I started playing bass
when I was the ripe old age of 17. I figured since I can't dance
that I should take up an instrument to pick up chicks (hence the
hernia...but that's another story). Bass seemed like the instrument
of choice, hell it only has 4 strings so how hard could it be.
I was in the throws of a
drunken stupor after just burying my friend in ice from a cooler,
wandering around Bushnell park (the Fiddle Contest for those of you
who remember), when I meandered into Melody Music. There it was, a
cheap Fender Mustang bass, and I was cheap (a match made in
heaven). There was one problem though, it was a righty and the last
time I checked, I was a lefty. Sensing my stupor, the astute
salesperson assured me that you can just string this bad boy upside
down and all will be fine. Heh. No one bothered to explain the
full function of the nut at the top of the neck. Now what do I do,
I'll join a band. We played the usual parties, proms, bar mitzvahs
and orgies. It was a great time had by all.
I took a couple years
off to pursue sound engineering. I worked with a number of good
local and national bands. Then I landed a sound gig with Street
Temperature, the Hartford based aficionados of JazzyFunkaBluesiness.
My time with them was awesome up until the time I quit. I had to
get into playing with people again instead of alone in my basement.
That's when I hooked up
with Bananas at Large. 15 years of blessed chaos. Need I say
more? We played and rested and played and rested some more. We did
our fair share of live lunch luaus, parades and rallies for our
friends at WHCN. We played just about every bar at least once
(sometimes less that once, but who's counting anyhow). Over those
years I developed a very tight music bond with
Tom our drummer (yes
he said tight..heh heh heh...down Beavis). So much so that I still
play with the Man-Boy til this day. I long for his hair to move...
So present day...This
has got to be the best ensemble I ever been involved with. We play
all the stuff that I've always wanted to play, and some I never knew
about. The enthusiasm is contagious, and we love the reactions from
the crowd when they hear a song that nobody else has had the
intestinal fortitude to play. This is what I've been looking for.
