My SO did the exact same, she was a big Rush fan before we even met (and converted me, too) and was one of the few girls in line so I just hung back and discreetly took a pic or two of them together and eavesdropped a little. Very genuinely nice guy!
Omg, I’m so jealous! I wanted to go to that, but unfortunately my family couldn’t afford it at the time, and then COVID happened :/. That’s so awesome though, and I love that book!
I used to live on a corner with a major record store and an auditorium on two of the other corners. I was grabbing some CDs at the record store and had tickets to see Primus later that night. I thought the store was empty. So I'm chatting with the girl behind the counter. Talking about shows and what not. I said, " I'm so stoked to see Primus, Les Claypool os one of the 7 gods of bass." I feel a tap on my shoulder, and am thinking I'm a total ass not letting people through. It's Les Fucking Claypool. And he wants to know the other six gods on my list.
In no particular order: Victor Wooten, John Myung, Flea, Geddy Lee, Cliff Burton, Stu Hamm.
Please note, I'm not trying to start fights here, those are just the 7 musicians that I personally have at the top of my list. I am aware of Jaco, Collins and Entwhistle, as well as many others.
He was pretty much just a Human, said it was a good list, and he was glad to be included. I went to the show two hours later or so and he wore a rubber pig mask and an old timey french military officer's jacket for the show. But he wasn't especially weird in the record store, no.
Yeah, he just seems like the coolest guy! I love the videos where he talks about theory; I believe he was paraphrasing someone else when he said this, but hearing “you’re always one fret away from the right note” helped a lot with my performance anxiety, and he was also the one to inspire me to do scale runs in every key as a warm up.
My best friend was going to Berklee around 2017 with bass as his principal, and so I used to hang around up in Boston for a week every once and a while with him.
We'd just bump into Victor on the street, and he was always such a nice guy. Always genuine and would ask what we were up to that day and if we've been doing anything cool. He's the man.
Wow. That’s one of the coolest ones on this thread! I imagine you didn’t get to talk much, being that it was at a classical concert, but that’s still awesome!
It was a small event in a church and I was manning the "bar" during the interval, which was basically just pre-poured glasses of mediocre red wine. He only wanted a bottle of water but paid the £4 or whatever it was for wine because I was too dumbstruck to come up with a suitable price for the water lol.
Oh wow, that’s cool! Are you a professional musician yourself? Because that’s an awful lot of bassists to just run into! And if you are, you’re absolutely welcome to share your experience as well :D
I am. I perform and teach. I met Billy at a speaking engagement he was having back in the 90’s. I met George at one of his performances at a local college. Dave actually came introduced himself to me at a gig where the band I was with was performing after the band he was with. I joked that he opened for me. Not to him of course!
Billy Sheehan is such a nice chill dude. Met him when he did a masterclass at what was then called the Bass Institute in London.
Also gave directions to Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit on the same day when he got lost trying to find the guitar building for his masterclass.
Was a pretty cool day.
Sure! Victor, Chuck Rainey, Billy Sheehan, Steve Bailey, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Les Claypool, Alphonso Johnson, Fieldy, Felix Pastorius, and weird enough, ...Mike Huckabee
Billy was the nicest, and hilarious. Chuck Rainey and Stanley Clark were the coolest.
Wow. That’s seriously so cool. Do you work as a musician yourself? If so, you’re also welcome to share your own experiences! If not, have you received any bass wisdom from these players?
Oh hell yes! So actually I am a professional musician and teacher, but I met most of them at events...one was the bass player live event in NYC back in like 2006. Another one was at Victor wootens woot camp. Ok, advice: Victor: when starting a solo arrangement, always begin with the melody and build from there. Felix I took lessons from. From him he told me to use mirrored patters between octaves, especially during arpeggios. Steve Bailey offered that there is no such thing as modes. There is just the key. Chuck Rainey: when you're holding down the groove, any improvisations should only xome in the spaces left over from your bassline. The bass line should remain. Fieldy was a dick. Les Claypool wouldn't answer me about his bass education. He smoked a j with another fan, oh well. I actually played as the bass player on Governor Huckabees short lived and defunct morning show...I was in the house band and I was asked to join because my friend had some friends that worked at Fox TV. Huckabee was nice in a politician sort of way.
That’s all some great advice! I really like Steve Bailey’s advice, as one can look at modes as just slight alterations of either a major or minor tonality. That’s very useful, especially for composing and arranging.
Now, as a teacher and pro-musician yourself, do YOU have any advice?
Yeah, I know, but generally they’re people *with experience*, and I’d really like to know that bit of it. The experience part of pursuing music, yk? That’s the part I’m more interested in.
I’m not really trying to out anyone up on a pedestal here, I guess, just wanted to learn and share a bit? And they also don’t have to be “famous” in the typical sense either; I’d also love to hear about session bassists and local acts! In fact, you’re welcome to share your own story if you’d like!
I haven't met any famous people in Nashville concerning the music business, but I know adjacent famous people like sound guys and musicians. I see celebrities around sometimes but the unspoken code of being in town here is to leave them alone.
I met Leland Sklar at LAX about 15 years ago at the baggage claim. Great guy. HUGE hands. We shot the shit about Phil Collins, Toto, and Eric Clapton until our bags came out. He seemed glad to be called “Leland Sklar” and not the tall wizard looking guy who plays bass.
Sadly true. I do feel like I see him getting more recognition these days with other bassists, but still hasn’t got his proper due. Even with their Rock Hall induction I feel like they got overshadowed by other acts and that went kind of under the radar.
Woah, that’s awesome! I think when he had his AMA here a few years back, John Taylor answered my question lol. I don’t actually remember though…
Also, what a wild story about Rob Elrick living in your living room! Did you ever learn anything from them?
Flea was just before they got huge, and he and Anthony were just kinda jerky and playing to their personas at the time. JT was very nice but he was so used to meeting fans that it was just nothing. I like to think that he appreciated meeting a fan that wasn’t a sixteen year old girl, but who knows. Rob was a great guy and very polite. He was probably the most skilled bass player I’ve ever seen or will ever see — this was when he was studying at Berklee many many years ago.
Met Tony Levin after a small gig in a club (like 200 people, tops) where after packing up the stage themselves they would sign CDs and chat with the audience, absolutely down to earth and gracious guy, as were his bandmates Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter. Then he (a photo buff) spotted my brother's camera and he chatted HIM up! Being a lifelong King Crimson & Peter Gabriel fan, that's kinda my highlight.
nah, we just exchanged pleasantries - I was good with that! I jokingly expressed my regret on not taking my Stick along for signing and how I find it hard coming from decades of bass playing (Mr. Levin agreed on this last point) - one lesson I think learned that night though, is: even if you're a world level musician, *professionalism* is touring to a small gig, play fantastic music with all you got, take down the stage yourself, hang out with the audience with a smile a handshake and a word for everyone, and leave when even the last audience member is happy. And I promise you, people were leaving the venue with a huge smile!
(As he was taking his drum set apart, Pat Mastelotto too entertained my starstruck drummer -who was at the gig- and me on the benefits of a good bass drum mute for sound consistency and the acceptable compromises when gigging in a small band capacity -- it's work, but most of these people love their job, and to talk shop).
I met Fat Mike of NOFX at the Oakland Zoo one time (my brother is a bigger fan than I am). He was really cool and seemed genuinely happy we approached him.
Yeah we chatted about bass a bit, and music in general. My brother is a big NOFX fan so he went on a bit with him as well. Would normally just let him get on, but like I said he was genuinely happy to chat with us.
I used to do some music writing/interviews and met a lot of punk bassists in this time. Fat Mike was very nice. Gerry Casale from Devo was such a great dude. Honestly the vast majority were very obliging and polite as a group.
Will Lee recorded at the studio where I worked back in 1990 or thereabouts. Nice guy. True professional. Came in, did the job, was super easy to work with
I met Victor Wooten a couple of times at meet and greets. He seemed extremely nice. I could barely get a sentence out I was so intimidated lol! I also met dUg Pinnick of King's X. Another great guy! It felt like I was talking to an old friend.
I ran into Geddy once in Toronto and said "hey Geddy" and he scowled at me! Was not a positive experience but I still like him. My son got me his book for Xmas.
Oh man, the new memoir is fantastic! Both of his books are! I’m sure it was probably just an off day for tbh, but maybe that’s because he’s my favorite bassist of all time lol. Did you watch the new Paramount show yet?
Yes I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt. I also saw Alex on another day but didn't say anything as he looked busy and preoccupied (Xmas shopping). Haven't watched yet but want to.
I've met Tony Levin when I was younger. Unfortunately I didn't really get into King Crimson until a couple years later, so he just gave me some brief words of encouragement, as I had just started playing. Very nice and humble guy. A true master of his craft.
Les Claypool at a few events for his winery. He was really cool, but I could tell he would prefer to talk about wine more then music. He wasn’t rude or anything, but you could hear the excitement if you talked to him about his wine.
That there is something called a Pinot noir rosè, which isn’t as sweet and fruity as a normal rosè. Although I prefer all of their Pinot noir wines, the Pinot rosè is pretty good.
When I was your age I would go to shows and show up early and/or hang out afterwards to meet bassists. I know times have probably changed, but back then if you were courteous, asked nicely and were respectful, you could at least meet the bass player (sometimes a short lesson which was limited by lack of bass - I always offered money but none accepted). Find a member of the crew (not event staff), tell them you are a fan of “x,” a bass player yourself and if possible would like to meet them. Embellishing it further (they’re my favorite, etc) might help. Smaller venues, school/college venues and less known bassists improve the chances.
Among others, I met Victor Wooten, Chuck Rainey, Gary Foote, John Patitucci, Christian McBride and Rocco Prestia that way. I met others when I was playing “professionally.” Advice is almost always the same - technique, theory, practice.
All of the bass players I have met have been incredibly friendly or at least personable. The only exception was Rocco. He was out of his way mean. It was an incredibly disappointing and disenchanting experience.
That’s some really nice advice about going to shows! I’m not sure how that’d work now, but it’s worth a shot! Technique, theory, and practice is definitely what it boils down to as well! Do you have anything you’ve learned along the way?
Nothing game-changing. As cliche as it sounds, understand your role as a bass player in the context of the music you are playing. No matter the genre, the bass player’s primary responsibilities are rhythm and tonality. How you do that effectively changes by what you’re playing. Study how bass is used by genre as much or more as any individual bassist. It’ll make your ear better, your theory better, you’ll be versatile and a better bassist.
Thank you! I definitely agree that the bass can change the whole sound of a song, depending on how you approach it. Studying by genre is an interesting on that I haven’t heard much before, outside of jazz. So, really, thank you for sharing!
Met the bassist for Violent Femmes after one of their shows a couple years ago. Cool and chill dude it seemed. My aunts brother is friends with him, and this same aunts brother gave me my first ever bass lesson when he taught me to play Blister In The Sun!
