostly for free beer, and the occasional talent show/block party/concert in the park.
Then in college I picked up the bass, been playing that ever since. Been thinking about putting something together eventually, to play the crappy little bars around here.
MindGoneHaywire
03-18-2004, 10:49 AM
I've been playing since I could crawl, to varying degrees of accomplishment. I've been playing guitar for 25 years, but for more than a decade my primary instrument has been bass guitar.
My father is a professional who's never really had a day job, except for maybe a year or two in his twenties. Aside from that all income he's ever earned has been from music. He had me targeted for Julliard & when I was 7 I performed a Burgmuller piano etude in front of the rest of the elementary school I attended. That plan got derailed not long after, and I haven't played much piano since I gave it up for the guitar when I was 13.
Played clarinet for a year in elementary school & gave that up for the trombone, which I played for 7 years. Fun, huh, Finch? Haven't picked one up since the day I graduated high school. I was first trombone more often than I wasn't over that time, and I suppose I could've continued playing it, but I was kinda tired of draining spit out of the damn thing. So that was pretty much the last time I read any music, too.
When I first started playing guitar my main influence was the Beatles. I taught myself how to play by playing along with records. Beatles records, Rolling Stones records, Beatles records, later Led Zeppelin records, Beatles records, then Ramones records & Beatles records. After playing guitar for nearly a decade I decided to get serious about it & spent about a year going to open mics to build up my chops & stageworthiness. Eventually I joined a garage rock band, which was one of my main goals. Spent the next ten years playing in a variety of garage bands--rock, punk, blues, country & western, covers, originals, piss-takes. Had some great gigs & many crappy ones. Made a few bucks here & there, mostly doing covers. Don't care about the money, but anyone who says that without admitting that it's nicer to have a few bucks in yr pocket at the end of the night as opposed to not is full of it as far as I'm concerned.
Since I got sick 4 years ago I haven't done much playing. An occasional gig here or there. I can't stand for very long, and rock'n'roll is not something that I want to either see or do when you've got people who can't even stand up. It just doesn't work for me. That said, I do have something in the works where I just might be getting involved with a local outfit that gigs steadily & for which I don't think sitting part of the time would be a major issue. Which is good, because I've been thinking about doing more lately. It's not like I'm doing much of anything else, and it seems like I might just be able to make more money playing than working at a part-time job. We'll see. I've been playing my way back into shape & have built up callouses on my fingers I haven't seen in 4 years. Ability-wise, I'm not concerned; I can play just about anything that's relatively simple & based on blues structures, and have rarely played much outside that. Sometimes in rehearsals I've had to play lying flat on my back, but the day I miss a note is the day I hang the damn thing up.
I have a 100W Tube Works Mosvalve Bass amp that has one 12" speaker. Great for small gigs. I also have a 200W Peavey Mark III & a 15" Carvin bottom. When able I use the Tube Works instead of the Peavey as a head because it's a big help when I turn it towards the drummer as a supplemental monitor. Especially when playing with a drummer whose time is questionable, which has been the case with me more of the time than I would've preferred.
My main influences on bass are Paul McCartney, Dee Dee Ramone, Bruce Thomas, Bill Wyman, and blues guys like Willie Dixon. I once threw up a pic of my Precision on the old board, only because it bears what is, so far as I know, a one-of-a-kind modification. A friend did a little experiment on a Korean Fender & later sold it to me. I mostly play a short-scale Danelectro Longhorn, which I bought a few years ago because it was lightweight & easier on the back at a time when I had back problems...and now is much easier to play while seated. But whenever I can stand long enough to warrant it I go back to this thang. Hopefully I'll be playing it a lot more, and real soon.
Swish
03-18-2004, 02:13 PM
I've been playing for over 30 years, although I'm not what you'd call an "accomplished" player. I would go months without playing, and when I was living hand-to-mouth for a time, I would sell my equipment and do without for a few months, then go out and buy something else. Those days are long gone and I have four guitars now and won't hesitate to add to that if the mood strikes me. My acoustics are a vintage 1959 Gibson L-50 and a newer model Guild True American, and my electrics are a 1972 Gibson ES-335 and a 2001 Fender Strat "Special Addition". While I enjoy the old guitars, the newer ones play so sweet that they get most of the action. A friend of mine has asked me to practice some acoustic tunes with him so we can play out at some open mic nights, but we're both so busy that we've put it on the back-burner for now.
Swish
Worf101
03-18-2004, 03:05 PM
I currently have about 5 basses...
1. 1968 Fender Jazz - bought in 1970 so I'm not rich.
2. Custom made longscale neck through made for me by a custom luthier in 1985.
3. Bolt together Fender Jazz copy from the California Bass Works (my first "active bass"
4. Another built from pieces in the Fender Jazz mold, I'll probably sell that one.
5. Just picked up a 1865 Vox Astro Beatle Bass copy on ebay. I always wanted one.
jdeare
03-18-2004, 03:30 PM
I don't have much, seeing as I'm poor:
My bass is a Samick, from the factory in Korea that makes pretty much all the Korean basses. It plays good, can switch between P-bass and J-bass pickups. I have a little Behringer amp in my spare room that I use for practice, and my pride and joy, an old Ampeg SVT head. No room for the cab though, so I sold it.
