Buzz
Groove Spoon, Featuring Joe Dart: Dance Week (Groove is Right!)
Groove Spoon is a band that clearly knows how to have fun and knows how to get down. And that’s thanks in large part to one of our favorite groove bassists, Joe Dart, who is a member of Vulpeck, along with the drummer in this video, Jack Stratton. (Jack is a total trip on this one!) The band made this...
Incubus Releases “HQ Live” CD/DVD Set
Last year, Incubus celebrated their 20th anniversary with a set of special performances at an art gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The six-day event provided fans an intimate experience with the band and, thankfully, was completely documented by the band. It’s now available in a package entitled HQ Live , a two-CD/one-DVD set chock-full of audio, behind the scenes footage,...
Bass of the Week: Schecter Stargazer-4
Schecter’s Stargazer-4 is a quirky take on basses of years past. The old school-inspired 4-stringer is built for versatility with EMG’s MMHZ humbucking pickup in the bridge position and the EMG SJHZ single-coil pickup in the neck position. For further tonal adjustments, the bass has an EMG active 2-band EQ in addition to a pickup blend knob. The Stargazer-4 features...
Renaissance Man: An Interview with Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller has been on top of the music industry for over 30 years, and it’s easy to see why. Even with several Grammy awards, numerous film scores, producing credits, and legions of fans, he’s constantly working to grow and understand the world around him – musically and otherwise. Miller was enjoying a rare day off in France when we...
Victor Wooten: “The Lesson”, Live
EMG has shared an excellent video by the one and only Victor Wooten, performing his tune, “The Lesson” live in studio. The tune was written as a companion for his book, The Music Lesson, and appeared on the soundtrack released last year. Is there anything Victor can’t do?
In Memoriam: Bob Birch
We’re sad to report the passing of Bob Birch, longtime bassist for Elton John and session musician. Birch, who was 56, reportedly took his own life near his home in Los Angeles. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Birch started out as an alto saxophonist before the sounds of Motown made him switch to bass in middle school. He worked the Detroit...
Megadeth Behind-The-Scenes: David Ellefson’s Singapore Video
Megadeth is currently on tour in support of TH1RT3EN, their latest album. Bassist David Ellefson shares this nine minute, behind-the-scenes video from their final stop on the Asia tour, in Singapore on August 7th. Among other things, David finds a Starbucks, apparently one of the band’s favorite things to do (and obviously, the fans are in to it too.) Tip...
Getting Over Extended Range (and Other Musical) Ruts
Q: I’ve been playing bass for many years, and started playing the 6-string bass only about six years ago. I’m currently stuck in a dormant sludge of un-creativity! Any thoughts on who offers a good 6-string finger exercise, scale patterns, a book or even a good video? I can’t seem to get out of the same old riffs… I’m not...
Project Dirty Work: Behind the Curtain
Check out this video for “Behind the Curtain” by Czech Republic bassist David Habiger’s new group Project Dirty Work. The sneak peek video offers a first look at the band for which Habiger is listed as the “main protagonist.” The bassist also composes all the music, which has tinges of hard driving metal as well as thoughtful, melodious chordal playing.
Snarky Puppy Announces Tour, Releases New Music Video
Snarky Puppy is gearing up for a 47-date tour of the North America in support of their latest effort, groundUP. Led by bassist Michael League, the group will kick things off in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before zig-zagging across the States with a couple of Canadian dates thrown in the mix. The band’s eclectic mix of genres is hard to put a...
Reader Spotlight: Drew “Hondo” Felder
Meet Drew Felder, a bassist who goes by the nickname “Hondo” (I don’t see any actual Hondo basses on his gear list though – and I may be dating myself with that comment). Drew is a pretty interesting and funny guy. So we think you’ll like this week’s reader spotlight. Bio: I’m an undead bassist/composer from the Philly area. My...
Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (July 2012)
Bass videos rule. And here are the ten that ruled most in July 2012, based on No Treble reader views. Enjoy! 1. Victor Wooten: “Isn’t She Lovely”, Live Solo Bass Performance In April, Victor Wooten held a music clinic at a music school in Mechanicsville, Virginia. One of the songs he performed was his solo bass take on Stevie Wonder’s...