Bring On #6...

[The Bear Jew]

I think the title of this post says it all.

 

For those of you who don't know, our most recent bassist goes by the tag "#5" because he's the fifth bassist for this band. His name is Marky. On one memorable occasion, he wore bright red sweatpants to rehearsal, so his CMDN Mafia nickname is #5 Marky Redpants.

 

We love the guy. He's a sweetheart and a really fine bassist.

 

However (there's always a frickin' "however" in my life), he's in debt. Bad debt... for a lot of reasons: misspent youth, recklessness, etc. So, he got an extra job on the weekends to help make ends meet. He helps fill orders for a plumbing company. Basically, he loads pipe lengths onto trucks for about six hours or so on Sunday mornings. Picks up a couple extra bucks to pay his debts.

 

Well...

I guess you all could see this coming. He got hurt lifting pipe. Bad. He was trying to fill an order too quickly, and he did something to a disc in his back. He was essentially crippled -- couldn't walk much. Baby steps everywhere. The doctors told him he needed to cease all strenuous activities and gave him percosets and rehab therapy. He started getting better.

 

Then... we had our release party gig here in Philly. I warned #5 to chill and not go off like he usually does... Ya know, play his best, but not hurt himself. Well... he didn't chill. He went off. He slammed himself into the wall, the floor... everything. When we were done, he was white as a sheet and looked like he was gonna puke. So...

 

Back to the chiropractor's office. Now he's got some kind of muscle damage that may or may not be permanent. He's going to try to get disability coverage from work. The docs tell him that the only way he'll get better is if he lays flat on his back as long as he possibly can.

 

Obviously, he can't play. We discussed the situation last night. He's out for at least a month. After that, he doesn't know.

 

On top of this... It would appear that #5 has been having a sort of problem with the way things work in the band. He likes to come off as a tough guy: he's a yeller, quick to flare up, he makes grandstanding statements, etc. Underneath this, he's kind of shy and sensitive, as many people like this tend to be. He'll start to yell because that's normal conversation for him. Lots of bluster to cover a certain amount of insecurity. I, on the other hand, am essentially a mellow guy (shut up, Tom), but I will raise my voice, however, when I'm seriously passionate about something -- like the writing of a song, the direction of the band, etc. I don't holler about conversational issues like Marky, but when I start to holler, you can believe that I'm really impassioned about the subject.

 

When #5 joined the band, we talked a little bit about the role of the bass in our music. He was made to understand that our sound requires a focused sonic unity -- it's not about any individual in the band. It's about the whole band. He kept saying things like "I want to put my stamp on music." I'd always tell him that the band itself is the stamp. We write music that is essentially fairly simple to play, and then we play it as hard as we can. I'm not positive that #5 ever really "got" this concept. He always told me that he downgraded his playing to join the band. By this, I suppose he meant that the things we wanted him to play were not as difficult as what he wanted to play.

 

So... when we'd write, he'd always want to add bass things to the songs that were difficult to play but we're ONLY difficult to play but essentially purposeless... I'd nix the stuff because a) he could barely play them and b) they didn't serve the songs. Often, he'd be "putting the cart ahead of the horse," meaning he wanted to write the really hard, detailed parts before the whole song was fleshed out. I have no problems with the details... I LOVE the details... little oddball bits that make one verse different from the previous, a little fill, etc. I love that stuff... but it has to be done when the song is finished... not when the song is still an embryo. When the song is still a baby, it has to BE a baby. You let it form and grow -- you let it learn that 2+2=4 before you start giving it calculus homework. That's the only way I can work. I need to see a solid foundation before I can think about the furniture I'm putting in the living room or the color I'll paint the walls.

