May 7, 2007 - Morning Sure Comes Early

Wow! It's 5AM, and I've got just about enough time for two more cups of coffee if I hurry. Hooking up with the band at Gary's. At six. AM. Are there really people that do this for a living? Why?

Today is the big day...Eden Night at Rock & Load. Ten endorsers. Video crew. "Hi, my name is Lane and I'm an Edenholic. No, I don't want to be cured, I just want to show you my rig." Taping an interview for Hayden James' show, Rockin' the House. "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" (Catch the show on Friday night, 6PM Central on RealityRadio.biz.) Then, if I'm really lucky, I get a dinner break.

Then, it's time for some Schmoozin'! Doors open at 7 for the Meet & Greet portion of the evening. JD and the guys from Corner Music will be there to answer pricing questions. I'm just there to giveaway T-shirts and such. Plus I've wanted to meet Charlie Hayward and Calvin Turner for a while now. Concert starts a 9, and I can't wait to hear what Roy and Sean have cooked up together. We're talking something like elevnty-six strings between them. And more chops than a mid-town butcher!

(More coffee.)

(YAWN!!!)

I'm going to go dunk my head in a bucket of ice water. I gotta wake up! See you next week with pictures and everything... Until then,

Keep Thumpin',

Lane on Bass...

---

May 16, 2007 - Morning Comes Early

Last week I dropped a few quick paragraphs in Bill's lap (figuratively) before heading off into the sunrise toward Nashville. This week, I'm mainly going to yak about the event.

First off, the video shoots went very well. All the guys were very easy to work with. In addition to Abe and myself, we also did:

Charlie Hayward (Charlie Daniels Band) - what a sweetheart of a guy! Charlie stuck around for almost the entire day. He did take a dinner break to meet friends, but then was back for the rest of the night.

Todd Sassano - another wonderful person, and I'm pretty sure he was the one who got the Quickest Comeback Award. Whilte preparing to tape his segments, someone shouted out "Freebird!" ...to which Todd immediately responded, "You are SO going to hell for that." Everyone in the place laughed like Hyenas.

Roy Vogt - The thing I like best about Roy is that he's got this wealth of knowledge deeper than the Mariana Trench and yet can relate all of that to others without ever making htem feel as if they're being lectured to. Plus he's just a hoot to hang with. Roy shows up with two basses, a standard fretted electric and a Caruthers electric upright. He was so well-prepared that he was able to demonstrate how quickly he could switch from one to the other in seconds. Good job, bro!

Music Business Survivalist Sean O'Bryan Smith with Lane during the video shoots.

Sean O'Bryan Smith - There's not much that phases Sean. No matter what, he's got a great attitude and a bag of jokes at the ready.

David Webb - If you ever want to learn about Nashville Cool, talk to David. I'm pretty sure that's why he's always working. . . he's just "oh, set up in the closet? Sure thing. Re-tune each string by 1/4 step in opposite directions? That should be fun." One of these days I might just find something to ruffle his feathers. Then again, I'll probably just die trying.

The folks from RealityRadio.biz showed up mid-day. Poor Hayden! Nothing but technical trouble all day from the new laptop Wi-Fi card or some such. Good thing it was Hayden dealing wtih and not me. I'd have smashed that dang thing in about a half hour. That would have fixed the problem right there. Instead, Hayden kept his cool and while we ran out of time to do the interview, he was up and running in time to stream the live show. We'll catch the interview soon, btw.

Dinner break was sandwiches and a business meeting. Good sandwiches, great meeting, and it's back on the "field". Got to meet a few folks that dropped in to the Meet portion of the day... and had a nice talk with a couple of Forum bros, as well as bassist/producer Calvin Turner.

The concert kicked off with The Stone Electric, a killer PowerBluesRock trio kind of thing. Man, those folks can play! The band is fronted by a lady bassist/vocalist, and she did a great job laying down the groove while singing complex parts. Then, I find out the only reason she's on bass is that there aren't any bass players in their town (Paducah, KY)! Yow....

