All Of Me by Brittany Frompovich And then…there were two! Two tracks on my newly minted Bandcamp page. As mentioned in my previous post…it only took a pandemic to create enough time in my schedule for this to become a thing. For this track, I revisited the vault of old recordings and gave this one Read More …

Since we’ve hit quarantine, and all of my lessons have migrated to the online format, I’ve been adding virtual meetups for my students to the calendar. In among the open mic nights and other virtual performances, one such meetup is a monthly event where we talk about gear. Last month we focused on pedals. I’m Read More …

So, Kerry Lathon of Lathon Bass Wear came out with this bangin’ Bass Jedi shirt late 2019, early 2020. I decided to wear it on a trip to Galaxy’s Edge. Photo credit to Lee Britt for catching this pic in Galaxy’s Edge. During the Winter NAMM show, a few folks (along with myself) asked when Read More …

I’ve been doing a Virtual Open Mic night with my students every other week, frequently featuring various guest performers. Once a month, we do an event called the Fellowship of the Clefs (also nicknamed the East Coast Gun Club.) The Fellowship gets together and tells the stories of our instruments and how we found them….or Read More …

If you are on my socials, you might remember that time early in quarantine….in my hammock…on my tablet. Editing. Writing. Out in the early spring sunshine. So why should you care? Well, here’s the story….and my part in it starts at Winter NAMM 2019. For the record, Liza Carbe is kickass. So is JP Durand, Read More …

I put together a Virtual Open Mic Night a few days ago for the students at all five of my teaching studios. As with most open mics, the host usually kicks things off with a performance. The COVID -19 lockdown provided me with the time and opportunity to work on my original music and to Read More …

Quarantine achievement unlocked; Skype interview at 11 AM with Rob Letcher for Junior Achievement. (Thank you Rob!). Hopefully my morning voice wasn’t too gravelly. The Rode NT1 to the rescue. #bloomsburgalums Bonus points; no cats crashed my Skype session. #thanksforkeepingitprofessionalsquad

Update to my COVID -19 Rig Rundown post from a few weeks back (a post that was an overview of my Skype setup). Some folks may have already be using this solution and don’t need this info. For those who haven’t tried this yet; hopefully this will be helpful info to someone. I already have Read More …

“Its protein spike contains three protein chains folded into an intriguing pattern. These structures are too small for the eye to see, but they can be heard. We represented the physical protein structure, with its entangled chains, as interwoven melodies that form a multi-layered composition. The spike protein’s amino acid sequence, its secondary structure patterns, Read More …

A few weeks back, I heard about Folding@Home as a way to help in the COVID-19 fight. Here’s a link to the original article that aired on WTOP news. To quote the article, “Folding@home is a new project focused on disease research, and in this case, possible cures for coronavirus. Here’s how it works: Anyone Read More …

I haven’t ventured out in the car since 3/13. It is now something of an enjoyable game to see how long I can go before I need to go out and resupply. That could still be awhile; the cats still have at least 12 days worth of canned food, and I still have plenty of Read More …

Borrowing this from Kathryn Dietz Hichborn, it seemed like a good Covid journal entry for today. April 3, 2020 Mandatory stay-at-home order issued by the Governor from March 31 to June 10th Gas price a mile from home was $1.84 School cancelled – yes cancelled for the remainder of the school year Self-distancing measures on Read More …

This article will be the focus.The surge here is predicted for late April to late May. This field hospital is 10 minutes from my house. This is a stark reminder that the world is changing drastically, so rapidly. Taught 9 lessons online today, from 1:30 to 9 PM. Another 5 lessons scheduled for tomorrow, possibly Read More …

I skipped more than a few days of my COVID journal. I had worked 12 days…basically because of people wanting to rearrange their schedules for lessons due to their work schedules changing. The essential government workers are on shift work now, so the buildings are less populated when they are there. That means people who Read More …

Many thanks to Corey Brown for putting this website together…stop by and check it out. In his own words “We quietly launched something this morning. (The big promotion is coming this week). Until then, buy an album and/or book, and sign up for lessons (and submit your own). Support the bass playing community and please Read More …

I got this question from a student; I’m going to reply to it here for folks looking for apps for their phones/software for laptops to augment distance learning experiences. I’ll also include apps that are not soley iOS apps. “I have now gone full Apple – iPad and iPhone. What apps beyond Onsong do you Read More …

Working on getting a possible “stand up desk” style Skype setup going today. I found this can while cleaning. When I first saw this at AC Moore, it made made me laugh on a particularly rough first day of the RVA Folk Fest. I was nervous, running later than I would have liked, and feeling Read More …

I’ve missed more than a few days of entries here.  My schedule…and my whole pacing for my week…and really my whole system of how I do lessons…has gone off the rails for a bit there. I’m getting students (and even some other teachers) migrated over to the online format. Hours and hours of screen time Read More …

Like many musicians, my Ginger Bass Mafia brother Chris Welborn is involved in a range of musical projects…as well as he should be. He’s been a stage hand at many major venues around DC, MD and VA, working with major touring acts from all over the world. He’s been on tour with the melodic progressive Read More …

Consider this an entry into my COVID -19 journal for the last two days. This is the fucking truth right here. Pulled an 18 hour day a few days ago helping parents and students get online AND other local teachers who never had never done Skype lessons before. I end every day exhausted anymore. And Read More …