 

So we'd argue. For example, he'd come up with some ludicrous, 3/4 time interlude and want to stick it in the middle of a very straight rocker. Now, I have no problems with odd signatures or relatively complex songs, but it's gotta make SENSE... it's gotta work with the whole song, not just sit there for the sake of sitting there. He'd yell something blustery and make an ultimatum like, "There's no way this song will work without this part." I'd yell back that we could make the song work without his self-indulgent part if he'd think about the SONG itself and not the one incongruous little part that he wants to play. Oftentimes, his parts would be great for the basis of other songs. We have about a thousand of these things sitting around. Finally, we'd usually find a way to make the whole thing work. Usually, this meant he'd have to seriously chill out and change the bass lines to fit them into the song. The basis of his idea was still present, but it was arranged to avoid stepping on the vocals or damaging the vibe of the song. But this process was very draining for us emotionally. It took a long time to write songs because we had to argue about what fill went where when we were still trying to figure out the song's overall arrangement. Basically, it was exhausting. Sure, we liked the end results, but the process was slow and tedious. But it's pretty safe to say that #5 never really "got" the picture of what we needed from him. I know he was questioning his role in the music.

 

So... considering #5's spine problems and his other issues within the band, we decided it would be best for him to take to his bed and not worry about anything but healing himself for a while. Basically, we told him we loved him and thanked him for putting in his time.

 

Were we sad? Yeah, we were. It sucks. Our nine months with #5 have been great overall. We love the guy. Will we miss him? As a person, absolutely. He's a total sweetheart. A stand-up guy. As a bassist, certianly. He did a great job learning our stuff and performed like a champ. As a songriting partner? Maybe not as much...

 

So, what now?

 

Would you believe that I made ONE phone call at 9:45 last night and filled his spot? Yep. Called our man Chris, who some of you all might remember from our auditions back in October. He's the guy who mastered our most recent album. He owns a studio... and about 13 basses... including a wacky 12-string bass. He actually built #5's custom Jazz. Yeah, yeah... I know, "Why didn't we take this guy Chris in the first place?" Well... we knew #5 already, and Chris was a totally new person to us... so we went with the guy we knew rather than the guy we didn't.

 

So now Chris gets to learn a 12-song set in about a week so he can travel with us to Baltimore, MD, and Roanoake, VA, on the 20th and 21st of this month. Don't you just love deadlines and being under the gun?

 

Yeah, it's always exciting to live in my world.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

i was bass player number 7 in my last band. personalities didn't work out and number 5 replaced me. these guys were together for years before i joined. i guess these things happen to a band that has an established core, whether by choice or by chance.

 

good luck with number 6. order him to take a number 2. (aye aye, captain!) then get a number 4 with a smile when you're in toronto.

 

at least it appears losing marky won't derail you guys too badly. my first thought was, "what's going to happen with the CD and all the new gigs?" i know marky didn't play on the CD, but this turnover must be rough.

 

robb.

[davebrownbass]

Oh, us bassists! I remember that bass Chris built.

 

I sit here with a profound sense of loss. I've watched the celebratory effusion for #5 with profound interest...in spite of the fact that his moniker is also the name of the 'bot in "Short Circuit.'

 

"No deactivate Number Five. No deactivate Number Five!"

 

I'm actually hopin' that #5 brings his health together and, through some quirk of fate, gets back into the band. I think we ALL feel that way.

[fig]

I swear man, I love reading your sagas.

 

It really is a shame about the injuries taking out #5, but it sounds like Chris might just be a slightly better choice. Of course, you won't know until you get to know him well. Wish you luck and continued success.

 

On a slightly related note, you got your replacement with one call. I wish I was that lucky. I'm trying to find a bassist to take my spot in this fill-in situation I'm in. Have gone thru 4, and for one reason or another, the band didn't want to keep them.

 

And you did it in one call. Damn you.....

[alexclaber]

It's one thing to get a bassist that can sit in the groove and play just what's needed, but it's another thing to get one that you get along with, and another thing to get one that plays just what's needed in the band's view whilst feeling totally musically fulfilled and another thing to get one that does all of the above and contributes to the songwriting in a communal way.