Next up were Roy and Sean doing a combined Jazz/Rock fusion set. The two see-sawed between original compositions by both, and the band just tore it up! Dan Shafer (host of Rock & Load) just flipped! Two songs into the set, he said, "these guys are incredible! We have to get them back!" Both Roy and Sean had a great sense of humor about their set. I don't remember his exact words, but Roy said something about wanting to play as many notes as possible in each song, so they were cutting a few songs from the set so they could play even more notes per song. Man, we were dying from laughing.

I kept telling Dan that Deeper Blues should be third and his band should be the headliner. And all day, he said "sure, no problem" like he meant it. Give the guy an Oscar, 'cause he totally faked me out. After Roy's set and before I could blink, Dan had his band up on stage and was tearing through a killer set. The whole band is top-notch, having played with the likes of James Brown, Stevie Nicks, John Mellencamp and more, and they showed why with their set this evening. And the whole time, Abe prowls the stage, laying down a groove a mile wide and pushing the band to it's best.

Sean, Lane & Professor Roy Vogt - 18 strings between them and they're not afraid to use them!

OK. Finally. Time to play. Every time we play Dan's show, it gets better and better. Don't believe me. Ask the guys who've been there for every performance. I keep saying how lucky I am to play with these two and I mean it! If they get any better, they're going to end up firing me and getting a real bass player. This time around, the highlight for us was when Rick Bennick (from the Rock & Load band) jumped on-stage to jam with us. We had NO idea this was going to happen. I'm in the middle of verse 1 of Sober Up or Die, a sort of autobigraphical slow Blues, and I hear this second guitar coming from the monitors. At first it freaked me out because I thought the soundman had hit a wrong button. Turning slightly, I saw Rick behind me and realized what was happening.

Of course, Rick turned in a stellar performance, but that was just the intro. At the end of the song, Rick gave Gary a big ol' hippy bear hug and said in a LOUD voice, "Bro, I just had to come up and jam with my favorite guitarist!" I can't tell you how much it meant to us to hear that. Then, to make sure we knew he meant it, he told me again after the set.

The jam was a bass player's dream. Charlie Hayward did a turn, as did David Webb. Both had a blast playing the old tunes. And Mark Robichaud, a close friend of Abe's and Dan's, once again showed us all the correct play the two-part bassline to All Right Now at the same time!

Got back form Nashville late Thursday night. Was a hairy ride in that my transmission decided to crack a seal and leak all the way home. Had to pull over every half hour or so to check the fluid. About half-way home it decided to dry up, so at leat I didn't melt any parts. I'll find out tomorrow how bad things really are when I drop her off for her appointment.

Friday night Deeper Blues played its first gig of our summer stand at Charlotte's here in town. It was a lot of fun to get back to that. While our concert shows are paced accordingly, at Charlotte's it's far more informal, meaning we do whatever we want and don't worry about things like pacing. Basically, we're hanging out with a bunch of friends, recreating the original spirit of the Blues. I got to play my new bass - man, do I love this thing! - and a photgrapher from the local paper showed up to get some shots for an upcoming feature. All in all, a great time.

OK... that's enough for one entry. Thing looks like a book. I'll be back next week with more dirt. Till then,

Keep Thumpin'!

Lane on Bass...

---

May 23, 2007 - It's Been a Blue Week

Well, this has been interesting. Put the van in the shop last Thursday to see what's going on with the tranny. And all I've got so far is that "it's broke."

Uh-huh.

And?

Amd I have to wait until later today to find out if it's going to cost $500 or TWO GRAND to fix.

Dang it!

So, we've been playing Transportation Tag the past few days. We managed to get all the gear to the Friday gig OK... and I spent all of Saturday wading through a six foot stack of paperwork that's been waiting for my attention. And thanks to the fact that I have a drummer who's still young enough to ask his mom to borrow her car - and that he's got a mom who said 'yes' - we've got wheels to get to the studio for the sessions. (Now, that's funny!)

I did mention the sessions before, didn't I? I'm not sure. I've slept at least once since last week. Anyhoo, Deeper Blues is currently recording its first CD. It's been a blast. Gary and Aaron are both on fire... and we're getting through the bed tracks at lightning speed. The Eden rig sounds gorgeous -- and we haven't even added any processing yet... not even compressoin! I've used two basses so far and they both sounded perfect. Want to know why I'm an Eden fanatic (and have been for almost 15 years)? Well, here's a reason -- the amp (a WT1205, powering a 610XLT) is set FLAT except for the bass boost thingie.

