Reader Spotlight: Lane Baldwin

Lane BaldwinMeet Lane Baldwin, aka Lane on Bass, a bassist of 42 years and our player in the spotlight for October 18, 2011.

Bio:

Bassist for 42 years, pro for 29. Endorsements include Spector basses, DNA amplification, DR Strings, LM Products (straps), Peterson Tuners, Shubb Capos, Manhasset Stands. Musical Ambassador for Washington, DC.

Current main gig: Ryan Pelton and the Difference (world’s foremost Elvis Tribute Artist). Leader, singer, bassist (low and lead bass), and songwriter for Deeper Blues (hailed as “the best in thirty years”).

Co-founder of Low Notes for Nashville (now expanded to Low Notes Foundation, serving bassists in need). Creator of Bass Lessons HQ, a new lesson-oriented site.

Location:

South Carolina

Day gig:

Music is my main job, but I’m also a business consultant focusing on marketing, sales, customer service, servant-leadership and associated training. Trustee for Spears Center for Servant-Leadership, published author on the subject. I also consult to other artists and companies on web sites (design, copy, navigation, etc.).

Years experience:

42 years

Bands & Gigs:

I am the bassist for Ryan Pelton, the world’s foremost Elvis Tribute Artist. We also do Salute! – a patriotic show that serves to raise funds for our project to build a house for a homeless vet who lost his home while serving in Iraq/Afghanistan. This year, we released Ryan’s first all-original CD, Wash Over Me.

I am also the leader of my own band – Deeper Blues – and am the lead vocalist, songwriter and producer. Dig the Hole, our first CD, has been hailed as some of the best Blues in thirty years, and has gained airplay and sales in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Gear:

Endorser for:

  • Spector Basses – NS-6XL, Coda 4, Coda 5
  • DNA Amplification – DNS-112N, DNS-210
  • DR Strings – Black Beauties
  • Peterson Tuners – Stomp Classic
  • LM Products – numerous straps
  • Shubb Capos – for my guitar and baritone guitar
  • Renaissance Guitars – RS-6 Deuce

I also use Eden Amplifiers – WT-550, WT400, WTX-260

My Pedaltrain Jr. pedal board currently includes:

  • Line 6 Relay G50 wireless
  • E-H Mini POG
  • Stomp Classic
  • Ernie Ball volume pedal

I use an Avalon U-5 in the studio.

Why I play the bass:

After starting on piano (age 5), trying guitar and drums (not good fits) and playing Baritone in school band, I tried a bass in the local music store. It spoke to me in a way no other instrument ever had. After only a few notes, I realized that the bass was my instrument.

My bass superpower/claim to fame

Serving the Groove. While I do lead bass (as well as “normal” low end) in Deeper Blues, I am mostly known as a pocket player who prefers to serve the song instead of flashing out at ever opportunity. My motto was given to me by a producer who, when asked why a client should hire me for his project, said, “Lane is Rock Solid & Pocket Wise.”

My influences

Almost every bassist I’ve ever heard is an influence in one way or another. Early influences include Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, Chris Squire, James Jamerson, and Carol Kaye, with whom I studied in the early ’80s. Mentors include Johnny B. Gayden (Albert Collins, and many others), and Roy Vogt, both of whom are close friends. I also consider many of my friends to be influences, including Polo Jones, Traa Daniels, Sean O’Bryan Smith, Abe White, Dave Pomeroy, Carmine Rojas, Doug Johns and many, many others.

More on the web:

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  1. MsTambo

    THE TRUTH ABOUT LANE BALDWIN…Musician/Clergy.
    “Watch Out For False Prophets. They Come To You In Sheep’s Clothing, But Inwardly They Are Ferocious Wolves…You Shall Know Them By Their Fruit”

    This quote is applicable because Lane claims to be a “MINISTER OF GOD”…Not of the true Christian kind, faith through Jesus, but like so many of his own making. Evidently, he took some online course and now claims God speaks through him. Man doesn’t choose God, He chooses them, man doesn’t CHOOSE THEIR GIFTS and CALLING, that too comes from God.