 

Look at the Chilis - they've been through the same kind of thing but with them it's been guitarists. Bands that write by jamming have a hard time replacing members.

 

I despair when I think of managing to find a whole new band's worth of musicians that can fulfil my (musical) needs AND write together, so for now I'm doing all the writing on my own in an attempt to decrease the improbability of achieving this.

 

Regarding #5, sounds like he wasn't the perfect man for the job, like he wanted to do something that didn't quite match up with the band's needs and it doesn't take much to pull things apart when people's 'art' is on the line. From all accounts it was good while it lasted - hope the new guy fits as well and doesn't expire so quickly!

 

Alex

[JulieCat]

Wow. Didn't see that coming at all! Well, maybe I did. Remember when you posted about being the rehersal nazi (on SSS, I think)? I wondered if there was more to the story. Seems there was.

 

I gotta agree with DBB, and I'm glad he said it first. I'm sad for all you guys. Oh, happy for Chris, though! All the best to him, and for this next chapter of The CMDN Chronicles.

 

I'm curious, though. Are things tense with Marky and the band now? Will you guys still see him around?

[The Bear Jew]

Julie...

Yeah, being rehearsal Nazi is no fun. As much as we love #5, he's a very argumentative type. It's just his nature. He admits it. He'll say something contrary just to be contrary. We actually laugh about this. However, he'll also PLAY something contrary just to make himself stick out.... and it would always be when the attention shouldn't be focused on the bass (i.e. during vocal-centered verses). That shit just doesn't work for the kind of stuff we do. For us, the ideal is to chill when the vocals are making their point and make things somewhat busier when they're not. It's not a really tough equation.

 

Tell ya what... we're gonna miss having #5 around. He's so great at breaking balls. It's beautiful. I'm gonna conference him into our rehearsals just so that he can call Foo (the singer) a jackass or tell Drew (the drummer) that he missed the snare AGAIN.

 

But things are better this way. He needs to heal. He can't get a new back if the one he has is ruined. And he needs to be in a musical situation where he can do whatever he wants without the rehearsal/songwriting nazi telling him to chill.

 

This is best for all of us.

 

It's kind of weird... when Chris was building #5's bass, they were talking about playing bass in the band. Marky was telling Chris that he wanted to make his bass playing stand out in the band, and that he couldn't wait to show us how much he could do and how he wanted to bring the bass playing in the band to a new level. Chris told him something interesting... he said (this is a direct quote from both #5 and Chris at different times)... he said, "CMDN doesn't really seem to be about the bass player at all. It's basically about the songs and the vibe. Trying to 'stick out' would be counterproductive. You're always gonna be fighting with the music. Your job is to stick with Drew and Erik and lay it down hard."

 

Kinda spooky... he said this to Mark back in October. Looks like it finally came to a head.

 

Like I said... we'll miss #5. It's a sad thing to lose a brother like that.

 

Having said this... Chris seems to get the picture, and he loves the music. He's a different personality than #5, that's for sure. He's more of a songwriter. He knows a lot about touring... more than we do, in some ways. We'll see what happens. Things happen for a reason, or so they say.

 

Oh yeah... can you say "FREE RECORDINGS IN CHRIS' STUDIO?"

 

Anyway, no... things aren't stressed between us and #5 now. We're cool. Nobody's mad. We get along great as friends. When we play in town, we know there will be a large Sicilian standing in front of Chris, watching every bassline like a hawk and writing down notes for a post-set critique.

[Tom Capasso]

Tell Marky that we all wish him good health and improved finances.

 

Then don't look back. The guy didn't get it. Doesn't mean he's a bad person or that you wish him anything but the best. He just didn't fit. It happens at work, and we know it happens in bands. Sometimes, it just doesn't fit. We all respect each other an move on.

 

You didn't mention anything about how Bill and Drew felt. Had they had enough? Were they ahead of you on being frustrated?