The Kevin Brothers (Kevin Schmitt, sitting, Kevin Grose, standing) man the helm for Deeper Blues' sessions at Noise Gate Studio. (Lava Lamp optional.)

Guitarist Gary Jones waits patiently for the next track. "Uh huh. Yep. Uh huh. OK. Sure. Uh huh. Can I play now?"

Yeah. Flat. How do you spell "tone"? E - D - E - N. Anyway, there's more on this over on the forum, or you can read this News Article.

Other than that, we're all just keeping our heads down and as focused as possible. ("Cute and cuddly, boys. Cute and cuddly.")

As of now, we've been in the Studio for three sessions. We've already got bed tracks for ten songs, and at least three of them have everything we need for mixing. There have been several first take successes and, for one tune, we got everything we needed first time around - vocals included. Talk about miracles!

Drummer Aaron Bouslog displays a critical recording tool -- cold caffeine. "You try keeping up with Lane without it. Go ahead; I dare you."

Watching the drummer like a hawk.

On another note, Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™ seems to be gathering solid momentum. We're starting to get calls from some very high porfile folks, so we can look forward to some really fun and interesting shows. Of course, Eden is our primary sponsor (at least until we sign up an airline or something! LOL) and we've got some cool surprises coming. (Rigs. 'Nuff said.) Check out the MySpace site for more info. And don't forget to do an ADD if you haven't done so already.

OK. I've got about minus twenty minutes before I'm supposed to leave... so I'll catch you next time around. Until then,

Keep Thumpin'!

Lane on Bass

---

May 30th, 2007 - You Mean It's a Holiday?

Well, it's been another interesting week. For starters, I know you're just dying to hear about my van. (NOT!) Thankfully, it was just the seal and torque converter. So, about $800, instead of two grand. Not great, but coulda been worse.

I'm still laughing about the band borrowing our mother's car to get us to and from the studio. I mean, what's next? A sleepover? LOL.... Yeah, it sure sounds strange, but we're all grateful for the assist.

Tracking continues to go well. If you wnat to read more about it, you can check out this thread on our forum. I've been keeping my fellow Edenites updated as much as possible. We tracked for five days (Sunday-Thursday last week) then took Friday off for our regular stand at Charlotte's here in town. I was back in Saturday for vocals and some bass tracks, then we all took a few days off. Gary (guitarist and coproducer) and I are back in tonight, then our final two days are Saturday and Sunday. So we'd better be done by then! LOL...

The killer news this week is that my good friend Rick Plester has agreed to somehow fit us into his busy schedule. Rick is the genuis behind Black Symphony, as well as an excellent engineer, doing everything from basic tracking, through mix, to mastering. He's handled the board for numerous high profile projects for the likes of George Lynch and Michael Schenker Group, and is very busy mastering sessions for most of the major labels. In other words, Rick knows what he's doing, OK?

Anyhoo, Rick is going to do our mixes with us, then master the project. The entire band is thrilled, but none more so than I. Rick and I have talked a long time about doing a project together and this is our chance. He's totally dialed in on where we want to go with this, how we want it sound and feel, and I know there's no one better to help us achieve our goals.

Now, about this holiday thing.... I did take time to honor the fallen, and hope you did, too. Then it was right back at the computer to complete the HUGE research project that's been hanging over my head. Finally turned it into David HisOwnSelf who, I think, promised me another amp if I got it done in time! (hinthinthint)

One last thing... we're working on a way for listeners to submit their original songs to Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™. If all goes well, we'll have a weekly feature to help promote up and coming bassists and their bands. So get your best tracks together and converted to MP3. As soon as I know how it will all work, I'll announce it here.

OK... off I go to finish eleventy-twelve things in the next three hours. Then off to the studio I go. Until next time,

Keep Thumpin'!

Lane on Bass

---

June 6, 2007 - Tracking Complete

Wow... it's hard to believe it's done. But we've finished the tracking for the upcoming Deeper Blues CD. I think I already mentioned we recorded at The Noise Gate studio, with Kevin Schmitt engineering and Kevin Grose assisting. I've known both for several years now, having met them through fellow Eden endorser Wes Watson. Wes and the Kevin Brothers (both Randall endorsers, btw) are in StrangeLand, a Christian Metal band, and Kevin G, is co-owner of the studio.

