Buzz
R.E.M. Releases “Automatic For The People” 25th Anniversary Reissue
It’s been 25 years since R.E.M.’s iconic album Automatic For The People and Concord’s Craft Recordings is celebrating with a deluxe reissue. Available in three versions, the remastered album includes their hits “Nightswimming,” “Man on the Moon” and “Everybody Hurts.” While it’s a hugely important record to so many people, the band members didn’t necessarily set out to make it...
Acoustic Amplification Introduces B410C Bass Cabinet
Acoustic Amplification expanded their bass amplification lineup with the B410C bass cabinet. Featuring a 4×10-inch speaker configuration, the cab handles up to 400 watts at 8 ohms. The cab’s traditional ferrite speakers are also accompanied by a defeatable high-frequency horn driver. “This great cab harkens back to the original bass speakers that consistently delivered amazing tone for serious bassists,” says...
Stories Behind the Songs: Kenny Passarelli
Kenny Passarelli’s place in music history was cemented when he co-wrote Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way,” but that just scratches the surface of his career. He also worked with Elton John, Hall and Oates, Stephen Stills, Tommy Bolin, Dan Fogelberg, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), and more. Naturally, he has more than a few stories to tell. The bassist grew up...
James Brown (Featuring Bootsy Collins): Live on Italian TV, 1971
This one should get you moving! Check out the 18-year-old Bootsy Collins backing up James Brown and the Original JB’s for a performance on Italian television in 1971. Funky!
Snarky Puppy Announces 2018 Tour, GroundUp Music Festival
Michael League and Snarky Puppy have announced a U.S. tour for 2018 with support from fellow GroundUP artists Forq, Alina Engibaryan, Sirintip, and Banda Magda. The Grammy-winning band will begin their trek in Atlanta, Georgia on February 14th before heading north to Maryland then west. It is currently slated to wrap up March 4th after a four-night residency at SF...
S.I.T. Strings Introduces the Foundations Bass Strings
S.I.T. Strings unveiled a new set of bass strings called the Foundations line at Bass Player Live this year. The new strings are built with a “state-of-the-art core material” that the company says makes them extremely responsive. “Designed to be the brightest and most flexible bass string available, The Foundations are sure to become the building blocks of your sound,”...
How Can I Play In Any Setting?
Q: I’ve been checking out this site for a while. Love it all. However, I have a problem: I don’t know where to start. Let me tell you a little about me. I’ve played bass for quite some time and even taken lessons by some famous players. I’m the student that everyone dreams of. I practice incessantly. With all that...
Diego Tarantino: After You’ve Gone
It is clear Diego Tarantino is quite the student of music. Here’s a video he shared with us recently of him performing a bass version of “After You’ve Gone,” based on the version by Django Reinhardt. Amazing musicianship on display!
Metallica’s Remastered “Master of Puppets” Box Set Features Cliff Burton Interviews, Jason Newsted Auditions
31 years after its release, Metallica is paying tribute to their iconic Master of Puppets with an incredible reissue box set. The band’s third album has been remastered for sound quality in CD, vinyl, and digital formats. An expansive deluxe box set includes the album in several formats and much more with three vinyl records (with a MP3 Download Card),...
Stuart Clayton: Bass Lick of the Week #4 – Harmonics & Chords
Here’s another great entry in Stuart Clayton’s popular “Bass Lick of the Week” series. “This week’s exercise is a slow bass groove that combines harmonics with fretted bass notes to create chords,” Stuart shared. “The inspiration for this piece was Jaco Pastorius’s renowned composition ‘Portrait of Tracy’, which is highly recommended as a study piece if you enjoy using harmonics,...
In Memoriam: Chad Hanks
American Head Charge bassist Chad Hanks has died after fighting a terminal disease. He was 46 years old. Hanks co-founded the Minneapolis-based band in 1997 and, along with frontman Cameron Heacock, was one of only two consistent members throughout the group’s history. He’s featured on the band’s self-released debut, Trepanation, as well as The War of Art, The Feeding, and...
Blasko To Join Ozzy Osbourne on Farewell World Tour
Just months after playing his final concert with Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne has announced his own Farewell World Tour that’s slated to last into 2020. The metal pioneer may be finishing up his time on the road, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be done with music altogether. “People keep asking me when I’m retiring,” he says. “This will be my...