 

Congrats on Chris. I hope the songwriting you mentioned helps your band grow. And if his song style is different, I hope he has an outlet for it outside CMDN, so that he can feel good about all the things he does. None of us is a one-trick pony (as you know from sniffing that mean ether ).

 

Forgive me for pointing this out, but what you are doing is difficult. Day jobs, families, full lives - and then CMDN. Reminds me of myself at the buffet table. I always put too much on my plate. Usually I manage, but sometimes some of it falls off (and my wife has something to say, but that's a different story). As hard as it's been with revolving door bass players, count your blessings with Bill and Drew.

 

Best of luck to you and Chris.

 

Tom

[_Sweet Willie_]

Oh well, I really thought #5 was your guy. At least you don't have the Tap issue of spontaneous combustion. Hope he heals up okay, but that you guys continue to roll on.

 

Will we need to call Chris "#6" or do we call him "Chris" in future threads?

 

Best of luck w/ the situation. And yes, I can say: "FREE RECORDINGS IN CHRIS' STUDIO!"

 

Peace.

[ibescotty]

Amen to loading up the plate and figuring out how to balance it out later Tom.

 

I guess it's always hard to let someone go whom you've invested time in. Hopefully #6 will work out really well. He sounds promising.

 

From all change come good things.... eventually.

 

The main song writer in my current project thinks he has to make songs complicated for the sake of complication sometimes. I think that really takes away from what could be a good song sometimes. I guess it works in some cases though. The point of this rant is that I think #5 fealt like maybe he wanted to prove himself by playing some more complicated parts then you guys were writing. Sounds like a not so ideal fit for what he wanted and what you guys were trying to accomplish.

 

I'll also chime in and say that it's really hard to write a song with a bass guitar or a part for that matter.

 

Good luck with #6. Wish everyone well and all that jazz.

[The Fonz]

so you didn't want a guy who plays too busy and you go out and get a guy who owns a 12 string... hmmm...

 

hey good luck with the new guy and to bad about the old guy. and yeah, deadlines suck.

[JDL]

This is probably the first CMDN story I've read all the way through. Hey man, I've seen all those posts referring to #5. I had no clue(probably because I didn't your stories). But, this Chris guy sounds like the right fit.

 

Anyways, rock on. Rock hard.

[Cup]

Holy (add in choice Diety here)! The CMDN story has more twists than a disco dancing serpent. Where and when will it stop?

 

Great post though, lots of thoughts on and about songwriting.

 

I hope #5's back gets sorted, it's unfortunate that it happened just as he was trying to get his money worries under control.

 

Good luck with #6!

 

Cup

[NickT]

Now serving number 6...

 

Please take a ticket and get in line.

 

Erik I've got number 11...how long until I join the band?

 

Sorry to hear about it all going pear shaped with #5...hope you have more luck with the next guy. Have you guys ever thought about buying a sequencer????

[The Bear Jew]

You didn't mention anything about how Bill and Drew felt. Had they had enough? Were they ahead of you on being frustrated?

I know they were both frustrated with our writing situation. It's been really tense and kind of stifling. Marky had a hard time figuring out where we were coming from in our writing. His past experience really involved filling space in a "songwriter" situation. The changes were already there - his job was to add some flavor to something that was already there. He can write a lovely bass melody and some cool rhythmic stuff as well - as long as the song is already there... but writing a whole song from scratch with a band is a problem for him. He's very inexperienced in that. His grasp of creating arrangements and flow are weak... he's great at learning stuff, but he has a problem coming up with stuff. Some of the stuff he threw out was so completely unrelated to the music at hand that it was almost scary. He was unable to see the forest for the trees...

 

The arguments we had were rough. Especially within our little family. For Bill, I think it was like watching mommy and daddy fight. Looked like he wanted to sit in the corner, cover his ears and cry. Drew would try to mediate, but by then everyone was so tense that he'd end up getting into something with Bill just because he was wound up from clearing things between me and Mark. We'd leave rehearsals having made some progress, but the price we paid for it was huge.

