Reader Spotlight: Evan Heird

Back in the day, Evan Heird had a roommate who had a bass. He picked it up, and that was that. Later, he focused on acting but returned to the bass once again.

Evan is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight (you could be next). Here’s his story…

Bio:

My grandfather was a guitar instructor in the Memphis, TN, area, and he gave me my first guitar when I was twelve. Later I began playing bass guitar by ear and played bass for several bands in Alabama and Michigan. I studied music in college, learned to read it, and began working toward a career as a double bassist in a symphony orchestra when I suddenly fell into an acting career. My twenty-year foray into theatre took my attention away from the bass for many years, with a few crossover episodes in which I was the bassist in the pit of musical productions.

For the past ten years, I have lived overseas: Cameroon, France, The Gambia, and South Africa (my wife is a U.S. diplomat), and I always tried to find musicians with which to connect and play. While in The Gambia, I had the opportunity to accompany a now-deceased gentleman who was a virtuoso on the kora.

I’ve returned to the States for now, and I am happily playing in three bands currently in the Washington D.C. area.

Location:

Silver Spring, Maryland

Years experience:

32 years

Why I play the bass:

My roommate had a bass lying around, and I picked it up and started playing by ear.

Gear:

• Acoustic B200H head
• Acoustic B115 cab
• Digitech BP355, Zoom B1XFour
• Basses: Fender Jaguar bass, Music Man Sterling, Dean acoustic fretless, double bass

My Influences:

John Paul Jones, Jaco Pastorius, David Hood, Tim Commerford, Kim Deal

My bass superpower/claim to fame:

I don’t have a bass superpower or claim to fame. My relative pitch has served me well, though.

More on the web:

• Bandcamp