    I say all that to ask you would a “godly” man do what I am about to describe to you to anyone, much less a TRUE FOLLOWER of Jesus, and one who actually HAS been called to speak the truth. I need to do a bit of background, before I deal with how RUDELY and UNPROFFESSIONALLY attacked me underhandly, and got his buddy musicians to be in on it.

    Truth is Lane is an egotistical narcissist, and for those of us who have been around him in the music industry, it only takes one meeting to see this fact. Sadly, I found this to be a common theme of many (It’s a man’s world) in the secular music industry. More so among the older musicians, not so much the younger ones and the younger audience. They APPRECIATE ME…More on that in a bit.

    What Lane and so many do not understand is, their ATTEMPTS to ATTACK and discredit my GOD GIVEN TALENT of playing the tambourine, like no one has ever done before, (doubt they ever will) is a REFECTION of their true NATURE and THEIR TRUE HEART. In one sense like Lane and so many other GREAT MUSCIANS, I play by FEEL ALONE, but in so many ways that is about all we have in common and is why I believe there is ENVY.

    According to Lanes BIO, he started messing around with musical instruments since he was 5 and in 7/8th grade he found the bass.
    LB: “I started on piano at age 5, studying under the same woman who taught my mother in her youth and brought my sister to a very advanced level in just a year and-a-half. She taught us a lot of theory and ear training as well, which helped me later when I began to play bass.
    The piano lessons stopped when we moved from Texas to Virginia, but I soon got a half-size acoustic guitar and learned a few chords. It just didn’t really seem to fit, however. Then, in about fifth grade, I took up euphonium, or baritone horn. I dabbled in drums – another non-fit – in seventh grade, then discovered the bass during the summer between 7th and 8th grades.”

    Hmmm, let’s break this down, and see if we can see why LANE BALDWIN and others like him, have a problem with me. I knew all this off the bat and is what has kept me relatively sound till, recently. I put the Devil back in his place, and to think, he knows I’m a writer…oh well, “YOU CHOOSE THE BEHAVIOR, YOU CHOOSE THE CONSEQUENCES”…LOL…I let his mean-spirited behavior go on 5 other occasions, it was time to stand up to the demonic forces, that Lane and others exhibited when they decided to be Satan’s tools.

    Much like RYDRER GREEN, and I am sure many if not all most great musician’s have all this in COMMON when I had NONE OF IT. Here is something to think about…There are and has been probably millions of GREAT guitar players, drummers, violinist (My birth name is PAGANINI, btw) Saxophone players etc…BUT NO ONE HAS TAKEN THE TAMBOURINE TO THE LEVEL I HAVE…(not Stevie Nicks, Not Davy Jones, and even RAY COOPER)…AND IT WAS ALL SELF TAUGHT STARTING AT 49, AND IN A ONLY LITTLE OVER A YEAR I PUT A CD TOGTHER AND WAS ON STAGE 1st TIME EVER AT THE POWERHOUSE. (btw, Grant Uris told me more than once, “He was a fan, and that he had never seen any bad behavior from me”…I am a lady of CLASS, till someone pushes me too far…typical Taurus. But like other “leaders” he had to SUBMIT to INSECURE musicians like LANE.

    Although very musically inclined, I never had family support, none from anyone I know really, I still don’t. I was adopted into a crazy family, having guardians ABANDONE (and abuse me) 7 times by the time I was 18. Around 6/7 Musical instruments were thrown AT me and to me (step mom beat me with my guitars, breaking them, never learned for no one to teach me) I was given an organ, yet again, I couldn’t self teach that well, or I had no passion for it…I picked up the clarinet in 5th grade wanting to play the SAX, but my mean parents said, no. I went from BEGINER to ADANCED quickly, and by the middle of the year I was 1st Clarinet. Sadly though, because of my poor grades, (again heart not in it) my clarinet like everything else I was GOOD AT WAS TAKEN AWAY. I never played again….I had to worry about spending my years surviving and serving others.