 

It's an old analogy, but I can compare our post-argument behavior to an elephant walking into the room during a family dinner. Nobody wants to say anything about the elephant because then everyone would have to acknowledge its existance. We'd argue and try to resolve our situation, and it would immediately become clear that Marky wanted to question absolutely everything in the music but had very little of substance to offer as alternatives. However, we had good chemistry in a lot of other ways, so we just kind of figured we'd work through the writing problem because everything else was working so well.

 

So, we were all frustrated. I know the lack of progress was upsetting all of us, even though we had great chemistry in a lot of other ways.

 

It's for the best. Marky e-mailed me just a little while ago and told me he had been beating himself up over making this decision, and that while he feels like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he's feeling kind of empty inside. I just told him we're gonna miss him and that the most important thing was for him to get better. He's always gonna be #5 to us. He holds a special place in our hearts.

 

I just got off the phone with Chris a little while ago. Chris is in another band already (12 Horse) , but they're a good deal different from CMDN. They're kind of a jammy Southern rock band. They're not super busy with gigs... they do something here and there... He says he's looking for a band with people who do edgy, heavy stuff because the guys he's playing with now don't really have a handle on that at all. He's played everything from thrash to punk and hardcore. He says he's wanted to play with us for ages. He's excited about the whole thing. We vibe pretty decently... Drew and I have jammed with him in the past on a separate stoner project, and he knows what we want from him.

 

so you didn't want a guy who plays too busy and you go out and get a guy who owns a 12 string... hmmm...

And yeah, I know... a 12-string bass? That's craziness. It's one of those jammies that is set up with four groupings of three strings each. I dunno, there might be a place for it in our stuff.

 

I know Chris has about 13 or 14 black 4-string Jazz basses. Total gear slut. He's got a huge rig, too... an SWR 4x10, a Mesa 15 and some kinda crazy Trace Eliot head. It's loud as fuck. His whole wardrobe is black. He's basically perfect for us.

 

Now we just have to get to work. Luckily for us, Chris has all the music he needs to get started with learning the stuff he needs to know in order to play our set. I'm thinking he'll need to know about 12 songs. If he crams, he should be fine. I'm gonna e-mail him a set list soon.

 

I'll let you guys know how things go.

[NickT]

Erik,

 

I've just re-read my post and realised that it might come across as being abit...ummm....I don't think of the word, but if you read it wrong it makes me sound like an ass.

 

I hope you guessed it was a joke.

[The Bear Jew]

Nick...

Just cause I'm stressed doesn't mean I lost my sense of humor. My buddy was just telling me that he wants to write a Spinal Tap-like story about our adventures...

[...]

Erik, as always, your bass player saga is entertaining, amusing, frustrating, and a number of other emotions. It's cool (as always) to see that you seem to deal with the bass player trials and tribulations in stride. Good luck with #6, man... and if it ever comes down to it, I'll be #7 if you want.

[groovyjazzyfunky]

Originally posted by davebrownbass:

...in spite of the fact that his moniker is also the name of the 'bot in "Short Circuit.'

 

"No deactivate Number Five. No deactivate Number Five!"

Wasn't the robot's name Johnny Five? -- "Johnny Five is ALIVE!"

 

Best of luck with Johnny Six, CMDN.

[Mr M Pulsive]

Actually it was both........ He was #5 in the "Lab" as a government battle machine, but once he came to "Life," he wanted something cooler and more lifelike.. so he dubbed himself "Johnny.... Johnny 5.... yeeeeeeeahh!"

 

sorry.. I loved that flick.

-Mike

[Tom Capasso]

Since we're lining up for our guest appearances (reminds me of when there were so many "guest hosts" for Johnny Carson), I want to be #9. It's a Beatles thing...

 

I envisioned the book as a serious thing (well, you know what I mean). But satire is another way to go....

 

Best of luck.

Tom

[The Bear Jew]

Ya know what's funny?