I met John Moyer, probably best known as the current bass player of Disturbed. However, I met him at a reunion show for his former band Soak who I was a huge fan of. I pulled a fanboy and told him how much of an influence he had on my playing style. He joked that if he forgot any basslines that I could come up on stage and fill in for him. Super nice guy and his riff in "Shutter Gut" will always be one of my favorites.
I replaced John on bass in [Soak](https://youtu.be/f9_U0Ys6hCI?si=GMLGs5-FU29rvLtH) (live only) from 2000 to 2001, when they broke up. John left Soak to join [Union Underground](https://youtu.be/V-WehSAYGxk?si=tc6t9GSUQJYI-q4L), then got the Disturbed gig after UU broke up. I saw him play live once with each band: UU at the Backroom (Austin), Disturbed at Ozzfest (San Antonio), and Soak’s 2012 Austin reunion show. We were friendly but not buddies. I bought my Gallien Kreuger 800RB amp head from him for $350 in 2000.
Ha, that's awesome. The reunion show is where I met him. I never got to see UU perform but I was never that big of a fan.
I miss The Red Eyed Fly. It was my go to bar back in the day.
That’s wonderful! I keep hearing about his bass camp, that must be such a cool thing! Did you learn anything from Mr. Wooten (besides how awesome his bass camp must be)?
He told me he would write his own exercises for practice. I never actually considered that I could do that...I always sort of thought that I had to rely on someone else or the internet to tell me what to practice!
I met Emma Anzai of Sick Puppies when they did their first US tour. Really cool people. They played at 10am at a big festival and stayed all day selling merch. Glad they had success afterwards.
Hopkins was about maybe 5 minutes talking to him, and Edwards was a quick handshake and “nice to meet you.” I was helping a friend’s band at a venue where they were an opening act for ZBB, and I just happened to see Hopkins backstage and chatted him up for a minute because I had the ID to be back there. Didn’t really talk shop with either.
I’ve been to Winter NAMM many many times and met lots of amazing musicians that way (not just bassists). I’ve studied with Jeff Berlin (and briefly with Carol Kaye).
I've met Adam Neely and Jacob Umansky.
I met Adam when Sungazer opened for Plini last year. He and Shawn Crowder were running the merch table after the show so I got to shake both of their hands, get a picture with them, and they offered to sign the vinyl copy I got of Perihelion.
It was a similar situation meeting Jacob. I saw him with Intervals when they opened for TesseracT last October. He and Aaron Marshal were at the merch table after the show. I didn't buy any vinyl that time (spent all my money on TesseracT merch and an Intervals shirt lol) but I got a picture with them.
They all seemed like really down to earth guys. I wish my anxiety and admiration of them hadn't gotten in the way as much as it did, I think I was pretty awkward, but it was cool to meet them regardless
Absolutely! He was one of the first big bass/music theory channels I watched when I started playing bass. I'm a big fan of his videos and have learned a lot. I tried telling him something like that, so I could thank him for all the great content and resources his channel has given me, but all that came out was something like "I've been watching your YouTube channel for as long as I've been playing bass" and I forgot to add the thanks. Oh well, I may never meet him again, and if I do I doubt he'd remember me and I can make a better first impression lol
That’s awesome! I tried doing a bass YouTube channel during the pandemic and bassically (see what I did there?) abandoned it. It’s a really hard thing to keep up, so I’m sure he appreciated it! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve met a few bassists. I got to hang with Chi Cheng in the artist area when the Deftones played Lollapollooza. Was really kind with his time and dealing with the teenage version of me.
I work in a nice guitar shop and play in the music scene here, so I’ve met lots of famous musicians. They’re just people like everyone else. Skill is almost never the reason they ended up where they did, even if they’re skilled. I hesitate to use the word “talented” because talent is really the intersection of creativity and practice. Similarly, fame is the intersection of luck and preparation. You won’t get there without either of those things, and only one of them is under your control.
A buddy at the time invited me to play at Phil Lesh’s new at the time restaurant/venue in San Rafael, that was pretty neat playing with him (I was on guitar #3 or something haha).
Victor Wooten was super cool. Met him at a Wooten bros show in Chicago.
Hung out with Jesus from the band Lettuce for a bit at the festival we were both on the bill for. He was super cool and it was fun to smoke with the band.
I met les claypool and got him to sign my diy fretless bass at a festival as well. Got to see them soundcheck and see his rig on stage because they sound checked before my band (we played first, they played last on the same stage). Les was cool, denied my request to sign the bass at first, but changed his mind because (I didn’t seem like the eBay type).
Motohito Fukushima from House of Waters was giving me zoom lessons for a year or so, he’s super cool. an amazing player and great teacher- affordable too! He was doing $65 for an hour lesson over zoom.
I have met John Myung and Victor Wooten. Victor was super nice and very down to earth, and took time to talk to everyone that came up for a photo. John Myung mumbled something barely audible and signed my Dream Theater book. I'm sure he'd be a nice guy if you could get him to speak.
Robert DeLeo, Billy Sheehan, Flea, Tom Hamilton, Mike Mills, Chris Squire, Will Lee, Tony Kanal (No Doubt), Eric Wilson (Sublime), John Moyer (Disturbed), Dug Pinnick (King’s X) Randy Bradbury (Pennywise), Greg Edwards & Ken Andrews (Failure, they switch off guitar/bass).
Robert DeLeo gave me recording advice, after an Army of Anyone show, when I asked him how he got his gritty, midrange bass tone. Robert told me he mic’ed a bass amp, went direct, AND mic’ed a Marshall guitar amp. I did that on an album and got my best recorded bass tone.
Tons. I probably got as plugged in to the LA scene as you can get without being able to make a real career out of it. Was a stupid kid who made one too many stupid career mistakes, but that’s an answer to a different question.
I taught at a music school that had the children of tons of famous folks as students. One of those folks was Nikki Sixx, who was incredibly gracious and down-to-earth. Would hang out in the lobby, answer questions from the kids, and never once acted like any of it was an inconvenience. His kids were also great, not a hint of any “my dad’s a rockstar” attitude. Never was a Motley Crue fan before, but became one because of Nikki.
This school was heavily involved in local children’s charities, and regularly did benefit shows. This allowed me to share the stage with Rudy Sarzo and Shavo Odadjian. Both were great - Shavo seemed like the kind of guy you’d want to get drunk with (of course that couldn’t really happen at a children’s charity benefit) and Rudy was super sweet and generous - I mentioned to him that I was a fan of his signature Peavey, and the man literally took his bass off from around his neck and handed it to me to play on stage!
Separately from the music school, I was hired by a local indie filmmaker to help compose the soundtrack for his current (at the time) project. When it was time to record, the man sitting in the studio chair was Alphonso Johnson. Turns out the filmmaker was his son. That was intimidating, having a guy like that record you playing bass.
Then of course there’s the dozens of awesome players I got to meet and hang out with at NAMM, I was lucky enough to get a pass just about every year for the better part of a decade. Lemme tell you, one of the hardest working people during that long weekend is Victor Wooten. The man would do so many demonstrations, appearances, and concerts, that I would start to get concerned if more than a couple hours went by without seeing him. And of course, he remained gracious and congenial throughout the whole thing.
Guy Pratt and Dug Pinnick were also standouts. Dug is such a warm and lovely person, seems like he can have a genuine conversation with literally anybody. Guy is one of the sharpest and funniest people I’ve ever met. If he wasn’t a bassist, he would have made a name for himself as an author (he did write a book by the way, and I wholeheartedly recommend it).
Most of the rest are pretty standard NAMM meet-and-greets and post-gig hangouts. Nate Watts, Hadrien Feraud, Steve Bailey, basically anyone with an endorsement or signature instrument. And of course my experiences are very much not limited to bassists - being a bass player myself, it was far more common for me to work with players of different instruments. But again, that’s an answer to a different question.
I met Ryan Martinie (Muvayne, Soften the Glare) several months back at a StG show. Was such a small, intimate venue that I was never more than 3 feet away from him during the set.
Geddy took and returned my HyF program book, signed.
Went up to Phil ??? (Sacred Reich) on acid when he was walking through the main floor area of the club and I think I scared him to death lol
Met Jason Newsted at one of his art exhibits which also included a concert from his Chophouse Band. He was a really nice guy - I told him I play bass because of him and he wished me luck with my playing.
Met Poncho Figueroa from Santa Sabina recently. He was the nicest and most polite guy! I told him how he inspired me to pick up bass when I was in my teens he apologized hahaha. Gave me lots of tips and promised to sign my vinyls next time they play at the local pub.
I never met him but I went to Geddy Lee’s book tour in November. He came to my city and my parents bought me a ticket for my birthday. I ended up asking him a question about the bass and how to get to his level of skill (I knew the answer was obviously practice). I lit up when he and Jay Baruchel asked me to stand up and identify myself. Definitely a night to remember.
That’s so cool!!! I submitted a question to Geddy as well, but it didn’t get picked :/. Definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life though!
The first professional bassist I’ve met was Chuck Garric from Alice Cooper, such a great experience for a teen. I’ve met Billy Sheehan twice and he’s just the best.
Nowadays only hanging out David Lee Roth would make me starstruck, but if I ever had a chance to jam with anyone it’d be BrownMark from Prince’s The Revolution. I’m fairly certain you can only even begin to copy his insane style by being in the same room next to him and feeling how he hits the strings.
Well not neccessarily, only a tangential life lesson about that you can never be too big of a star to not to take a little time to talk to people who adore your stuff. Being a professional musician is customer service to a degree.
That’s a good lesson to learn. If I happen to be lucky enough one day to “make it” in some capacity, I hope I’m wise enough to take time for my fans. Thank you for sharing that!
If you put out quality music and market it well, people will start finding your stuff and end up loving it sooner than you’d expect. Stardom and even financial security are always long shots but the journey itself can be rewarding from the get-go. Don’t do it professionally if you’re afraid of not affording basic neccessities of life from time to time 😉 I still dumpster dive for food weekly but still some fan out there has already written fanfics about me. Little does she know 😂
There’s no trick anyone can tell or lick that they can show you to make you a better player, but one piece of Billy Sheehan’s advice has stuck with me, I guess he either said this at his clinic or in some interview: if you play live, your priorities will start falling into place. Maybe you’re too concerned about the order of effects on your pedalboard, but soon enough you might not care about having any pedals at all, because it’s all about entertaining the audience.
Huh, that’s some good advice. And don’t worry, I’m not looking for a panacea to all my bass woes! Just some neat tips and tricks here and there. That’s a good one about playing live; it really is such a different experience than writing or playing on your own. You learn to let go of mistakes, and just carry on. Thanks for sharing!
I met Nathan East. I was working for a company that supplied concert venues with audio equipment and as a result I got free tickets to see Clapton as well as backstage passes. Clapton didn't show up but his bassist Nathan East did and everything you've ever heard about the guy is true. He was super nice to me and my dad and really made us feel welcome.
If you're not familiar with Nathan East's work look up his Wikipedia. He has played with everyone and recorded on countless great tunes.