    It wasn’t till after my divorce did I pick up the tambourine, always having envisioned that I could play it like no one has ever done before….more with FEELING/TEMO/RYTHEM, little did I know I’d EXCEEED MY OWN EXPECTIONS…To God Be The Glory. I did grow up MOST ALTHETIC and still play sports and I could always dance…and I tend to SNAP MY FINGERS keeping beat when I dance….(I have perfect timing) all those things, were what got me to do what I…And LOTS OF PRACTICE, and breaking out of comfort zone, for I hate the cameras, and having people watch me. No one understands all I have done to get where I am…It didn’t just happen over night, but all my life. My road has been harder than anyone I know, because it wasn’t all HANDED TO ME, I had NO MENTOR, I had and still don’t have much support….NOT from egotistical musicians anyway.

    Here is another reason I know it is EGO is because, in Lane’s own words he said, he couldn’t master the drums…Bet he and so many others musicians CANNOT DANCE, and God forbid they dance and play, like I do, lol…I’ve written much about why they are jealous of me…in “I March To The Beat Of A Drummer”….mainly because it is all NEW and DIFFERENT and I takes away from the other instruments glory….for I’m nailing what they are doing, not knowing what they are going to do….I AD LIB and not many can do that. All MY ARRANGEMENTS come INSTANTLY without practice and are very intricate at times…I believe I am playing the open tambourine the way it is SUPPOSE TO BE PLAYED…They all don’t like that in fact proof of this was the other nigh playing along with a band on the dance floor or in my set, and 3 of the band members complimented me, and then later when they realized how “AWESOME” (been told that more than once) I was with even harder pieces…The singer said out loud, as a cover up…”WE JUST IMPROVICED THERE”. I’m thinking, no, singer, I JUST IMPROVICED THERE….Whatever? Before I go into all that Lane has wrongly done to me, I was to say, how can SO MANY AUDIENCE MEMBERS BE WRONG (you should hear the positive reactions I get while playing in my car places) and the MUSCIANS be right?…They can’t, the audience is right and the egotistical musicians are wrong and the evidence supports it. I have been told I ADD TO THE SONG, and I think so as well, or I wouldn’t be doing it.

    I had only met Lane a few times at the Powerhouse Pub. And liking what I heard and complimenting him (I do all those that I like, even if they are mean to me) I asked if he had hear me play, and he lied and said no. I’m thinking, how could you not, I was on stage, and it does stand out…Anyway, he said, can you do a 16th note…Not knowing what that meant, since I do not read music, but knowing that I do EVERY TEMPO possible, I picked a song (had only done 12 up t this time) on my phone had him listen to it and he said, “Yes you can” and that was it…he was never nice to me since, not even a hi, not a nod, nothing. This was during the time he was going through his cancer issues, and a fund raiser was being raised for his 6 month layoff, and I gave generously (having money at the time from selling my farm) he did thank me via message, and I thought all was cool with he and I, but no, his HATRED FOR THE TAMBOURINE overpowered his ability to be KIND (a “minister of God” mind you) for me and at every chance he got he would make sure to DISS ME, actually making a SCENCE about it, going down to the dance floor, and purposely IGNORING ME, more than once, while serenading others, lol…(sorry Lane, you don’t have it that good…The singer from Blackburn Bullet maybe…even I get men and women, young and old hanging on me and I don’t even try…:)… Mind you, I never play my tambourines, when he and others do not like me…I refrain…I am Respectful…ALWAYS!…

    That was only a few weeks ago, now lets see what REVERAND LANE BALDWIN and his buddies did to me last night at this Pub.
    .
    Against my better judgment, I went to watch RYDER GREEN and LANE play for two reasons. One, was because my landlord and her daughter (we all live together) were working there, and I enjoy listening to RYDER and LANE and even bragged about them to my roomies. Also, letting them know what an ASS Lane can be. I had also mentioned how you can tell who the really egotistical musicians are…THEY LEAVE RIGHT AFTER THEIR SET…THEY DON’T BUY FOOD…THEY DON’T MIX WITH THE AUDIENCE…Their fans….weird huh? They mainly hang out with their own kind.