 

When we were having our band meeting regarding #5's departure, an old bass player of ours showed up to say hello. Yes, I know, half of the greater Philly area population has played bass in my band, ha-frickin-ha.

 

Anyway... the guy who showed up was #3... Also known as Timmy, Mr. White Chocolate, Funky and Me? He left the band because he wanted to go back to school. Can't blame a fella for that. We're still buddies. He's like a little brother to me. We love that kid. He's the guy who gave me his MM Sterling a couple years ago... I gave it back when I bought my P-bass. He's probably the sweetest kid I ever met. He has the worst tattoos I've ever seen. But he rules. I taught him to eat sushi.

 

As we talked about the screwed up #5 situation, I kind of offhandedly mentioned that the two bassists that we loved most were standing about 10 feet away from each other, which got me thinking about something... The guys we liked having in the band the most were not the best bassists we played with at all. In fact, far from it.

 

Bassist #1, Pugs, was an incredible bassist. He could play absolutely anything, was totally funky and he had PERFECT time. Great performer, too. But what a wacko. He stopped playing bass altogether and moved to Arizona.

 

Bassist #4, a douchebag I call "Zero" these days, is a wonderful musician, songwriter and performer. Really smart guy. Very talented. But... an asshole. Very untrustworthy. Quit the band and immediately started talking shit about us. He also did some very questionable stuff online with some of our young female supporters. Not a nice guy.

 

Bassist #2, Hammer Bob aka The Barge, was kinda rhythically challenged and wouldn't use a pick... ever. I wound up writing bass lines for him that were really simple because if I let him write his own parts, they were sloppy and out of time. I wrote him the simplest, most minimal lines, and he played them well... most of the time. He stayed with us for about 4 years. Basically a really nice guy, but he wound up hooked on coke. We wrote a lot of material with the Hammer. He's the kind of guy who would spend the day knee-deep in shit, fixing your septic tank, find a gold brick in there and give it to you. The kind of guy who would do anything for a friend, but always had horrible luck himself. We did a lot of touring with him. It was really, really hard when we had to ditch him, but he just stopped being sober... ever.

 

Bassist #3, the red-mohawked kid I mentioned, was a roadie for us. Really NICE kid. My mom loves this guy. Even my 80-year-old grandmother loves this guy. No addictions, no real vices outside of an unnatural love for Pepsi and cigarettes. Just a good egg. Not a good bassist, though. Played well in the rhythmic sense, but wasn't particularly skilled as a writer or too technically proficient. He was also kind of scared of the stage. He looked good, though, and if he took off his glasses, he wasn't scared of the crowd. He kinda had that "loner-absorbed-in-the-music" vibe happening. I think this was mainly a combination of fear and concentration. When he had to quit, it broke our hearts. I literally cried.

 

Now, #5... a decent bassist. Pretty funky, good timing, but not as good as I am. Not to sound egotistical, but he's just not. And he won't be. Plays hard -- like me, but his sense of dynamics is a little shady, and he doesn't have great taste with fills. He'll play a flashy fill just to play one... But man, we really love this dude. What a brother. Total stand-up guy. Very, very straight-up. Honest to a fault. The kind of guy who would drive three hours over a 6-hour shift and feel bad about waking the next guy up.

 

And now here we are... looking at a new guy, Chris. We kind of know him a little... from what have seen and heard, he can play his ass off. #5 was actually scared of his skills. #5 said, "Dude... Chris will play circles around me." He's definitely a career bassist, and he takes bass seriously. Also, from what I've seen, he's a damn good man... owns his home, has a wife and a good job. A pillar of his community, so to speak. Knows a lot of obscure bands... almost as many as I do. Loves stoner rock like me. Has a sense of humor for sure... after all, he likes us...

 

I'll tell him about this forum. He's quite the Internet addict. Like me.

 

We'll see how things go tonight.

 

Sorry this thing was so long.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

so i'm starting my own band. i'm finally making no comprimises about who is in my band and what they want to do. i know what you're saying about not choosing the most proficient player.

