The Lightbulb Moment - Page 3

Every so often, I’m asked about some of my favorite drummers to play with and why that is. Whether it’s for a gig referral or for the sake of conversation with my fellow musicians, it’s a question that doesn’t always have the same answer. The context of a gig, the type of music being played, and the other musicians involved...

Every now and then, a fellow bass player asks me what it’s like to write the “Bass Players To Know” column for No Treble. My mind immediately goes to the moments of researching, writing, and editing… the hours sitting in front of my computer screen, the obsessive re-readings, and the wildly diverse Spotify searches. Once I snap out of the...

Your phone lights up with a text message about a gig next Saturday night… score! You’re available, the money is decent, and your drummer friend recommended you. It’s an overall win! You accept the gig and receive a follow up text: “Let’s rehearse Tuesday night.” Thankfully, you’re free, but you realize that you only have 48 hours to learn all...

Cauliflower, that kind-of-like-broccoli-but-perhaps-less-exciting vegetable, was completely absent from my childhood. I honestly didn’t know what it was, other than something my mother breezed over in the produce section of the super market. She was not a fan of the baby-tree-like vegetables and therefore, it was often excluded from the communal veggie tray at parties and officially barred from our refrigerator....

It is a lifelong goal of mine to understand the subtleties of music — the sound of records coming from particular eras and locals, the specific timbre of different instruments, and the nuances that reflect the personality of every player. There’s no better way to hone in these subtleties than by comparing and contrasting songs and catalogs that are of...

There comes a time in every player’s life when we listen to a song and are able to identify a perfectly executed lift in tonal center. The energy heightens, the chorus takes on a slightly new character, and the band keeps grooving with a new sense of intention. This extraordinary moment can only be one thing: a key change. Take...

Today’s column is brought to you by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. My usual route to and from downtown involves quite a bit of highway driving and every few days; the TDOT message boards provide a less-than-clever quote to inspire better driving habits. Apparently, plenty of drivers have been neglecting their turn signal, and the government has decided to do...

For those of you who haven’t noticed, I enjoy learning about food almost as much as I enjoy exploring the bass. Lucky for me, there are plenty of parallels between the world of food and the world of music. Both rely on unique combinations of ingredients in order to make a final product. Both can be traced back to a...

There’s an old saying that goes: if it were easy, everyone would do it. Playing music isn’t easy. Navigating the fretboard is confusing, playing with a metronome can be tedious, and there’s a never-ending list of songs to learn. Despite all of the work that goes into playing music, most of us love it and in many ways, are defined...

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s traffic. Anyone living in, visiting, or planning to move to Nashville has become burdened by the time wasting, frustrating, 4-hour rush hour that is seemingly inescapable. I’m no stranger to the woes of metropolitan areas, the growing pains of urban development, and the high concentration of oversized vehicles, but this city has...

I’m an avid radio listener. The preset buttons in my car are heavily worn, the numbers barely legible after years of searching for the perfect song and attempting to dodge commercial messages. Sometimes it’s nice to drive in silence, but usually, the radio is what truly fuels my time spent behind the wheel. I always enjoy hearing new music, but...

We’re all looking for ways to get more bang for our buck, especially when it comes to practicing. We watch videos, scroll through forums, and read columns about how to establish a better practice routine (you may be doing this right now). So, for what it’s worth, here are my two cents. Frankly, most of us don’t like to practice...