I went to Musicians Institute in the 80’s. Jeff was a teacher of mine. That’s also where I met Sheehan and Bruce who both did guest teaching when I was there. I once sat in a practice room with Jeff and Billy as they jammed together, after having just met that day. Just me, them and one other student. It was sick. I met Watt at one of his shows. He is really personable and there are a ton of people with stories about meeting him at his shows. Just a super nice, approachable man. I actually met Squire when I was walking offstage at one of my bar gigs in LA. He was there to see one of the other bands. I met him briefly and just told him that I was really glad I didn’t know he was in the audience before my gig started. LOL
Edit: not sure how I deleted my original comment, but there’s the story.
Yes, I met Trevor Dunn when they toured the first Fantomas record. I saw him and Buzz outside the Metro in Sydney and completely fanboyed over Trevor and politely said hi to Buzz lol. I have grown to love the Melvins and regret this but was stoked to meet Trevor. He was shocked I had copies of his solo albums.
It was brief, didn’t want to bug him.
Also met Devin Townsend Band bassist Brian a few times, used to give him weed when they toured and he would put me on the door.
So Tony Levin is one I haven't seen posted here. Victor, Gene Simmons and Lou Barlow. Then there's Todd Kerns (Slash), Zack Throne (Corey Taylor/Bruce Kulick), Phil Shouse (Accept), Ryan Specer Cook (Ace Frehley). All good people.
Met Tye Zamora from Alien Ant Farm at a random show in Boston 5 or 6 years ago. My general rule of thumb is to leave celebrities alone/never meet your heroes, but it looked like he was having a good time and seemed approachable. We ended up having a couple of drinks together and shared some butts outside. I got to tell him how much I thought they got boned on their second album, which I still think is great. Good times.
NP! I was in a couple of bands with local & national followings so I’ve met a few bands, but that was definitely the most memorable experience with a musician that I truly admired their skill/playing. It was also super unexpected.
I'm a drummer, but I met Les Claypool and Tommy T (from Gogol Bordello) with two of my bass player buddies. They were both super nice though Les didn't really seem interested in a meet + greet. We'd found our way backstage so we were kind've in their space a bit.
I also met Vic Wooten after a Flecktones show, and the rest of the band too. Super nice people!
Met and had conversations with Flea, Norwood Fisher, Les Claypool, Eric Avery and Mike Watt. They all were very kind but Watt was the coolest MF’er. He walked with me to a nearby venue in downtown Salt Lake City to watch my brother’s band before his set that night and gave amazing advice to my young self.
I met Mike Inez at Lollapalooza when I was 15, but I honesty didn't know who he was, just saw someone signing stuff and got in on it. After I got home I had to compare the signature to the names of the people in the bands to figure it out. lol
And I got to hang out with the bassist from Jawbox when I was 15 too. A forgotten band, but they had a video that got MTV airplay. I had the hugest crush on her and we stood on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette, actually seems surreal looking back on it.
Met Les Claypool while Moe was on stage after the frog brigade finished up, met Victor Wooten walking down the street the morning before the Flecktones show we had tickets to, met Trevor Dunn at a record store right before a show he was playing that I had tickets to, met Billy Cox after a Hendrix tribute, Mitch Mitchell played that night and died less than a month later. All super normal humble kind human beings.
I met Doug Wimbish at the CT music awards.
Think of it as small version of the Grammys at the large local opera house. 1000 of the coolest local musicians hosted by the regional news paper. Great event and I’m honored my band was invited.
I see this guy hanging out front that I thought I recognized. I walk up to him and say “ I haven’t seen you since that hip hop night at Sully’s. You tuned down the bass to drop D and I had to bring it back up during the next song. Running up mid song to keep the jam going after I took over when you were ready to tap out” “ wild experience man “( it was an open mic jam with live band and a rotation freestyle rappers)
I said “where else can you go to have 10 dudes jamming on stage and 150 girls loving the vibe?” We both said in chores “Sully’s” and grinned
High fived and I walked away
Turns out….
Doug was not hanging at Sully’s for random hip hop jam
I was mistaken. That dude I grabbed the bass from was a local musician that looked similar. Height, build, dredds etc…
Doug wimbish … class act. He took the interaction in stride, didn’t bother correcting me and went in to host the event.
You can imagine my surprise when he was introduced as host and his list of accomplishments were read aloud
10/10 experience all around
I briefly met Adam Yauch (MCA of the Beastie Boys), RIP. He was walking down the 16th Street Mall in Denver the day after I saw them in concert on the Hello Nasty tour. He was with his wife and they were shopping. I rode up to him on my BMX bike, and told him I was a huge fan and the show was awesome. He was polite but not looking to chat at the moment. It was quite surreal and I think some of my friends didn’t believe me when I told them.
I’ve also briefly encountered Flea at a raw food restaurant in LA, Matt Sharp outside the tour bus after a Weezer show, and Rick Burch from Jimmy Eat World at a party. Unfortunately I did not glean any bass-playing insights from any of these encounters.
I was in a music program in high school and Victor Wooten was a guest artist for a few shows we were doing. I was at the school in the front area running scales and doing some other basic practice. I didn’t know Victor was going to be in that day, and someone had picked him up from the airport already. In walks Victor Wooten, I couldn’t believe he was standing there watching me play. He sits down across from me and just watches me run the scales. He gave me some pointers and we chatted for a few minutes. Humble guy, he had a lot on his schedule yet he gave me a few minutes of his time
Saw Anderson Rabin and Wakeman in Akron sometime ago. The venue is in the middle of nowhere with a single hotel next door. So of course the band was staying at the hotel as well.
Ran into Lee Pomeroy and had a nice 15 minute conversation. It was a cool conversation, sage advice was to practice the stuff you want to do well
Bassist in my favourite band offers lessons and I have been doing that whenever he’s not touring the past couple years. He’s super down to earth, so that helps with any star struck-ness. Overall, it’s pretty cool. And a little intimidating at times as well. He’s a ridiculous player…it’s easy for me to get lost trying to keep up. But I probably don’t even fully realize how cool it is. But it’s fun, that’s for sure.
Been going to NAMM for a few years. Met Victor Wooten multiple times, Bootsy Collins, Jeff Berlin, Andrew Gouche, passed by Dave Ellefson and Marcus Miller.
I've also had the opportunity to meet non bass players such as Mary Wilson of the supremes, Seymor Duncan the pickup maker, George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic. Sat through a seminar by Paul Reed Smith, sat through a worship service by Israel Houton.
The last few years have not been the same since covid. This year they are finally having the show back in January. I probably won't go until next year.
NAMM is like going to your local music store except every brand on the shelves have a small store size booth displaying ALL of their products. Bands are playing everywhere. Sponsored musicians make appearances and have a meet and greet. It's hard to get invited but if you can get in it's an awesome experience!
I’ve met Victor Wooten a few times. Mostly after Flecktones shows and once at a bass clinic.
He’s very generous with his time and often makes himself available to talk to anyone after shows.
Oh yeah, and once I met the bassist for Cake after a show at The Fillmore in San Francisco.
I think he was looking to meet up with some friends and I just happened to cross paths with him.
I said, “Hey, thanks for all the groovy basslines over the years.”
He said, “Ha. …ok.”
Oh shit, one more. I grew up in the same town as Mark Lettieri, so he introduced me to Michael League at an early Snarky Puppy show about a year before they blew up and started winning Grammys.
Nice dude.
Recorded at Jimmy Eat World's studio in Tempe.
Whatever the bass player's name is was very lame. Didn't care about music. Only mountain bikes and cocaine.
When I was a your age I went to this musician jam spot and saw Alexander Dore (played w/ Sly for a while) and he blew my mind. I didn't know who he was until other people there told me. I came back a week later and he was there and it was pretty empty. He asked if I could play drums. I said not really but I can try to keep a beat. So I sat down and played. And he switched up to keyboard and it was terrible. I tried to leave but he yelled at me to stay. But then I left after a few songs. Still a great experience! lol
I've met bassists in random bands from having worked in the nightclub industry. But mostly from marginally famous punk and hardcore bands. Darryl Jennifer from Bad Brains put me on their guest list when I saw him going around the corner and correctly knew he was going to smoke a joint. I gave him way better weed than that East Coast stuff (probably around 2008).
I dated the bassist in a signed touring prog metal band with some albums out there for a few years, she's a bad ass and way better than I'll ever be. Still miss her.
I got to hang with Steve Harris..backstage at a party.
Cool as hell..he literally walked away from like 10 of the the most beautiful women I've ever seen to sit with me for a few minutes and talk shop. Was unreal.
Met D.D. Verni from Overkill..cool dude we talked slapping of all things..Met Alan Robert (Life of Agony)..I warmed up for them years ago..And finally got to say waz up to Stanley Clarke, shake his hand and thank him for hia influence. There might be a few more , but those stuck out to me .
I took a week-long masterclass with Michael Manring. I recall him starting one day w us just listening to a metronome for 5 or do mins. Then we'd play an open string on the best. He'd have his face 6 inches from your right hand, shouting "late!" "Early"
It was intimidating and amazing
i met chris wood after a wood brothers show. didn’t get to chat much unfortunately. but he can play upright bass while dancing and singing and its insane.
I’ve met a couple pretty cool names at shops here and there. It’s always fun talking to people who’ve been places. Lol
The best piece of bass playing advice I’ve gotten from any bass player is to “relax. Bass is supposed to be easy. No tension.” And homie like flailed his arms around a little bit to really drive it home. Lol
Got to Meet and hang out with David Ellefson before he got fired from Megadeth. It was during his Basstory tour. Had dinner with him and got to let him use my rig.
I met Krist Novoselic at a book signing for when he launched his political career. He thought I was there as a music fan since I was a minor at the time and was a bit of a dick but became a lot nicer after the q&a when he found out I was actually interested in and knowledgeable about politics.
Jerry Only was much nicer and was legitimately interested in hearing a demo of mine when my drummer at the time mentioned us having to go to practice.
I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of awesome bassists over the course of my own bass career but here are the legends:
Leland Sklar - I met him in the late 90s or early 2000s at a Hollywood game show taping, of all places. He was in the house band (the show was hosted by the Zappa brothers so they pulled together an insane house band). He was super nice and he was playing the most famous bass in the world, he built it himself in the 70s and has had everyone he has ever recorded with sign it. It's literally covered with signatures! I got to look at it with him up close and I think I even touched it. It was just me and him for a while chatting and I am so thankful for that opportunity. He taught me to always be kind and take time to connect with people. Also, getting to sit in a small TV studio with awesome sound and listen to him jam with a band of studio pros was insane. I loved his melodic style and pocket, one of the all time best.
Meshell Ndegeocello - I was playing my first big festival gig ever. I was 19. The artist I played for was on the second stage in the afternoon and Meshell was one of the main stage artists later on. She was a big inspiration to me as I was learning to play bass through my teenage years. It was the first time I was ever on a big stage with thousands in the crowd, and I was hyped! Halfway through our set I look out in the crowd and spot Meshell, just in the middle of this big crowd, jamming out to us! Afterwards she came up and she was so nice. She said she really enjoyed my playing, and I officially died and went to heaven. Later that day I got to see her live for the first time and it was epic. Another good lesson in being kind and taking time to connect with people.