This past week, we were only there for two days... Wednesday evening and Saturday. We spent Wednesday checking Gary's guitar parts, none of which needed fixing. We then did the "gang vocals" for Gravedigger Jones. You can hear the raw tracks -- not even any mixing to speak of, much less processing and EQ -- on the Deeper Blues MySpace site.

Saturday was bass and vocals day. We went through each song, checking the bass, then doing the final vocal on several I hadn't gotten to yet. After a dinner break, we headed back to burn CDs. But before we did that, we had a little fun. I don't want to give anything away yet, as this is the CD's closer. Suffice to say that, first, hearing a couple dozen guitars feeding back at once is pretty cool, and second, you can get some REALLY COOL feedback out of an Eden rig if you want to. And, yeah, I wanted to! lol...

So, now the tracks fly off to sunny California where our good friend Rick Plester will begin mixing. Even though his calendar was already very full, touring with the likes of Mandy Lion and WWIII, Rick was kind enough to work us in. If all goes as planned (yeah, I know, best laid plans and all...), we'll have the CD back and ready for manufacture by the end of July.

Other than that, not a lot going on. Unless you want to hear me whine about the massive research project some more! lol... Boy, am I glad that one's done!

Until next time,

Keep Thumpin'!

Lane on Bass

---

June 13, 2007 - The Mix Begins

Wow. Last night at about midnight, I got a text msg to my cell. It was my buddy Rick Plester letting me know he had the first "Guinea Pig" mix of Black Sheep. I was still up, although on my way to the pillows, and there was no way I was going to let it sit until this morning. So, of COURSE I called. What are ya... nuts?!? (LOL)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, let's take a look at the other news this week, shall we? Over the weekend, I played host to Darenda Owens and Hayden James of RealityRadio.biz. They came up to Danville for a round of meetings and some chili. Here's a few shots taken Saturday night.

The chili simmers in a crockpot filled to the brim, as I prepare to slice and dice for some home made Pico de Gallo, Avacodo with Cilantro, and Peppers with Lime.

I don't have a lengthy menu, but I do love to cook. And chili is one of my favorite experiments. I say this with a straight face, because every time I make chili it's a little different. I start with one of about five basic recipes, but change them according to whim, time of day, and which way the wind is blowing. This time, I did a Chile con Pollo but ended up using about six different kinds of peppers. I sauted the chicken in a little oil diffused with garlic and peppers, then transferred to a HUGE crock pot to simmer the chili all day. It ended up being enough to feed a large village, so there was plenty for all.

Aaron checks out the salsa table while Mike chats with Darenda.

Being a half-wy decent host, I laid out a table of salsas and such so folks could munch while I was finishing the main course. Mike [Harper, Empire's VP of Creative] is a freak for Pico de Gallo. He got hold of some when the two of us went to Chicago to video Mike Watt while he was on tour with the Stooges. (It's up there somewhere in this blog.) We went to this cool little Mexican resaurant that made it's own, and he flipped. So, now I make PdG whenever I can; it's almost our Official Snack Food.

Chile con Pollo over rice, with all the fixin's. Yum!

Plating is fun, but I'm terrible at it! LOL.... But I always try to present the meal as best as I can. Here, chili over Mexican rice, then dusted with cheese and garnished with the PdG, Avacado with Cilantro, Peppers with Lime, Sour Cream and a few leaves of Cilantro. Yeah, I know. Too much time on my hands...

Darenda and Hayden dig into Chile con Pollo with abandon.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP!!! And it was a great BUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP way to start the meetings. Mike brought his family over the next evening to help kill off the leftovers, and Aaron came back Monday night and had a couple more bowls. So, yeah... it was pretty OK, you know?

Anyhoo...after dinner, we all got into Business Mode and began the meetings. That lasted until about 4:30 in the moring, when we all collapsed. Next morning, we were up about 10 to sip coffee and watch the birds on the lake. Then, a few more hours to finish things up, and Darenda and Hayden headed back to Nashville.

I can't really give away much about the meetings. for now, suffice to say that there are some VERY interesting things coming in the near future.