 

my opening speech, before a single note is played or a single guitar even gets tuned, is this, "i have played with some really great players. i need to play with people who can play their instruments. but i'm not the greatest player in the world. more than chops, i need players i can trust, both as musicians and as people. i want to be in a band full of friends. the best band i was ever in, we all showed up on time and played what we were supposed to, when we were supposed to. we could all count on the others to do their jobs. it was wonderful.

 

"my goal for this band is to be active enough to support ourselves financially. i need you to be able to committ yourself to that, and to the idea that if we get to that point, you can quit your job and tour -- make the band your job. i want this to be fun. i really enjoy playing music, but i don't want it to be about the fun. if you're just looking for a good time and don't want to take the music seriously, i can't have that."

 

also, this band i'm starting is a christian band -- more in the mold of U2 than praise music. i can't do praise music, but most of my songs end up being at least allegorically about my relationship with God, and i need to be in a band that can be comfortable playing in clubs to drunk people and to youth groups at churches. of course, even with that i'll probably be the only sxe in the band.

 

most people can at least relate, agree or disagree with the ethos, with the first two paragraphs. i want a band that is musically, ideologically, and personally in tune with each other, so that we're committed to the same ideas, sounds, and emotions.

 

i understand where you're at, Erik. like i said in a previous post, i've been number 7 before. i've been replaced even when everything was going really well. i've started my own bands with people who didn't live up to my standards because i was impatient and too willing to comprimise.

 

i'm excited for you guys with chris/6. the more of your stories and insights i read, the more i appreciate your approach to music and life. here's to optimism.

 

robb.

[The Bear Jew]

Thanks Robb. It's not easy.

 

BTW, I'm straight-edge too.

 

That ain't easy, either.

[The Bear Jew]

Yo...

Just an update while I'm running out the door.

Chris came by last night to run through some songs with his black custom Jazz bass. It's got two outputs... and two different sets of active p-ups... a set of EMG Jazz p-ups and a P-bass p-up. Sounds amazing through my rig, which he is happy to use so that he doesn't have to cart his around for rehearsals.

 

Focused on the first five songs from our 12-song set. The stuff's not hard, but we have some quirky stops and phrases that take a minute to grasp. He didn't have many problems -- Chris is a quick study. Within two takes of each tune, he was playing them like he had known them for years but was having a sorta off night. Played through each song three times and then played them all back-to back, set-style with no breaks in between. He's on the frickin' job. I think we're gonna be FINE.

 

BTW, he showed up with a big vinyl "6" sticker in the middle of his chest last night. We all cracked up.

[patrick_dont_fret]

Hey man, sorry to hear that. I'm sure it sucks big time to get hurt like that, and even worse when you have a band to play in. I do wish you guys the best, though, and yes, I love your CD. It's just what the doctor ordered for when I'm feeling down and need a pick-me-up.

[_Sweet Willie_]

Originally posted by CMDN:

BTW, he showed up with a big vinyl "6" sticker in the middle of his chest last night. We all cracked up.

That's totally kick-ass!

[The Bear Jew]

Yeah, he's fitting in nicely.

[Caevan O’Shite]

CMDN- sounds like you mighta got one for the longer haul, this time...

 

Hey, ye Bastid- -k

[The Bear Jew]

Yeah. And Chris is definitely a "for the song" type of guy. I don't think the 12-stringer will be making the scene for a little while. He's gotta get the basics first.

 

Chris actually told me to nitpick his playing and let him know if he was missing anything or whatever.

 

That's a pretty big difference for us.

 

Oh yeah, did I mention we're supposed to be on the cover of a local music mag for July?

 

Yeah... Chris will have been in the band a full week before his first interview and photo shoot for us. Then, his mug will grace the pages of the area's most well-known music rag as the bassist of Cottonmouth D.N....

 

Then he gets to hit the road with us for two days and about 1,000 miles of driving.

 

Baptism by fire. Always a nice thing.