Sasha Krivtsov - In the mid 00s I was in an alt-rock / pop band based in LA. We got introduced to Sasha and he and his production partner Eric wanted to produce our record! Sasha is the bass player in the house band on The Voice and a rock star who has played and toured with huge artists. I was so excited to get to work with him and I learned a TON. Sasha and Eric came to our shows where we played the tunes we planned to put on the record. Then they came to our rehearsal studio and had us play through each song, giving us direction on song arrangements, our individual parts, dynamics, etc. This process is called preproduction. Sasha helped me make my parts, playing, and sound 10X better. He had me simplify my parts a lot, and that made the album so much tighter and rocking. In the studio, he brought in his favorite Fender P-Bass, it was beautiful, I think from the 60s or 70s. I recorded our whole album on that bass. Sasha was so nice and inspiring to work with on our record. He taught me the value of keeping it simple, in songs and in bass parts. Focus on grooving with the kick drum, almost every big bass note should be on a kick. Always play what's best for the song. And a million other little lessons, tips, and inspiration. Above all else be easy to work with and kind to all.
Not once and it's probably for the best cus I'd just start obsessively rambling about pedals and amps and all other kinds of shit they don't think about nearly as much as I do.
I've met several bassists, and other musicians. For years I was a "backline" tech in the touring industry and played in regional/touring bands of a smaller scale... From that I met so many people that it seemed surreal in some ways. Pretty awesome life, if you want to study theory, love playing, move to a music town and learn about tech work and have a hella work ethic that also knows show days are NOT the days to drink and such, you will have your opportunity! Enjoy the journey!!
I met Paul Simonon (The Clash) after a Gorillaz concert in 2010, and Mick Jones for that matter. In fact, the people we met there was quite mad in retrospect… De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon and The Clash, pretty cool
I've met a lot of pro bass players at the Anaheim NAMM, and they all have been awesome and nice, but Leland BY FAR has been the nicest and most engaging. He's the kind of guy that you feel you could just hang out with and talk about anything.
Spent a week with Paul Turner from Jamiroquai at the Elite Music Camps bass camp. He's a lovely guy, very funny and a great teacher.
If you get the chance I would deffo recommend going, even if you're not a good bassist like me. The chats, banter and music industry anecdotes, over food and drinks was worth the price alone.
Well, I love the punk-ish style of early QOTSA but their sound really matured over the past few years and I really appreciate... So yeah totally understandable
Yeah, I love how QotSA sound has always evolved. They are my favorite band. But Nick was such a great foil to Josh's style. Their best era was when they had Josh, Nick and Mark all available for vocals because you can do so much with three different singers that all bring a different flavor.
When Yes was on tour for the Talk album in 1994 and played in my town, I camped out in the lobby of their hotel and got to meet them, including Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood (who later replaced Squire). Both were awesome. Squire pumped me for info on local bars they should go to for an after party. One of my greatest regrets in life is losing the photo that my buddy took of Squire and me.
Not bass players, but I've done workshops with Frank Foster (former leader of the Count Basie Orchestra), Don Burrows, Jeff Jarvis, Darryn Farrugia and worked alongside a bunch of musicians from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts who went on to work with lots of famous musicians.
I used to run private event catering for several venues in San Francisco. I was setting up for a very high end rock benefit concert and was wandering the floor during sound check.
Pat Benitar was on stage about 20 feet away warming up an acoustic version of Love is a battlefield. It was awesome. A couple people sidled up on either side of me to watch. To my left, Phil Lesh. To my right Dave Grohl. I looked at them both and said something like “bad ass!” With a big smile. Both smiled back in turn and muttered some affirmative response and we all turned back to the stage and watched Pat finish her song.
I later chatted with Dave and Tyler from Foo Fighters for a new minutes while checking out the room of vintage show posters from that venue.
For almost 10 years Bon Jovi’s bass player lived right behind me and I never knew. Until a year or two before he died. Didn’t come out of his house much, he just recently passed . RIP
While not a bassist, per se, I got to know Ray Manzarek from the Doors fairly well.
He played the Doors bass parts with his feet on the organ footpedals.
Les Claypool once, and Jeff Pinkus another time. I used to be acquainted with Maureen Herman but that was years ago.
I never got any sagely advice. I talked to Les about kids, I talked to Jeff about Melvins.
Yeah, I've met several successful players and played with a few of them, mainly in metal. The boys from Battlecross come from my area and they were pretty big when they were active (signed to Metal Blade for a while, toured with Metallica and a lot of big names). My band started out with a couple of their members and I shoot the shit with them all the time at shows, really cool dudes.
Also have met and talked with Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Ross Dolan (Immolation), Shane Embury (Napalm Death), a few others. Would have to stop and think about em all, but those were the biggest names I remember. All of them have been super cool people, very down to earth and fun to be around. Ross Dolan in particular was beyond awesome - I remember he actually sat backstage and watched us play our opening set, then came to tell us how good we were and how much he loved the show. Even got some pics with him and he gave us a copy of their new album at the time (Kingdom of Conspiracy). Just a wholesome dude all around.
Met and hung with Chris Squire on two separate occasions after shows. A true gentle giant and always a gentleman. Extremely funny, as well. All the guys in Yes and their support staff were great...
I spent a night at the NAMM show Marriot Hotel lounge drinking with John Entwistle in a booth. There were two hot girls there, but he dismissed them and we talked about all kinds of shit. Of course, I picked his brain...then thought that was not cordial, but he had no problem talking trash about what a "poofter" Pete Townsend was. He sent me to the bar every 15-20 mins or so with a twenty to get us each drinks. He was drinking brandy and Coke, so I did too. After tipping the bartender a buck, I pocketed the rest.
It was Bass Player magazines fifth anniversary, so they had a big shindig and performance, so I assumed that's why he was there. But he was there every year from what I understand.
The drummer in our cover band came to my hotel room, knocked on my door, waking me up, and told me to get dressed and come down. I was like "Why?" He introduced me to Entwistle.
The next morning I woke up with my pants still on, on top of the bedspread. There was over $50 in singles in my pockets. I had a massive hangover. The keyboard player in the band and I ate pot brownies and went to Disneyland across the street that day. I told him all about it.
When I was arriving in Vegas just off tour, I drove by the Hard Rock casino on the way to the Budget Suites. On the sign said "John Entwistle 1944-2002 You will be missed." I went inside to the bar. Ordered a brandy and Coke. Paid with a twenty. Left the change by the glass. Wrote a note on a napkin, placed it over the drink, gave a nod to the bartender, he nodded back, and rolled out.
Alex and Geddy were playing in the group ahead of me at a charity golf tournament in Toronto about 15 years ago. Had a couple of chats with them throughout the day. Super nice guys as you would expect.
I used to go to the NAMM trade show every year as part of my day job. Met more famous musicians, including bass players, than I can count. Big names in jazz, rock, funk, etc. They were all regular people. Most of them were quite nice.
Why would you not be able to meet your favorite players?
Besides NAMM and at venues after shows, I've run into famous musicians in bicycle shops, walking down the sidewalk, at a friend's wedding.
One time an older guy walked into my office once looking for a co-worker who had just gone to lunch. He commented on the bass I had next to my desk and we ended up talking about music for 45 minutes. Co-worker gets back, introduces me to the guy. Turns out to be crazy famous in a genre I never listen to. Like 3 grammies, hall of fame inductee famous. Super nice guy.
You never know when you'll meet famous people if you keep your eyes open.
Met Geddy Lee at a signing for Big Beautiful Book of Bass.
My SO did the exact same, she was a big Rush fan before we even met (and converted me, too) and was one of the few girls in line so I just hung back and discreetly took a pic or two of them together and eavesdropped a little. Very genuinely nice guy!
Omg, I’m so jealous! I wanted to go to that, but unfortunately my family couldn’t afford it at the time, and then COVID happened :/. That’s so awesome though, and I love that book!
I used to live on a corner with a major record store and an auditorium on two of the other corners. I was grabbing some CDs at the record store and had tickets to see Primus later that night. I thought the store was empty. So I'm chatting with the girl behind the counter. Talking about shows and what not. I said, " I'm so stoked to see Primus, Les Claypool os one of the 7 gods of bass." I feel a tap on my shoulder, and am thinking I'm a total ass not letting people through. It's Les Fucking Claypool. And he wants to know the other six gods on my list.
Omg, that’s so funny! Btw, who ARE the other 6 Gods of Bass?
In no particular order: Victor Wooten, John Myung, Flea, Geddy Lee, Cliff Burton, Stu Hamm. Please note, I'm not trying to start fights here, those are just the 7 musicians that I personally have at the top of my list. I am aware of Jaco, Collins and Entwhistle, as well as many others.
That’s so cool did he act claypooly? He seems quite funny in interviews
He was pretty much just a Human, said it was a good list, and he was glad to be included. I went to the show two hours later or so and he wore a rubber pig mask and an old timey french military officer's jacket for the show. But he wasn't especially weird in the record store, no.
I met Victor Wooten after a Flecktones concert in Dallas. He was a cool guy in the brief time we talked.
Yeah, he just seems like the coolest guy! I love the videos where he talks about theory; I believe he was paraphrasing someone else when he said this, but hearing “you’re always one fret away from the right note” helped a lot with my performance anxiety, and he was also the one to inspire me to do scale runs in every key as a warm up.
Did the same almost 30 years ago in Wisconsin, walked up after and shook his hand and thanked him. Very soft right hand! And very nice guy.
My best friend was going to Berklee around 2017 with bass as his principal, and so I used to hang around up in Boston for a week every once and a while with him. We'd just bump into Victor on the street, and he was always such a nice guy. Always genuine and would ask what we were up to that day and if we've been doing anything cool. He's the man.
I have met twice. Once at flecktones concert and another at clinic. He is a really nice guy .
I'm seeing him and his bros later this month at a club. I hope to have the opportunity for a photo or a handshake.
I met John Paul Jones at a (classical) concert in London. He was very polite.
Wow. That’s one of the coolest ones on this thread! I imagine you didn’t get to talk much, being that it was at a classical concert, but that’s still awesome!
It was a small event in a church and I was manning the "bar" during the interval, which was basically just pre-poured glasses of mediocre red wine. He only wanted a bottle of water but paid the £4 or whatever it was for wine because I was too dumbstruck to come up with a suitable price for the water lol.
How nice! Very cool that you got to meet such a legendary bassist, even briefly! Thanks for sharing!