Now...about that mix. So, Rick sends a text. I call him and he says he's ready to send MP3 and full format files. Then his computer dies. LOL. Figures. Poor Rick is leaving today for his tour with Mandy Lion and WWIII But he wanted to get one mix done so we could listen for a few days and decide what minor massages would be needed to move forward.

Mandy Lion of WWIII and Rick Plester take a break during the final tech rehearsal for the Larger than Life tour.

My neighbors should be very thankful that I'm a considerate guy. LOL I wanted SO BAD to turn that track up till the roof shook. Instead, I kept it down to a reasonable level. Until this morning, that is. Then, I cranked that puppy for all it's worth.

As soon as I'd listened twice through, I was back on the phone. I gotta say, I now know very well why Rick gets the call from the likes of George Lynch and Michael Schenker and the like. It's because he's smart enough to not try to make everyone fit a preconceived sound. Oh, this is going to be fun!

If you're interested to hear how things are going, check out the Deeper Blues on MySpace. The track you want to hear is Black Sheep.

Oh, man! I almost forgot! Deeper Blues will back down in Nashville on June 27th for another performance at Dan Shafer's Rock & Load Show. The show is streamed live on RealityRadio.biz, so you can still check it out if you're not in Nashville. The stream starts about 9 Central.

OK. I'm outta here. I've got tons of work for Eden, and for the radio show and all. No rest for the wicked or some such. Until next time,

Keep Thumpin',

Lane on Bass

---

June 20, 2007 - Almost Here

OK. So, your normal week. Hectic. Busy. Fun.

STOP THE PRESSES!

Hey, I literally just got confirmation -- after two months of disucssions, that MySpace has finally agreed to let me have LaneOnBass for my personal space. Long story . . . don't ask. Suffice to say that my Space and my web site match: LaneOnBass.com and MySpace.com/LaneOnBass. So do me a favor, wouldja? Go to the new Space and do an Add request if you would. I'd like to get my entire friend's list over there ASAP. I'll work on spiffing the place up later tonight... after all this other stuff I need to do.

OK..now...back to what I wrote before...

We're now 10 days out from launching Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™ and things are starting to come together. We're scheduling guests and show segments, learning about the gear we'll use to broadcast the show. For those who haven't seen it yet, check out the Bass Talk Radio Space to learn more. And add us to you Friend's List if you have yet to do so. The web site is still under construction, but I hope to have a least a basic site ready by show time.

Before I forget, I have to tell you that I got to use both 610s again last Saturday. The Relay for Life, to raise money for caner research is an all-weekend event in which teams walk to secure pledges. At 9 on Saturday evening they have the main ceremony, the Luminaria. Several people, including me, spoke about how cancer had affected their lives. (I told them about my father's 20+ years of survival and how he did it.) Then the luminaries lining the inside edge of the track were lit. THOUSANDS of them.

We took the stage immediately after the ceremony to rev everyone up for a night of walking. Since it was outdoors and we have a large stage to play with, I set up both cabs. I hadn't actually expected to use the second one, but, dang! They looked good! LOL... Gary Double Dog Dared me to hook 'em both up, so I did.

Hubba. Hubba.

David, will ya hurry up and build me a 1250 power amp so my Double Thunder Rig is complete?!?! <evil grin>

Below are a couple of photos from my weekly gig with Deeper Blues, here at Charlotte's in Danville. We love this little cafe because it's where the band began. To make a long story short, Chris Wells, who hires the bands, heard me with Stranded (two Katrina refugees and me), playing for tips to finance the pair's trip home after the hurricane. (See. . . they were stranded because of the... oh, never mind.) Chris kept after me to put together a band to play the Saturday evening slot last year. Just days before I was due to start, I met Gary and the fun began. We picked up Aaron a few weeks later and kicked it into overdrive. Now, a year later, we're doing showcases in Nashville and elsewhere, jamming with Johnny B. Gayden, completing a new CD and are gearing up to take this show on the road. In addition, we've started a T-shirt company, and are planning a Video Division to do instrucitonal DVDs. (Yes, you'll probably recognize many of the instructors...they all play Eden! LOL)

So. . . anyhoo . . . Charlotte's is where Deeper Blues was born. And when Chris asked us to do another year, we readily agreed, although we did switch to Friday nights. We play on the patio behind the cafre, which is sort of woven around two smaller buildings. Check out the picture below. That's part of the "main" seating area, which we call The Cannon, looking at the stage. This is where people who like it LOUD sit. It's right in front of the band, and there are walls on each side, so the sound gets concentrated. You can also see a small part of one of the "wings", where folks can still hear the band, but can also carry on a conversation if they choose.

