Reader Spotlight: Tony Gregory

Tony Gregory was five years old when his dad put a bass in his hands. That was all it took.

Today, Tony plays in two bands in and around Connecticut. He’s this week’s reader in the spotlight, and here’s his story.

Bio:

I was born in Brooklyn NY in the 70’s, and my pop played guitar in a folk rock band. But he wasn’t just a folkie! He was into an incredibly eclectic mix of music. Somedays he’s listening to Bob Dylan, other’s it was Emerson Lake and Palmer, or it could be George Benson, or The Rolling Stones. His own musical tastes combined with the amazing diversity of NYC’s native sounds of hip-hop, New York Hard Core, Punk and New Wave gave me a huge palette to work with when I picked up the bass in junior high-school. He bought me a Rickenbacker 4003 when I graduated, and I’ve been playing it ever since – be it in metal, punk, funk, rock or blues bands.

Location:

Norwalk, CT USA

Day gig:

Producer at a technology company.

Years experience:

27 years.

Bands & Gigs:

I currently play in two bands in and around CT – The Fry Daddys, a 4 piece classic rock cover band, and Vamp Kings a 5 piece funk/soul/R&B/reggae cove band. Between the two of them it covers just about all the music I love to listen to and play!

Gear:

Basses:

• Rickenbacker 4003
• Warwick Thumb Bass 5 Bolt-on
• Ken Smith Proto-J 705
• Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray HH 5 String

Amps/Cabs:

• Hartke 7000 with a GK Neo 2×10 cab
• Aguilar Tonehammer 350 with a Mark Bass 2×10 cab

Effects:

• Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver DI
• Boss Chorus
• Boss Octaver
• Boss Bass Synth
• MXR Envelope Filter
• Bass PODxt

Why I play the bass:

My dad had a studio in his house, and I was always dropping in to listen to his jam sessions when I was a toddler. When I was about five my pop turned on “Midnight Rambler” by the Rolling Stones, put a bass that he used for tracking into my hands, plugged it into this massive 2×15 home built amp/cab he had, and said to play along. He plugged into the fuzz channel by accident, and while I was just making noise, I got hooked on that massive thunderous bass sound!! Years later in junior high I used money from a paper route to take bass lessons because I wanted to get into a band as a bass player. After only playing about 6 months I played my first show as a freshman in my high-school at the annual “Rock-a-thon” concert. The rest is history.

My bass superpower/claim to fame:

It’s something that’s easily taken for granted, but I’m going to say my professionalism. With some many variables of what could go wrong at a show – I don’t want to be one of them. I show up to rehearsals and gigs, on-time, sober, with working gear and my parts down. I don’t show-boat and I play for the song. I’ve always been described as “solid” by my bandmates – and that trait contributes to helping the bands I’m in be successful.

My influences:

Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Les Claypool, Sting, Jaco Pastorius, George Porter Jr., Flea, James Jamerson, Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, Bootsy Collins, and the list goes on and on and on and on….

More on the web:

• The Fry Daddys
• Vamp Kings