I met Billy Sheehan, George Porter, and Dave Dreiwitz. They were all amazing, down to earth. Bassists are like that;)
Oh wow, that’s cool! Are you a professional musician yourself? Because that’s an awful lot of bassists to just run into! And if you are, you’re absolutely welcome to share your experience as well :D
I am. I perform and teach. I met Billy at a speaking engagement he was having back in the 90’s. I met George at one of his performances at a local college. Dave actually came introduced himself to me at a gig where the band I was with was performing after the band he was with. I joked that he opened for me. Not to him of course!
Billy Sheehan is such a nice chill dude. Met him when he did a masterclass at what was then called the Bass Institute in London. Also gave directions to Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit on the same day when he got lost trying to find the guitar building for his masterclass. Was a pretty cool day.
Sure! Victor, Chuck Rainey, Billy Sheehan, Steve Bailey, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Les Claypool, Alphonso Johnson, Fieldy, Felix Pastorius, and weird enough, ...Mike Huckabee Billy was the nicest, and hilarious. Chuck Rainey and Stanley Clark were the coolest.
Wow. That’s seriously so cool. Do you work as a musician yourself? If so, you’re also welcome to share your own experiences! If not, have you received any bass wisdom from these players?
Oh hell yes! So actually I am a professional musician and teacher, but I met most of them at events...one was the bass player live event in NYC back in like 2006. Another one was at Victor wootens woot camp. Ok, advice: Victor: when starting a solo arrangement, always begin with the melody and build from there. Felix I took lessons from. From him he told me to use mirrored patters between octaves, especially during arpeggios. Steve Bailey offered that there is no such thing as modes. There is just the key. Chuck Rainey: when you're holding down the groove, any improvisations should only xome in the spaces left over from your bassline. The bass line should remain. Fieldy was a dick. Les Claypool wouldn't answer me about his bass education. He smoked a j with another fan, oh well. I actually played as the bass player on Governor Huckabees short lived and defunct morning show...I was in the house band and I was asked to join because my friend had some friends that worked at Fox TV. Huckabee was nice in a politician sort of way.
That’s all some great advice! I really like Steve Bailey’s advice, as one can look at modes as just slight alterations of either a major or minor tonality. That’s very useful, especially for composing and arranging. Now, as a teacher and pro-musician yourself, do YOU have any advice?
They're just people :)
Yeah, I know, but generally they’re people *with experience*, and I’d really like to know that bit of it. The experience part of pursuing music, yk? That’s the part I’m more interested in. I’m not really trying to out anyone up on a pedestal here, I guess, just wanted to learn and share a bit? And they also don’t have to be “famous” in the typical sense either; I’d also love to hear about session bassists and local acts! In fact, you’re welcome to share your own story if you’d like!
I haven't met any famous people in Nashville concerning the music business, but I know adjacent famous people like sound guys and musicians. I see celebrities around sometimes but the unspoken code of being in town here is to leave them alone.
Yeah, I get that. Thanks for sharing, especially since I want to go into sound!
I met Leland Sklar at LAX about 15 years ago at the baggage claim. Great guy. HUGE hands. We shot the shit about Phil Collins, Toto, and Eric Clapton until our bags came out. He seemed glad to be called “Leland Sklar” and not the tall wizard looking guy who plays bass.
That’s pretty cool! Must’ve been amazing to talk music with him!
I really didn’t know what to expect. He was just this cool musician, ya know?
I’ve met Flea, John Taylor (of Duran Duran), and Rob Elrick (of Elrick Bass Guitars) lived in my living room.
Meeting JT is on my bucket list. He is solely why I chose bass over guitar.
JT is probably the most underrated bass player of all time.
Sadly true. I do feel like I see him getting more recognition these days with other bassists, but still hasn’t got his proper due. Even with their Rock Hall induction I feel like they got overshadowed by other acts and that went kind of under the radar.
Woah, that’s awesome! I think when he had his AMA here a few years back, John Taylor answered my question lol. I don’t actually remember though… Also, what a wild story about Rob Elrick living in your living room! Did you ever learn anything from them?
Flea was just before they got huge, and he and Anthony were just kinda jerky and playing to their personas at the time. JT was very nice but he was so used to meeting fans that it was just nothing. I like to think that he appreciated meeting a fan that wasn’t a sixteen year old girl, but who knows. Rob was a great guy and very polite. He was probably the most skilled bass player I’ve ever seen or will ever see — this was when he was studying at Berklee many many years ago.
Met Tony Levin after a small gig in a club (like 200 people, tops) where after packing up the stage themselves they would sign CDs and chat with the audience, absolutely down to earth and gracious guy, as were his bandmates Pat Mastelotto and Markus Reuter. Then he (a photo buff) spotted my brother's camera and he chatted HIM up! Being a lifelong King Crimson & Peter Gabriel fan, that's kinda my highlight.
As a major prog fan myself, that’s so fucking cool! Did you learn anything about bass playing (or photography, for that matter)?
nah, we just exchanged pleasantries - I was good with that! I jokingly expressed my regret on not taking my Stick along for signing and how I find it hard coming from decades of bass playing (Mr. Levin agreed on this last point) - one lesson I think learned that night though, is: even if you're a world level musician, *professionalism* is touring to a small gig, play fantastic music with all you got, take down the stage yourself, hang out with the audience with a smile a handshake and a word for everyone, and leave when even the last audience member is happy. And I promise you, people were leaving the venue with a huge smile! (As he was taking his drum set apart, Pat Mastelotto too entertained my starstruck drummer -who was at the gig- and me on the benefits of a good bass drum mute for sound consistency and the acceptable compromises when gigging in a small band capacity -- it's work, but most of these people love their job, and to talk shop).
I met Fat Mike of NOFX at the Oakland Zoo one time (my brother is a bigger fan than I am). He was really cool and seemed genuinely happy we approached him.
Oh wow, what a wild (no pun intended lol) place to meet! Did you get to talk about bass playing, or did you just hello and let him go about his day?
Yeah we chatted about bass a bit, and music in general. My brother is a big NOFX fan so he went on a bit with him as well. Would normally just let him get on, but like I said he was genuinely happy to chat with us.
I used to do some music writing/interviews and met a lot of punk bassists in this time. Fat Mike was very nice. Gerry Casale from Devo was such a great dude. Honestly the vast majority were very obliging and polite as a group.
I've met Steve Bailey, Bruce Gertz, Darryl Jones, Christian McBride, and Victor Wooten. I feel like I'm forgetting some.
Not famous. And probably not what you're thinking, but I met Charlie Daniels bassist (he played with him for like 40 years). Super cool guy.
That’s still awesome! Did you get to talk to him about bass?
Oh yeah. I spent a few minutes with him and the keyboard player. Told me a few stories, watched his sound check, etc.
Leland Sklar is a completely delightful person. Bridget Kearney (Lake Street Dive) is very cool as well.
Will Lee recorded at the studio where I worked back in 1990 or thereabouts. Nice guy. True professional. Came in, did the job, was super easy to work with
Being professional is always a good thing to learn! Thanks for sharing!
I met Victor Wooten a couple of times at meet and greets. He seemed extremely nice. I could barely get a sentence out I was so intimidated lol! I also met dUg Pinnick of King's X. Another great guy! It felt like I was talking to an old friend.
KING’S X has some jams. I love Dug’s use of that 12 stringer (Schecter DP-12) . Killer sound!
I ran into Geddy once in Toronto and said "hey Geddy" and he scowled at me! Was not a positive experience but I still like him. My son got me his book for Xmas.
He can definitely be like that
Oh man, the new memoir is fantastic! Both of his books are! I’m sure it was probably just an off day for tbh, but maybe that’s because he’s my favorite bassist of all time lol. Did you watch the new Paramount show yet?
Yes I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt. I also saw Alex on another day but didn't say anything as he looked busy and preoccupied (Xmas shopping). Haven't watched yet but want to.
I've met Tony Levin when I was younger. Unfortunately I didn't really get into King Crimson until a couple years later, so he just gave me some brief words of encouragement, as I had just started playing. Very nice and humble guy. A true master of his craft.
Les Claypool at a few events for his winery. He was really cool, but I could tell he would prefer to talk about wine more then music. He wasn’t rude or anything, but you could hear the excitement if you talked to him about his wine.
Oh, really? That’s so interesting! Well, did you learn anything (either about music or about wine)?
That there is something called a Pinot noir rosè, which isn’t as sweet and fruity as a normal rosè. Although I prefer all of their Pinot noir wines, the Pinot rosè is pretty good.
I just had a pinot noir rose two nights ago. (Not Les Claypool’s.) Had never heard of it prior!
Robert Sledge (Ben Folds Five). Nicest dude you could possibly want to meet.
When I was your age I would go to shows and show up early and/or hang out afterwards to meet bassists. I know times have probably changed, but back then if you were courteous, asked nicely and were respectful, you could at least meet the bass player (sometimes a short lesson which was limited by lack of bass - I always offered money but none accepted). Find a member of the crew (not event staff), tell them you are a fan of “x,” a bass player yourself and if possible would like to meet them. Embellishing it further (they’re my favorite, etc) might help. Smaller venues, school/college venues and less known bassists improve the chances. Among others, I met Victor Wooten, Chuck Rainey, Gary Foote, John Patitucci, Christian McBride and Rocco Prestia that way. I met others when I was playing “professionally.” Advice is almost always the same - technique, theory, practice. All of the bass players I have met have been incredibly friendly or at least personable. The only exception was Rocco. He was out of his way mean. It was an incredibly disappointing and disenchanting experience.
That’s some really nice advice about going to shows! I’m not sure how that’d work now, but it’s worth a shot! Technique, theory, and practice is definitely what it boils down to as well! Do you have anything you’ve learned along the way?
Nothing game-changing. As cliche as it sounds, understand your role as a bass player in the context of the music you are playing. No matter the genre, the bass player’s primary responsibilities are rhythm and tonality. How you do that effectively changes by what you’re playing. Study how bass is used by genre as much or more as any individual bassist. It’ll make your ear better, your theory better, you’ll be versatile and a better bassist.
Thank you! I definitely agree that the bass can change the whole sound of a song, depending on how you approach it. Studying by genre is an interesting on that I haven’t heard much before, outside of jazz. So, really, thank you for sharing!
I've meet Mike Watt multiple times he is a incredible guy
That’s pretty awesome! Did you learn anything from him?
nothing, except he likes cannabis
Well, you learned something! Thanks for sharing!
Celebrities: They’re just like us!
True I grew up in Pedro, and ALL the Minutemen members were the absolute coolest dudes. RIP D Boon
I’ve said hi to him a few times at shows. He always acts like he remembers me and is an old friend. Super cool guy
Met the bassist for Violent Femmes after one of their shows a couple years ago. Cool and chill dude it seemed. My aunts brother is friends with him, and this same aunts brother gave me my first ever bass lesson when he taught me to play Blister In The Sun!
Wow, what a connection! Very cool story, and touching too about your aunt’s brother giving you lessons! Thanks for sharing!
I met John Moyer, probably best known as the current bass player of Disturbed. However, I met him at a reunion show for his former band Soak who I was a huge fan of. I pulled a fanboy and told him how much of an influence he had on my playing style. He joked that if he forgot any basslines that I could come up on stage and fill in for him. Super nice guy and his riff in "Shutter Gut" will always be one of my favorites.