Alan Wait and friends at a Deeper Blues experience.

All told, you can cram about 150 people into the space at one time. . . . at least without standing, or hiding inside the cafe. By the way, the guy in the Eden hat and spiffy Hawaiian shirt is none other than Alan Wait, Edenite and Charter Member of the Deeper Blues Crew. Alan is the one who introduced me to Gary; he also does all our set up work. And, yes, he's an Eden player. Like Gary, he plays guitar and bass very well, and he uses a WT550 with a pair of D112XLTs. Alan often brings his wife and a few friends to hang out and unwind after a long week. This year, he's also being kind enough to cover our PA rental each week. Thanks, Alan! Yooda Man!

Now, back in the back, you've got Bubba. Bubba runs the grill. Bubba cooks a mean BubbaBurger. Bubba does killer Bubba-Cue. Behind Bubba is my mailman, ... sorry... Letter Carrier, ... er... Postal Service Employee... whatever . . . that's Ron. When not delivering mail through rain, snow and dead of night, he's at Charlotte's burning his fingers while he helps Bubba crank out the dinners. And, no matter how much I plead, he still brings me the bills. S'ok, though. He has redeeming qualities.

Bubba (foreground) and Ron (in back) keep the grill smoking from beginning to end, turning out as many as 250 dinners in a single evening. That's a lot of Bubba-Cue for a small cafe to serve in a three hour time slot!

OK... we got this patio full of friends... and Bubba on the grill. Could you get more Blues than that? Not really. Because, folks, this is how it started. Some friends gathered together. And after a gut-gusting meal, someone would pick up a guitar and sing. Often, they'd sing about the troubles in their life and, as they sang, they got to deal with some of that pain - to feel it and then let it go. The sense of renewal gave them strength to get through another day. Because the "audience" was comprised of friends and family, and they lived the same life as the singer, they could relate to the song, and could let some of their own pain go. And be renewed. And, on top of it all, the bonding this all created within the community showed them all that they were not alone . . . and it gave them hope and a sense of strength that you don't feel when it's just you against the world, you know?

It's this whole concept that is the foundation of Deeper Blues, you see . . . this is what it's all about. Feel the pain all the way down. Release it through the song and be renewed. And do it with a bunch of friends who get it! That's Deeper Blues.

Deeper Stories. Deeper Emotion. Deeper Blues.

I love doing concerts in front of hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of people. Looking out on a sea of people grooving to your music is nothing if not awesome. But I gotta tell you -- this Backyard Blues Experience we've managed to pull together at Charlotte's has a very special appeal . . . to all of us. There's something pretty amazing about the intimacy of it, the familiarity of the faces. The collective Spirit created each week.

This is where the band stretches out and tries new things, new songs. This is where we get a wild hair every now and then, turning left into some ten-minute space jam. This is where we learned who we really are as a band. I now it doesn't look like much... not something you'd expect to be so important in the context of a 25-year professional careeer. Yet, there it is. This is home. This is our family.

This is Deeper Blues.

The rest is all icing on the cake.

Man! I can't wait for Friday...

Keep Thumpin',

Lane on Bass

---

June 27, 2007 - Nashville - Twice in One Week

It's official. I've lost my mind.

In about two hours, I leave for the Nashville. Deeper Blues is again headlining Dan Shafer's Rock & Load Show. It's always a blast: great crowd, great room, great sound system, and a great hang. As usual, we've got a new song or two to play. And, as usual, we'll be enjoying some seriously good cookies, thanks to our Official Keeper of the Cookies, Abe White, and his lovely lady Lisa. (Mmmmmmmm....cooookies....)