My dad recently started buying old guitars, after I got him a Sears Silvertone tube amp from the 60s for Christmas (still has all original tubes, all still working!) and he has:
original Kay Les Paul copy, I think from Sears or JC Penny back in the 50s (he's had it the whole time)
1972 Gibson SG, with the "Patent Pending" pickups. Plays like a dream!
1980 Les Paul Firebrand--He had to rebuild this one, it's very solid and has great tone, but it looks like a coffee table (maybe that's a good thing?)
and now he's looking for a Danelectro.
MindGoneHaywire
03-18-2004, 04:03 PM
Worf, you're upstate, right? Somewhere around Albany? I haven't been up there in awhile, but I've played at a couple of places there--the QE II (eh), Bogie's (not there anymore, is it?), Pauly's Hotel. Any of these names ring any bells? Lark Street Music? That's gone, too, if I remember correctly...
Worf101
03-18-2004, 09:15 PM
Worf, you're upstate, right? Somewhere around Albany? I haven't been up there in awhile, but I've played at a couple of places there--the QE II (eh), Bogie's (not there anymore, is it?), Pauly's Hotel. Any of these names ring any bells? Lark Street Music? That's gone, too, if I remember correctly...
I've played all the places you mention... I'm in Albany/Troy, you're absolutely right. I played the QE2 several times... it's gone. Bogie's, through all it's owners... it's gone. Pauly's Hotel is still there but it's a Fern Bar now with little or no live music so it's gone essentially. Lark Street Music... Buzzy's old place is gone as well. Also gone is The Chateau (Home of the Rock a Fellah Burger) The Electric Grinch, 288 Lark, and a raft of others... sad when a "scene' dies...
What band did you play with, maybe I caught you. Interesting bass you're playing too...
Da Wistfull Worfster :(
MindGoneHaywire
03-19-2004, 08:21 AM
I wasn't a big fan of the QEII. Good stage, not a good club. Bogie's was great, though. What a barn. Played there a few times, usually to a decent-sized crowd. Did you know a guy named John who worked at Lark St. Music? He lived above the place...a photographer. Good guy. I remember being in that place one day & Jimmy Velvet (Mark Gamsjager) came in...that guy could PLAY. Is that weird but great bar with the flourescent lighting still there on Jefferson St? Can't remember the name of it.
I played in a band called the Defectives with two guys who were natives of the Albany area but now live in NYC. A couple of guys--the Smith brothers--who worked for Sundazed had a singles label, Cacophone, and put out our 45 a few years back. They put out a Lustre Kings record or two at one point. One of the guys in the band had played for awhile in a 60s garage rock band called 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the early 90s. If you know Last Vestige Records, one of the girls who worked there--she still may be there--was in that band.
Sorry to hear that scene is no longer. Those were some good times.
Worf101
03-19-2004, 09:44 PM
I wasn't a big fan of the QEII. Good stage, not a good club. Bogie's was great, though. What a barn. Played there a few times, usually to a decent-sized crowd. Did you know a guy named John who worked at Lark St. Music? He lived above the place...a photographer. Good guy. I remember being in that place one day & Jimmy Velvet (Mark Gamsjager) came in...that guy could PLAY. Is that weird but great bar with the flourescent lighting still there on Jefferson St? Can't remember the name of it.
I played in a band called the Defectives with two guys who were natives of the Albany area but now live in NYC. A couple of guys--the Smith brothers--who worked for Sundazed had a singles label, Cacophone, and put out our 45 a few years back. They put out a Lustre Kings record or two at one point. One of the guys in the band had played for awhile in a 60s garage rock band called 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the early 90s. If you know Last Vestige Records, one of the girls who worked there--she still may be there--was in that band.
Sorry to hear that scene is no longer. Those were some good times.
First of all, I knew John quite well. He's was Buzzy's right hand man and kept him from being a complete dick at times. Cool guy and I wonder what happened to him... The bar on Jefferson St. was called the Palais Royal I think. They closed it down for a while because of the bad bad goings on there you know.... stabbin's, shootin's, robbin's and lootin's. I know the guy's from the Lustre Kings quite well. All nice and still rockin'. I also knew 1313 Mockingbird Lane from back in the day's of 288 Lark. As for Last Vestige. I'm personal friends with Gentleman Jim Furlong... owner/proprieter... I sang at his 40th or was it 50th birthday party...
Sigh... you should come up and jam sometime...
Da Worfster :cool:
PS : I heard of the Defectives but never caught you guys... now wish I had...
;)
MindGoneHaywire
03-20-2004, 05:03 AM
I was in touch with Whipple briefly awhile back via email. He either pursued photography or vintage guitars after LSM closed, not sure which...maybe both. My friend from the Defectives--Johnny Wray from 1313--is still in touch with him & I believe he comes down here to NYC occasionally. Since I've been kind of out of it recently I haven't made it out to hang when he's down, but maybe one of these days. He was a great guy. If you wanted to find him I could probably put you guys in touch.
The Palais Royale, that was the place. Stabbings? That sounds bizarre. I didn't make a trip to Albany without stopping there after the first time I was shown the place. Then again, I did kind of feel like I was walking into some kind of alternate delinquent universe every time I walked in there. Decidedly from another time period.
I only managed to see the Lustre Kings a couple of times. They played at my pal Johnny Wray's wedding a few years ago. You knew 1313, huh? They were kinda popular back then, I guess. Does Kim still work at the record store? I'd love to make another trip up there one of these days. I'll speak to Johnny Wray about it. If it sounds feasible I'll certainly hit you w/a PM.
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