    Speaking of which leads me to last night. Wait, I need to start the night before. A “neutral scout” was sent to MY PART OF TOWN, they already chased me out of SAC and FOLSOM area. I’m from Grass valley, Auburn so this is my territory, so it was very suspicious to me to see GREG KING (one of m favorites) in my part of town. The band playing were only 2 guys, so I left my tambo’s in the car and enjoyed the night, even though a few wanted me to play, but I could tell these guys were the type that would be “offended” no matter how good I was. (they actually played EASY TEMPO MUSIC soft classic 70’s rock…I prefer more challenging pieces…and is why DJ’s Love me) So I just enjoyed my night and planned on doing the same last night, but SATAN and his MINION’S PLAN WAS TO MESS WITH ME, SO AS TO RUIN EVERYWEHRE I TRY AND GO…THEY HAVE ALL SUCCESSFULLY PUSHED ME OUT OF LIKE 10 PLACES….But, they can’t do them all plus, I play in my car everywhere…so more people hear me than they do any of them….and further places too…and they will remember.

    With all of Lanes pawns all in place at the pub, towards the end of the night he makes sure to PUT ME DOWN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE WHILE ON THE STAGE, IN FRONT OF SOME OF M FANS AND MY LANDLORD AND HER DAUGHTER.

    This is how it went. Lane is a great story telling, and is why he thinks he can PREACH AT ME WITH INDUENDO’S THAT ONLY I WOULD UNDERSTAND, but the place was mainly filled with some of the musicians that have been rude and unsupportive of me over the last few years.

    Lane preceded to talk about how he hates HARMONICA PLAYERS, before introducing to the stage another NEMISES of mine RO HARPO..(btw, RO, broke my wooden tambourine one time when he picked it up like so many WITHOUT ASKING and banged it many times trying to tell me how to play…more Like let me show you how to play)….Well, having a 6th sense, that was my first clue to where Lane was going with his drawn out speech. He made several derogatory comments about how most harmonica players are not good enough to play most of the song…(he thinks Ro is that good but he really isn’t, if one listens to his music it all sounds the same…Steve Gatz, is the best around, now he feels… RO BANGS and BEATS…imo) ….and then he went on to tambourine players, somehow comparing the two to be the same…(not the way I play they are not…I’m more equal with, SAX, CONGAS or a CAJON) that they need to learn to take breaks, when there is a solo, and making all kind of DIGS ABOUT MY PLAYING, when in fact he has hardly ever heard me play, since he is one of those musicians that leaves right after, I don’t play with him and he was gone most the time I was playing on stage, all over….Only to eventually have most of the jammers start dissing me, no VIDEO’S NO PCTURES ect. If I mentioned all the MEAN THINGS that have happened to me, and all I’ve done is be nice, friendly and complimentary etc…

    Just goes to show who has CLASS and who DOESN’T….Who is SECURE with themselves and who ISN’T…

    BTW, I was told that because the place last night seated musicians (Part of their plan was for Lane to call different ones up) and not real customers…My landlord only made $8.00. because no one ordered any food, or drinks, just water…Remember the clues of an egotistical musicians…well, Lane and his buddies nailed all of them…KUDO’S lane.

    Another thing, with the uniqueness and PRECISE TIMING that I have, I can easily get on ELLEN…America’s Got Talent etc…but, I’m taking care of other things right now…Plus, I’d rather play in church and a Christian band than with, tools of Satan….Just saying…;)

    WHE THEY CAN FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN DO THIS AND ALL THE OTHER 59 SONGS…(All Summer Long…Stairway To Heaven etc) THEY MAY HAVE A CASE…UNTIL THEN ENJOY…:)

    NO MORE DRAMA
    https://www.reverbnation.com/edieleone/song/24184138-no-more-drama-me-playing-along

    HARD DAY (Don’t Bring Me Down)
    https://www.reverbnation.com/edieleone/song/24183709-hard-day-me-playing-along-with

    ROAR
    https://www.reverbnation.com/edieleone/song/23267159-roar-me-playing-along-with-katie

    SHAKE IT OFF
    https://www.reverbnation.com/edieleone/song/23042756-shake-off-me-playing-along-with