OK. So, six hours down, grab a nap, play the gig, then six hours back. We should be home about the crack of dawn tomorrow. Given enough coffee, I'll actually get some work done Thursday. And I really need to stay awake and funtion. "Why?" you ask. Because in three days, we launch Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™, and I'm not ready yet!

I've got about six bajillion things still to do. Finish the web site, coordinate with a TON of guests, figure out how to do "phone-ins". Just a bunch of stuff, you know? Then, at about 0-dark-thirty, (Nayv talk for really damn early!) on Sunday, we leave for Nashville a second time.

I need a clone.

Anyhoo... hope y'all join us for the frivolity. Word is that T.M. Stevens will be calling in from wherever he happens to be at the moment. (The guy's busy, OK?) Some of our forum regulars will calling as well. Dennis Michaels, John Altevogt, maybe a few others. And our columnists will be on-hand -- Sean O'Bryan Smith and Roy Vogt will both be in the studio and Steve Cook will be calling from a tour bus somehwere in Montana or some such.

And did I mention that a bunch of Eden endorsers will be phoning in, too?

We'll also be giving away some swag from our sponsors. Of course, Eden is our Lead Sponsor, so you can expect a T-shirt with a big, fat E on the front. I don't want to say more, because we're still talking to a few companies. Suffice to say that you'll be covered, and so will your bass, in a manner of speaking.

Sunday.

Write this down.

Sunday. 6-10 Central time. At night.

RealityRadio.biz. Click on the speaker to listen.

Then go to BassTalkRadio.com and click on This Week's Show. This page lets you peek behind the curtain to see what's going on in the studio.

Then, get ready, y'all. This is going to be the Coolest Bass Hang EVER!

Until next time, I'll offer you our tag line:

Aim high. Play low.™

Lane on Bass....

---

July 4, 2007 - Did We Just Do That?

Man, this was a Blues week, I mean to tell you. Some of y'all may know that I had transmission trouble about a month or so ago. And it cost me over $800 to repair. So, imagine my frustration when, last Wednesday, we got ONE HOUR south of home (on a SIX hour trip) and the van dropped out of gear and wouldn't go anywhere. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-kay, then.

Long story, short - we towed the van 50 yards down the street to an auto shop only to be told the tranny was dead. (This was NOT the right thing to say, OK?) I called the shop that had done the repair and set up a tow home. Then, we rented a car from the place directly across the street. Hop across the road to pick up the guys and someone in the shop said, "So, I guess you're going to follow the tow truck?" And I replied, "No, I don't think he's going to Nashville."

We figured it this way -- the van was already broken and going home with our tails between our legs wasn't going to get it fixed. We'd already rented a car, and it came with unlimited mileage. Might as well use the day. So, off we went.

Things were fine until I got on the phone. I'd been playing phone tag with TM Stevens and finally caught him. Thing is, I can't read maps while driving and talking. So I missed an exit and ended up about 20 minutes past it before I realized my mistake.

I had to laugh. (It was that or... never mind. I don't want to disappear in the middle of the night just for making a joke. Let's skip that one.) But really, what else can you do, you know?

And could someone please tell the Nashville Traffic Management Office that it's REALLY OK to put street signs where people can see them BEFORE the pass the cross street? Yeesh!

So... a simple six-hour drive turned into an thirteen-hour nightmare. All of that to play a one-hour set.

Oh, I'm sorry. Did we tell you one hour? We meant 40 minutes, and please don't go over.

Cue ominous music. Cue Death-Ray Eyes.

"Sure..." I said in a whisper. (When I'm REALLYREALLYREALLY upset, it's either a deafening yell, or a whisper. Today, it was the whisper.) "Sure, we can cut our set short after a thirteen-hour trip that's going to cost us about three grand. Nooooooo problem. Just announce the band, OK? Cause I *really* need to play right now..."

So...now, Deeper Blues is all about releasing pent-up emotions, right? You can see where this is going already, can't you?

Yeah... the guys blew the house down. Absolutely no quarter. And when we were then asked to "play a couple more" in the middle of our show-closer, we were all like, "too late". By that time, we were all totally spent, totally fried and totally in need of sleep. It was all we could do to climb back in the rented Ford and head home.

Friday, things got to be even more fun. We ended up with three new songs, all done with no notice to the other guys. Two of them used lyrics I'd been holding onto for a while, and the third was a total ad lib, but the audience loved it, and so did the guys. I wrote all about that on the forum, so I won't repeat here.