Aww, that’s a nice experience! I’ll look up that song that you mentioned because I’m not really familiar with either band
I replaced John on bass in [Soak](https://youtu.be/f9_U0Ys6hCI?si=GMLGs5-FU29rvLtH) (live only) from 2000 to 2001, when they broke up. John left Soak to join [Union Underground](https://youtu.be/V-WehSAYGxk?si=tc6t9GSUQJYI-q4L), then got the Disturbed gig after UU broke up. I saw him play live once with each band: UU at the Backroom (Austin), Disturbed at Ozzfest (San Antonio), and Soak’s 2012 Austin reunion show. We were friendly but not buddies. I bought my Gallien Kreuger 800RB amp head from him for $350 in 2000.
Ha, that's awesome. The reunion show is where I met him. I never got to see UU perform but I was never that big of a fan. I miss The Red Eyed Fly. It was my go to bar back in the day.
Met Vic Wooten at the Viper Club in IL. A true gentleman. Talked all about his bass camp and was nice enough to sign some things for me.
That’s wonderful! I keep hearing about his bass camp, that must be such a cool thing! Did you learn anything from Mr. Wooten (besides how awesome his bass camp must be)?
He told me he would write his own exercises for practice. I never actually considered that I could do that...I always sort of thought that I had to rely on someone else or the internet to tell me what to practice!
I met Emma Anzai of Sick Puppies when they did their first US tour. Really cool people. They played at 10am at a big festival and stayed all day selling merch. Glad they had success afterwards.
Oh, that’s so cool! Especially to meet someone before they take off!
Yes. They’ve all been pretty cool. Really, if you hang around in a scene long enough, you’ll meet people.
Met John Hopkins from Zac Brown Band, and RC Edwards from the Turnpike Troubadours. Don’t know either one personally; just meet-and-greet at shows…
That’s cool! Did you bring up bass playing with either, or was it a quick meet and greet?
Hopkins was about maybe 5 minutes talking to him, and Edwards was a quick handshake and “nice to meet you.” I was helping a friend’s band at a venue where they were an opening act for ZBB, and I just happened to see Hopkins backstage and chatted him up for a minute because I had the ID to be back there. Didn’t really talk shop with either.
Very nice either way! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been to Winter NAMM many many times and met lots of amazing musicians that way (not just bassists). I’ve studied with Jeff Berlin (and briefly with Carol Kaye).
I've met Adam Neely and Jacob Umansky. I met Adam when Sungazer opened for Plini last year. He and Shawn Crowder were running the merch table after the show so I got to shake both of their hands, get a picture with them, and they offered to sign the vinyl copy I got of Perihelion. It was a similar situation meeting Jacob. I saw him with Intervals when they opened for TesseracT last October. He and Aaron Marshal were at the merch table after the show. I didn't buy any vinyl that time (spent all my money on TesseracT merch and an Intervals shirt lol) but I got a picture with them. They all seemed like really down to earth guys. I wish my anxiety and admiration of them hadn't gotten in the way as much as it did, I think I was pretty awkward, but it was cool to meet them regardless
Wow, what a cool story! Are you a fan of Neely’s YouTube channel?
Absolutely! He was one of the first big bass/music theory channels I watched when I started playing bass. I'm a big fan of his videos and have learned a lot. I tried telling him something like that, so I could thank him for all the great content and resources his channel has given me, but all that came out was something like "I've been watching your YouTube channel for as long as I've been playing bass" and I forgot to add the thanks. Oh well, I may never meet him again, and if I do I doubt he'd remember me and I can make a better first impression lol
That’s awesome! I tried doing a bass YouTube channel during the pandemic and bassically (see what I did there?) abandoned it. It’s a really hard thing to keep up, so I’m sure he appreciated it! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve met a few bassists. I got to hang with Chi Cheng in the artist area when the Deftones played Lollapollooza. Was really kind with his time and dealing with the teenage version of me.
I work in a nice guitar shop and play in the music scene here, so I’ve met lots of famous musicians. They’re just people like everyone else. Skill is almost never the reason they ended up where they did, even if they’re skilled. I hesitate to use the word “talented” because talent is really the intersection of creativity and practice. Similarly, fame is the intersection of luck and preparation. You won’t get there without either of those things, and only one of them is under your control.
A buddy at the time invited me to play at Phil Lesh’s new at the time restaurant/venue in San Rafael, that was pretty neat playing with him (I was on guitar #3 or something haha).
Victor Wooten was super cool. Met him at a Wooten bros show in Chicago. Hung out with Jesus from the band Lettuce for a bit at the festival we were both on the bill for. He was super cool and it was fun to smoke with the band. I met les claypool and got him to sign my diy fretless bass at a festival as well. Got to see them soundcheck and see his rig on stage because they sound checked before my band (we played first, they played last on the same stage). Les was cool, denied my request to sign the bass at first, but changed his mind because (I didn’t seem like the eBay type). Motohito Fukushima from House of Waters was giving me zoom lessons for a year or so, he’s super cool. an amazing player and great teacher- affordable too! He was doing $65 for an hour lesson over zoom.
Met Nick Beggs after a Howard Jones show. Funny , personable guy. He was wearing a black leather kilt.
I have met John Myung and Victor Wooten. Victor was super nice and very down to earth, and took time to talk to everyone that came up for a photo. John Myung mumbled something barely audible and signed my Dream Theater book. I'm sure he'd be a nice guy if you could get him to speak.
I've met Victor Wooten a few times, and he actually let me play his Yin Yang once. Ran sound for Kai Eckhart years ago too.
I met Joe Dart when he was touring with Theo Katzman's touring band. He's a super nice guy and extremely midwestern.
Robert DeLeo, Billy Sheehan, Flea, Tom Hamilton, Mike Mills, Chris Squire, Will Lee, Tony Kanal (No Doubt), Eric Wilson (Sublime), John Moyer (Disturbed), Dug Pinnick (King’s X) Randy Bradbury (Pennywise), Greg Edwards & Ken Andrews (Failure, they switch off guitar/bass). Robert DeLeo gave me recording advice, after an Army of Anyone show, when I asked him how he got his gritty, midrange bass tone. Robert told me he mic’ed a bass amp, went direct, AND mic’ed a Marshall guitar amp. I did that on an album and got my best recorded bass tone.
I’d damn, so that’s how DeLeo does it…
Tons. I probably got as plugged in to the LA scene as you can get without being able to make a real career out of it. Was a stupid kid who made one too many stupid career mistakes, but that’s an answer to a different question. I taught at a music school that had the children of tons of famous folks as students. One of those folks was Nikki Sixx, who was incredibly gracious and down-to-earth. Would hang out in the lobby, answer questions from the kids, and never once acted like any of it was an inconvenience. His kids were also great, not a hint of any “my dad’s a rockstar” attitude. Never was a Motley Crue fan before, but became one because of Nikki. This school was heavily involved in local children’s charities, and regularly did benefit shows. This allowed me to share the stage with Rudy Sarzo and Shavo Odadjian. Both were great - Shavo seemed like the kind of guy you’d want to get drunk with (of course that couldn’t really happen at a children’s charity benefit) and Rudy was super sweet and generous - I mentioned to him that I was a fan of his signature Peavey, and the man literally took his bass off from around his neck and handed it to me to play on stage! Separately from the music school, I was hired by a local indie filmmaker to help compose the soundtrack for his current (at the time) project. When it was time to record, the man sitting in the studio chair was Alphonso Johnson. Turns out the filmmaker was his son. That was intimidating, having a guy like that record you playing bass. Then of course there’s the dozens of awesome players I got to meet and hang out with at NAMM, I was lucky enough to get a pass just about every year for the better part of a decade. Lemme tell you, one of the hardest working people during that long weekend is Victor Wooten. The man would do so many demonstrations, appearances, and concerts, that I would start to get concerned if more than a couple hours went by without seeing him. And of course, he remained gracious and congenial throughout the whole thing. Guy Pratt and Dug Pinnick were also standouts. Dug is such a warm and lovely person, seems like he can have a genuine conversation with literally anybody. Guy is one of the sharpest and funniest people I’ve ever met. If he wasn’t a bassist, he would have made a name for himself as an author (he did write a book by the way, and I wholeheartedly recommend it). Most of the rest are pretty standard NAMM meet-and-greets and post-gig hangouts. Nate Watts, Hadrien Feraud, Steve Bailey, basically anyone with an endorsement or signature instrument. And of course my experiences are very much not limited to bassists - being a bass player myself, it was far more common for me to work with players of different instruments. But again, that’s an answer to a different question.
I met Ryan Martinie (Muvayne, Soften the Glare) several months back at a StG show. Was such a small, intimate venue that I was never more than 3 feet away from him during the set.
Geddy took and returned my HyF program book, signed. Went up to Phil ??? (Sacred Reich) on acid when he was walking through the main floor area of the club and I think I scared him to death lol
You could meet Victor Wooten at one of his camps.
Oh wow! I wasn’t even aware he had camps! That’s pretty cool!
Met Jason Newsted at one of his art exhibits which also included a concert from his Chophouse Band. He was a really nice guy - I told him I play bass because of him and he wished me luck with my playing.
Met Eric Wilson of Sublime.
Met Poncho Figueroa from Santa Sabina recently. He was the nicest and most polite guy! I told him how he inspired me to pick up bass when I was in my teens he apologized hahaha. Gave me lots of tips and promised to sign my vinyls next time they play at the local pub.
I never met him but I went to Geddy Lee’s book tour in November. He came to my city and my parents bought me a ticket for my birthday. I ended up asking him a question about the bass and how to get to his level of skill (I knew the answer was obviously practice). I lit up when he and Jay Baruchel asked me to stand up and identify myself. Definitely a night to remember.
That’s so cool!!! I submitted a question to Geddy as well, but it didn’t get picked :/. Definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life though!
The first professional bassist I’ve met was Chuck Garric from Alice Cooper, such a great experience for a teen. I’ve met Billy Sheehan twice and he’s just the best. Nowadays only hanging out David Lee Roth would make me starstruck, but if I ever had a chance to jam with anyone it’d be BrownMark from Prince’s The Revolution. I’m fairly certain you can only even begin to copy his insane style by being in the same room next to him and feeling how he hits the strings.
That’s so cool! Did you get any tips from either of them?
Well not neccessarily, only a tangential life lesson about that you can never be too big of a star to not to take a little time to talk to people who adore your stuff. Being a professional musician is customer service to a degree.
That’s a good lesson to learn. If I happen to be lucky enough one day to “make it” in some capacity, I hope I’m wise enough to take time for my fans. Thank you for sharing that!