I got three hours of sleep Friday night, and another hour Saturday night. And that was about it. The rest of the time, I worked on the Bass Talk with Abe & Lane™ web site and Space, along with a couple dozen other things that needed doing before our first show. Then, at 5am Sunday morning, the whole crew headed down to Nashville again. We spent the afternoon meeting the rest of the realityradio.biz crew and sucking up some great Barbecue from Nick & Jim's. Then it was off to the studio for the show.

Let me just say it was a BLAST! Everyone who called in or dropped by did a great job, and we all had a ton of fun. We gave the comedy prize to Dennis Michaels for his ten minute rant on in-flight peanuts. We were dying it was so funny.

This week, things will be slightly more organized. We've got the phone lines in and are fine tuning everything. And our special guest is an old friend of Abe's - Johnny Gee from John Mellencamp's band. If you're home Sunday evening, check us out at BassTalkRadio.biz. There, you can get the live stream (from realityradio.biz) and check out the in-studio camera feed as well. Over on our own site, you can also check out pictures and grab links that go with whatever we're discussing.

I got the van back Tuesday, all good to go. And, true to their word, the shop did very well by me when it came time to pay. Turns out something else dropped - not the torque converter - but they still took great care of me.

Tuesday night, we got to look at the rough cut of the new Deeper Blues promo video. It's looking VERY good, and is almost ready to send out. Then, we all watched fireworks from my balcony (lake view, pretty cool). Yesterday, we all celebrated the holiday by burning meat over a fire and making ice cream in a bag! (Now, that was cool!) Then, back over to my place for more fireworks on the balcony.

Now... I need a nap. Until next week,

Keep Thumpin'!

Lane on Bass...

---

July 11, 2007 - It's Fixed. I Think.

OK. I know I'm not the only one this has ever happened to, but I'm just tired of seeing my mechanic. His wife is getting suspicious. So is his boss.

After the second time through the shop to deal with the transmission, you'd think I was done, right? RIGHT?!?!

Wrong.

Right front wheel bearing started grinding about an hour into my trip to Nashville this past Sunday. So, for the rest of the trip, and the entire trip home, I was haunted by visions of my right fron wheel falling off and the van flipping madly through the air, landing on its top and turning me into a LaneOnBass popover or some such. I love watching car crashes on TV and such... but I'd rather not be the driver. I"m just sayin'...

Anyhoo... took the van in early this morning and was out in about an hour. And NO CHARGE! They said it was their fault for not checking it more carefully and sent me on my way. You know I loved that.

The rest of the week was a breeze and a blast. The Deeper Blues promo video is almost done. Just a touch of polishing (like end credits) and we're good to go. Mixing is progressing nicely on the CD and we're in the middle of the artwork. We're already getting some interest from agents and talent buyers, so it looks as if we'll actually get this whole thing on the road in the not-too-distant future. Below are a couple of shots taken at our weekly Blues Friday gig at Charlotte's here in town.

Deeper Blues and friends at Charlotte's.

You ever hit the parfect note and it just makes you smile? Yeah. Me, too.

Sunday's show (see BassTalkRadio) was a BLAST! Jon E Gee and Abe go back a good ways, and I've known him for a couple of years. Instead of doing a phone-in from home, JonE decided to come down to the studio. So we had his full attention for the entire show. He even brought a bag of goodies for us. I snagged the hat for Gary. He has a whole wardrobe of hats and was totally pumped to have an official Jon E Gee hat. This week, we'll spend time with Kai Eckhardt of Garaj Mahal fame. I have to tell you, this just gets more fun every week!

OK.. back to the computer. I've got a few research projects to complete by the end of the week. And just like a Rocco Prestia groove, there's no rest for the bass player. And just to prove that I actually DO some work, here's a shot of my office right after my Week of Cleaning.

Mission Control. The sled has been all over the world with me. We bought if in Germany when I was two.

I'm amazed to say that the office is still relatively clean. David says that's cause I'm obviously not working hard enough. I can't print my response, but we both had a good laugh. Anyhoo...

Until next time,

Keep Thumpin'!

Lane on Bass...

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