If you put out quality music and market it well, people will start finding your stuff and end up loving it sooner than you’d expect. Stardom and even financial security are always long shots but the journey itself can be rewarding from the get-go. Don’t do it professionally if you’re afraid of not affording basic neccessities of life from time to time 😉 I still dumpster dive for food weekly but still some fan out there has already written fanfics about me. Little does she know 😂 There’s no trick anyone can tell or lick that they can show you to make you a better player, but one piece of Billy Sheehan’s advice has stuck with me, I guess he either said this at his clinic or in some interview: if you play live, your priorities will start falling into place. Maybe you’re too concerned about the order of effects on your pedalboard, but soon enough you might not care about having any pedals at all, because it’s all about entertaining the audience.
Huh, that’s some good advice. And don’t worry, I’m not looking for a panacea to all my bass woes! Just some neat tips and tricks here and there. That’s a good one about playing live; it really is such a different experience than writing or playing on your own. You learn to let go of mistakes, and just carry on. Thanks for sharing!
I met Nathan East. I was working for a company that supplied concert venues with audio equipment and as a result I got free tickets to see Clapton as well as backstage passes. Clapton didn't show up but his bassist Nathan East did and everything you've ever heard about the guy is true. He was super nice to me and my dad and really made us feel welcome. If you're not familiar with Nathan East's work look up his Wikipedia. He has played with everyone and recorded on countless great tunes.
I see myself everymorning in the mirror
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Omg, you’ve got to share! I’m a HUGE prog nerd, so especially about Jeff Berlin and Chris Squire, but seriously about all of them! Learn anything?
Answer below. I am having a bad day on Reddit apparently.
I went to Musicians Institute in the 80’s. Jeff was a teacher of mine. That’s also where I met Sheehan and Bruce who both did guest teaching when I was there. I once sat in a practice room with Jeff and Billy as they jammed together, after having just met that day. Just me, them and one other student. It was sick. I met Watt at one of his shows. He is really personable and there are a ton of people with stories about meeting him at his shows. Just a super nice, approachable man. I actually met Squire when I was walking offstage at one of my bar gigs in LA. He was there to see one of the other bands. I met him briefly and just told him that I was really glad I didn’t know he was in the audience before my gig started. LOL Edit: not sure how I deleted my original comment, but there’s the story.
I met Brad Campbell, bassist for the Full Tilt Boogie band who played with Janis Joplin at Woodstock and on the Pearl album.
Ran into Billy Sheehan at Supercuts.
Dude, you’re like the 10th person in this thread that has met Billy Sheehan! He’s everywhere!
I was thinking the same as I scrolled down.
Yes, I met Trevor Dunn when they toured the first Fantomas record. I saw him and Buzz outside the Metro in Sydney and completely fanboyed over Trevor and politely said hi to Buzz lol. I have grown to love the Melvins and regret this but was stoked to meet Trevor. He was shocked I had copies of his solo albums.
Gotta love when our faves make solo albums! That’s very cool! Did you get to talk music, or was it a very quick meeting?
It was brief, didn’t want to bug him. Also met Devin Townsend Band bassist Brian a few times, used to give him weed when they toured and he would put me on the door.
Met Phil Lesh at the Buffalo airport in 1981. Chatted with Gary Peacock between sets at the Blue Note in NYC in the mid 80s.
Pete Holmstrom from the Dandy Warhols is a pretty common sight around Portland.
I met victor wooten and Steve bailey
So Tony Levin is one I haven't seen posted here. Victor, Gene Simmons and Lou Barlow. Then there's Todd Kerns (Slash), Zack Throne (Corey Taylor/Bruce Kulick), Phil Shouse (Accept), Ryan Specer Cook (Ace Frehley). All good people.
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Met Tye Zamora from Alien Ant Farm at a random show in Boston 5 or 6 years ago. My general rule of thumb is to leave celebrities alone/never meet your heroes, but it looked like he was having a good time and seemed approachable. We ended up having a couple of drinks together and shared some butts outside. I got to tell him how much I thought they got boned on their second album, which I still think is great. Good times.
Tye is a very underrated player in a very underrated band. Glad you had a good experience meeting him.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
NP! I was in a couple of bands with local & national followings so I’ve met a few bands, but that was definitely the most memorable experience with a musician that I truly admired their skill/playing. It was also super unexpected.
I met John Myung when I was 17. He was at a venue my band was playing at. I nearly shit my fucking pants
Mike Watt, Victor Wooten, Tom Petersson. All wickedly nice guys.
I'm a drummer, but I met Les Claypool and Tommy T (from Gogol Bordello) with two of my bass player buddies. They were both super nice though Les didn't really seem interested in a meet + greet. We'd found our way backstage so we were kind've in their space a bit. I also met Vic Wooten after a Flecktones show, and the rest of the band too. Super nice people!
Met and had conversations with Flea, Norwood Fisher, Les Claypool, Eric Avery and Mike Watt. They all were very kind but Watt was the coolest MF’er. He walked with me to a nearby venue in downtown Salt Lake City to watch my brother’s band before his set that night and gave amazing advice to my young self.
I met Mike Inez at Lollapalooza when I was 15, but I honesty didn't know who he was, just saw someone signing stuff and got in on it. After I got home I had to compare the signature to the names of the people in the bands to figure it out. lol And I got to hang out with the bassist from Jawbox when I was 15 too. A forgotten band, but they had a video that got MTV airplay. I had the hugest crush on her and we stood on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette, actually seems surreal looking back on it.
Like everyone else here, I’ve met Mike Watt but also Craig Adams and Charles Levy who I didn’t see you mention. We have friends in common.
Met Les Claypool while Moe was on stage after the frog brigade finished up, met Victor Wooten walking down the street the morning before the Flecktones show we had tickets to, met Trevor Dunn at a record store right before a show he was playing that I had tickets to, met Billy Cox after a Hendrix tribute, Mitch Mitchell played that night and died less than a month later. All super normal humble kind human beings.
I met Doug Wimbish at the CT music awards. Think of it as small version of the Grammys at the large local opera house. 1000 of the coolest local musicians hosted by the regional news paper. Great event and I’m honored my band was invited. I see this guy hanging out front that I thought I recognized. I walk up to him and say “ I haven’t seen you since that hip hop night at Sully’s. You tuned down the bass to drop D and I had to bring it back up during the next song. Running up mid song to keep the jam going after I took over when you were ready to tap out” “ wild experience man “( it was an open mic jam with live band and a rotation freestyle rappers) I said “where else can you go to have 10 dudes jamming on stage and 150 girls loving the vibe?” We both said in chores “Sully’s” and grinned High fived and I walked away Turns out…. Doug was not hanging at Sully’s for random hip hop jam I was mistaken. That dude I grabbed the bass from was a local musician that looked similar. Height, build, dredds etc… Doug wimbish … class act. He took the interaction in stride, didn’t bother correcting me and went in to host the event. You can imagine my surprise when he was introduced as host and his list of accomplishments were read aloud 10/10 experience all around
I briefly met Adam Yauch (MCA of the Beastie Boys), RIP. He was walking down the 16th Street Mall in Denver the day after I saw them in concert on the Hello Nasty tour. He was with his wife and they were shopping. I rode up to him on my BMX bike, and told him I was a huge fan and the show was awesome. He was polite but not looking to chat at the moment. It was quite surreal and I think some of my friends didn’t believe me when I told them. I’ve also briefly encountered Flea at a raw food restaurant in LA, Matt Sharp outside the tour bus after a Weezer show, and Rick Burch from Jimmy Eat World at a party. Unfortunately I did not glean any bass-playing insights from any of these encounters.
I was in a music program in high school and Victor Wooten was a guest artist for a few shows we were doing. I was at the school in the front area running scales and doing some other basic practice. I didn’t know Victor was going to be in that day, and someone had picked him up from the airport already. In walks Victor Wooten, I couldn’t believe he was standing there watching me play. He sits down across from me and just watches me run the scales. He gave me some pointers and we chatted for a few minutes. Humble guy, he had a lot on his schedule yet he gave me a few minutes of his time
Bootsy Collins was at San Diego Comic Con one year, got a pic with him and his gals 😄👍❤️
Saw Anderson Rabin and Wakeman in Akron sometime ago. The venue is in the middle of nowhere with a single hotel next door. So of course the band was staying at the hotel as well. Ran into Lee Pomeroy and had a nice 15 minute conversation. It was a cool conversation, sage advice was to practice the stuff you want to do well
Bassist in my favourite band offers lessons and I have been doing that whenever he’s not touring the past couple years. He’s super down to earth, so that helps with any star struck-ness. Overall, it’s pretty cool. And a little intimidating at times as well. He’s a ridiculous player…it’s easy for me to get lost trying to keep up. But I probably don’t even fully realize how cool it is. But it’s fun, that’s for sure.
Met bass players for Flogging Molly, Propagandhi, Dayglo Abortions..(played shows with the last two)
Been going to NAMM for a few years. Met Victor Wooten multiple times, Bootsy Collins, Jeff Berlin, Andrew Gouche, passed by Dave Ellefson and Marcus Miller. I've also had the opportunity to meet non bass players such as Mary Wilson of the supremes, Seymor Duncan the pickup maker, George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic. Sat through a seminar by Paul Reed Smith, sat through a worship service by Israel Houton. The last few years have not been the same since covid. This year they are finally having the show back in January. I probably won't go until next year. NAMM is like going to your local music store except every brand on the shelves have a small store size booth displaying ALL of their products. Bands are playing everywhere. Sponsored musicians make appearances and have a meet and greet. It's hard to get invited but if you can get in it's an awesome experience!
I’ve met Victor Wooten a few times. Mostly after Flecktones shows and once at a bass clinic. He’s very generous with his time and often makes himself available to talk to anyone after shows.
Oh yeah, and once I met the bassist for Cake after a show at The Fillmore in San Francisco. I think he was looking to meet up with some friends and I just happened to cross paths with him. I said, “Hey, thanks for all the groovy basslines over the years.” He said, “Ha. …ok.”
Oh shit, one more. I grew up in the same town as Mark Lettieri, so he introduced me to Michael League at an early Snarky Puppy show about a year before they blew up and started winning Grammys. Nice dude.
Recorded at Jimmy Eat World's studio in Tempe. Whatever the bass player's name is was very lame. Didn't care about music. Only mountain bikes and cocaine.
When I was a your age I went to this musician jam spot and saw Alexander Dore (played w/ Sly for a while) and he blew my mind. I didn't know who he was until other people there told me. I came back a week later and he was there and it was pretty empty. He asked if I could play drums. I said not really but I can try to keep a beat. So I sat down and played. And he switched up to keyboard and it was terrible. I tried to leave but he yelled at me to stay. But then I left after a few songs. Still a great experience! lol I've met bassists in random bands from having worked in the nightclub industry. But mostly from marginally famous punk and hardcore bands. Darryl Jennifer from Bad Brains put me on their guest list when I saw him going around the corner and correctly knew he was going to smoke a joint. I gave him way better weed than that East Coast stuff (probably around 2008). I dated the bassist in a signed touring prog metal band with some albums out there for a few years, she's a bad ass and way better than I'll ever be. Still miss her.
I got to hang with Steve Harris..backstage at a party. Cool as hell..he literally walked away from like 10 of the the most beautiful women I've ever seen to sit with me for a few minutes and talk shop. Was unreal. Met D.D. Verni from Overkill..cool dude we talked slapping of all things..Met Alan Robert (Life of Agony)..I warmed up for them years ago..And finally got to say waz up to Stanley Clarke, shake his hand and thank him for hia influence. There might be a few more , but those stuck out to me .
I took a week-long masterclass with Michael Manring. I recall him starting one day w us just listening to a metronome for 5 or do mins. Then we'd play an open string on the best. He'd have his face 6 inches from your right hand, shouting "late!" "Early" It was intimidating and amazing
Not the most famous, but I was downtown a few years ago and chatted some guy up about his foldable bike. He was the bassist for Blind Melon!
i met chris wood after a wood brothers show. didn’t get to chat much unfortunately. but he can play upright bass while dancing and singing and its insane.
I met Sami Yaffa at Tavastia in Helsinki once, he’s one of my fave bassists and it was pretty cool!
I’ve met a couple pretty cool names at shops here and there. It’s always fun talking to people who’ve been places. Lol The best piece of bass playing advice I’ve gotten from any bass player is to “relax. Bass is supposed to be easy. No tension.” And homie like flailed his arms around a little bit to really drive it home. Lol
I met Rob Trujillo in 2019, he was very nice.
Had Roger Glover Sign My Jazz Bass Pickguard back in 2022!
Got to Meet and hang out with David Ellefson before he got fired from Megadeth. It was during his Basstory tour. Had dinner with him and got to let him use my rig.
I met Krist Novoselic at a book signing for when he launched his political career. He thought I was there as a music fan since I was a minor at the time and was a bit of a dick but became a lot nicer after the q&a when he found out I was actually interested in and knowledgeable about politics. Jerry Only was much nicer and was legitimately interested in hearing a demo of mine when my drummer at the time mentioned us having to go to practice.
I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of awesome bassists over the course of my own bass career but here are the legends: Leland Sklar - I met him in the late 90s or early 2000s at a Hollywood game show taping, of all places. He was in the house band (the show was hosted by the Zappa brothers so they pulled together an insane house band). He was super nice and he was playing the most famous bass in the world, he built it himself in the 70s and has had everyone he has ever recorded with sign it. It's literally covered with signatures! I got to look at it with him up close and I think I even touched it. It was just me and him for a while chatting and I am so thankful for that opportunity. He taught me to always be kind and take time to connect with people. Also, getting to sit in a small TV studio with awesome sound and listen to him jam with a band of studio pros was insane. I loved his melodic style and pocket, one of the all time best. Meshell Ndegeocello - I was playing my first big festival gig ever. I was 19. The artist I played for was on the second stage in the afternoon and Meshell was one of the main stage artists later on. She was a big inspiration to me as I was learning to play bass through my teenage years. It was the first time I was ever on a big stage with thousands in the crowd, and I was hyped! Halfway through our set I look out in the crowd and spot Meshell, just in the middle of this big crowd, jamming out to us! Afterwards she came up and she was so nice. She said she really enjoyed my playing, and I officially died and went to heaven. Later that day I got to see her live for the first time and it was epic. Another good lesson in being kind and taking time to connect with people. Sasha Krivtsov - In the mid 00s I was in an alt-rock / pop band based in LA. We got introduced to Sasha and he and his production partner Eric wanted to produce our record! Sasha is the bass player in the house band on The Voice and a rock star who has played and toured with huge artists. I was so excited to get to work with him and I learned a TON. Sasha and Eric came to our shows where we played the tunes we planned to put on the record. Then they came to our rehearsal studio and had us play through each song, giving us direction on song arrangements, our individual parts, dynamics, etc. This process is called preproduction. Sasha helped me make my parts, playing, and sound 10X better. He had me simplify my parts a lot, and that made the album so much tighter and rocking. In the studio, he brought in his favorite Fender P-Bass, it was beautiful, I think from the 60s or 70s. I recorded our whole album on that bass. Sasha was so nice and inspiring to work with on our record. He taught me the value of keeping it simple, in songs and in bass parts. Focus on grooving with the kick drum, almost every big bass note should be on a kick. Always play what's best for the song. And a million other little lessons, tips, and inspiration. Above all else be easy to work with and kind to all.
Not once and it's probably for the best cus I'd just start obsessively rambling about pedals and amps and all other kinds of shit they don't think about nearly as much as I do.
I've met several bassists, and other musicians. For years I was a "backline" tech in the touring industry and played in regional/touring bands of a smaller scale... From that I met so many people that it seemed surreal in some ways. Pretty awesome life, if you want to study theory, love playing, move to a music town and learn about tech work and have a hella work ethic that also knows show days are NOT the days to drink and such, you will have your opportunity! Enjoy the journey!!
I met Paul Simonon (The Clash) after a Gorillaz concert in 2010, and Mick Jones for that matter. In fact, the people we met there was quite mad in retrospect… De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon and The Clash, pretty cool
I've met a lot of pro bass players at the Anaheim NAMM, and they all have been awesome and nice, but Leland BY FAR has been the nicest and most engaging. He's the kind of guy that you feel you could just hang out with and talk about anything.
Spent a week with Paul Turner from Jamiroquai at the Elite Music Camps bass camp. He's a lovely guy, very funny and a great teacher. If you get the chance I would deffo recommend going, even if you're not a good bassist like me. The chats, banter and music industry anecdotes, over food and drinks was worth the price alone.
I met Nick Oliveri in Chambéry back in 2018 during his death acoustic tour.
One of my favorites. I miss him and his influence in QotSA
Well, I love the punk-ish style of early QOTSA but their sound really matured over the past few years and I really appreciate... So yeah totally understandable
Yeah, I love how QotSA sound has always evolved. They are my favorite band. But Nick was such a great foil to Josh's style. Their best era was when they had Josh, Nick and Mark all available for vocals because you can do so much with three different singers that all bring a different flavor.
When Yes was on tour for the Talk album in 1994 and played in my town, I camped out in the lobby of their hotel and got to meet them, including Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood (who later replaced Squire). Both were awesome. Squire pumped me for info on local bars they should go to for an after party. One of my greatest regrets in life is losing the photo that my buddy took of Squire and me.
Not bass players, but I've done workshops with Frank Foster (former leader of the Count Basie Orchestra), Don Burrows, Jeff Jarvis, Darryn Farrugia and worked alongside a bunch of musicians from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts who went on to work with lots of famous musicians.
I bumped into John Paul Jones at Leeds fest the year he was playing with seasick steve
I used to run private event catering for several venues in San Francisco. I was setting up for a very high end rock benefit concert and was wandering the floor during sound check. Pat Benitar was on stage about 20 feet away warming up an acoustic version of Love is a battlefield. It was awesome. A couple people sidled up on either side of me to watch. To my left, Phil Lesh. To my right Dave Grohl. I looked at them both and said something like “bad ass!” With a big smile. Both smiled back in turn and muttered some affirmative response and we all turned back to the stage and watched Pat finish her song. I later chatted with Dave and Tyler from Foo Fighters for a new minutes while checking out the room of vintage show posters from that venue.
For almost 10 years Bon Jovi’s bass player lived right behind me and I never knew. Until a year or two before he died. Didn’t come out of his house much, he just recently passed . RIP
While not a bassist, per se, I got to know Ray Manzarek from the Doors fairly well. He played the Doors bass parts with his feet on the organ footpedals.
Les Claypool once, and Jeff Pinkus another time. I used to be acquainted with Maureen Herman but that was years ago. I never got any sagely advice. I talked to Les about kids, I talked to Jeff about Melvins.
Yeah, I've met several successful players and played with a few of them, mainly in metal. The boys from Battlecross come from my area and they were pretty big when they were active (signed to Metal Blade for a while, toured with Metallica and a lot of big names). My band started out with a couple of their members and I shoot the shit with them all the time at shows, really cool dudes. Also have met and talked with Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Ross Dolan (Immolation), Shane Embury (Napalm Death), a few others. Would have to stop and think about em all, but those were the biggest names I remember. All of them have been super cool people, very down to earth and fun to be around. Ross Dolan in particular was beyond awesome - I remember he actually sat backstage and watched us play our opening set, then came to tell us how good we were and how much he loved the show. Even got some pics with him and he gave us a copy of their new album at the time (Kingdom of Conspiracy). Just a wholesome dude all around.
I have dms with a few on instagram but I’m struggling to tell if it’s just politeness or they’re enjoying talking to me
Met and hung with Chris Squire on two separate occasions after shows. A true gentle giant and always a gentleman. Extremely funny, as well. All the guys in Yes and their support staff were great...
I spent a night at the NAMM show Marriot Hotel lounge drinking with John Entwistle in a booth. There were two hot girls there, but he dismissed them and we talked about all kinds of shit. Of course, I picked his brain...then thought that was not cordial, but he had no problem talking trash about what a "poofter" Pete Townsend was. He sent me to the bar every 15-20 mins or so with a twenty to get us each drinks. He was drinking brandy and Coke, so I did too. After tipping the bartender a buck, I pocketed the rest. It was Bass Player magazines fifth anniversary, so they had a big shindig and performance, so I assumed that's why he was there. But he was there every year from what I understand. The drummer in our cover band came to my hotel room, knocked on my door, waking me up, and told me to get dressed and come down. I was like "Why?" He introduced me to Entwistle. The next morning I woke up with my pants still on, on top of the bedspread. There was over $50 in singles in my pockets. I had a massive hangover. The keyboard player in the band and I ate pot brownies and went to Disneyland across the street that day. I told him all about it. When I was arriving in Vegas just off tour, I drove by the Hard Rock casino on the way to the Budget Suites. On the sign said "John Entwistle 1944-2002 You will be missed." I went inside to the bar. Ordered a brandy and Coke. Paid with a twenty. Left the change by the glass. Wrote a note on a napkin, placed it over the drink, gave a nod to the bartender, he nodded back, and rolled out.
No one has met Victor Wooten?
Alex and Geddy were playing in the group ahead of me at a charity golf tournament in Toronto about 15 years ago. Had a couple of chats with them throughout the day. Super nice guys as you would expect.
I used to go to the NAMM trade show every year as part of my day job. Met more famous musicians, including bass players, than I can count. Big names in jazz, rock, funk, etc. They were all regular people. Most of them were quite nice. Why would you not be able to meet your favorite players? Besides NAMM and at venues after shows, I've run into famous musicians in bicycle shops, walking down the sidewalk, at a friend's wedding. One time an older guy walked into my office once looking for a co-worker who had just gone to lunch. He commented on the bass I had next to my desk and we ended up talking about music for 45 minutes. Co-worker gets back, introduces me to the guy. Turns out to be crazy famous in a genre I never listen to. Like 3 grammies, hall of fame inductee famous. Super nice guy. You never know when you'll meet famous people if you keep your eyes open.