I’m increasing the output of content on my YouTube right now. So this is a great time to swing by for videos from myself or other artists I enjoy. Recent content includes John Ferrara, Soften The Glare, Daniel Champagne, and myself. Today’s video – Ben Titus performing at the GHS Booth at Winter NAMM. Thanks Read More …

3/18/2020 – Day 2 – COVID 19 journal I texted a friend this morning, “Kicking off the apocalypse today with sleeping in (only made it to 7:30 am and then woke up…gonna have to work on that…the alarm was for 9 am) blogging, and then some pancakes for breakfast. Judging on traffic, I’m wishing I Read More …

Leslie Ann Castro-Woodhouse posted this on her FB page yesterday. This quote will be helpful for context. “As some of you know, I’m a trained historian (PhD, UC Berkeley, 2009). One element I’m especially passionate about is trying to imagine what it was like to live through various moments in time: what was it like Read More …

A thought for the brick and mortar stores considering if online lessons are a wise choice right now. I know brick and mortar locations are deathly afraid of the whole online lesson paradigm. Managers are often quick to point fingers at “online lessons” for “ruining their business”. But yesterday, one store I stopped by had Read More …

It’s always a treat when STG comes through our area. I was in the house with my iPad Pro 11, shooting both video footage and still pics at the show. Bonus treat; Jefferson Ogata (the gentleman who shot the videos of the Ginger Bass Mafia at Orion)… …well, Jefferson also shot Soften the Glare performing Read More …

John Ferrara, bass player virtuoso from NYC, made a visit to Richmond on Feb 8th 2020 for a masterclass and solo bass performance. Here’s an excerpt from that extraordinary evening of music.

I’m back with another installment of Winter NAMM 2020 highlights. This time the focus is on the NS Design booth with pics of the new Radius 6 string prototype, the Phil Jones Booth, the Spector Booth, the Ibanez booth, and the GHS Booth. Quick performance cameos from Chance W. Onody, Michael Albronda, I give one Read More …

A friend recently asked me to submit a playlist of videos as part of his booking needs and promotions for an event. I did a quick search on YouTube and found this;a video from a house concert in 2014. I was performing with bassist Stewart McKinsey. Enjoy, and as always, your feedback and comments are Read More …

Checked this guy out over the weekend. An Australian singer songwriter (now based in Nashville) with impressive percussive and tapping techniques on acoustic guitar.

I’m still unpacking and editing a LOT of video and photos from the January trip to NAMM / Galaxy’s Edge. This week, I’ve got the second part of the Galaxy’s Edge video up on my YouTube. Many thanks to Lee Britt for letting me raid his iPhone for footage of my droid build. This second Read More …

I’ve been back from Winter NAMM for two weeks now, and I’m still editing videos of guitar and bass porn from the NAMM show. There is so much media, I’ll be doing several videos that will work like short features; the video will focus on a booth or event of interest. Two videos were released Read More …

I took a day off from Winter NAMM and headed across the street to Disneyland on a side quest. I went with a friend to Galaxy’s Edge. This was actually my first trip to any Disney park in my life. This is video from the first time I rode Smuggler’s Run. There are 6 people Read More …

Just in time for Winter NAMM 2020! In this video, I test out the new Bass Gizmotron Powerwave wheels against the classic sawtooth wheel shape. If you own a bass Gizmotron, you’ll want to check out what the new wheels sound like, and what makes them work.

2019. The ending was a bit bumpy, with grandmom’s passing. There were some hard days with a lot of tears this fall. But when you look at the whole year…wow. Just, wow. We opened for Soften the Glare with a new bass-centric project. We pulled content from my solo show, and flushed it out for Read More …

I posted about a cat hoarding case earlier this year on social media. And I was were prepping to adopt one of the kittens from that case. First off…kudos to the young lady who is working with around 20 kittens from this case….it involved roughly 100 cats spread over 2 shelters. However this young lady Read More …

I’ve been working on this older Warwick rig steampunk conversion for a few months. Phase one was just painting the stripped down rig and doing the stenciled accents. Now we’re on to part two; wiring in lights and doing some work on the speaker jacks. Fortunately I have a student who wants to to learn Read More …

I adore Dame Evelyn Glennie. I see a lot of commonalities in what she talks about…I’m not deaf, but bassists do hear with their bodies. I love collecting instruments. I love feeling music punch through my body. Most musicians know and love that feeling. And to those folks who still believe musicians should not get Read More …

Photo by Aaron Gibson   WANTED: String players for a Winter/Spring 2020 Rock Orchestra Class! WE ARE LOOKING FOR acoustic & electric string players; violinists, violists, cellists, & double bassists of all ages & skill levels. We will be performing rock, pop, and original music in an orchestral setting that uses a rock rhythm section Read More …

So, I’m blogging this for three reasons… #1 – For all the creative types who thought of pursuing a career in the arts (I do get those in my teaching studio). Usually those folks are isolated and do not have a dirth of support/information/how to manuals on how to do it, let alone understand the Read More …

It’s been a year since I first mounted a Gizmotron on one of my basses. It happened on Thanksgiving weekend of 2018. Aaron Kipness had sent the unit, and I was taking advantage of the long holiday weekend to get it running. I wanted to try it on the Lightwave bass because the optical pickups Read More …

This made the news recently, in my local area. It would be best to follow the link to the news article before reading the rest of this blog. UMW will not renew contract Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Kevin Bartram I was asked by my private students what I thought of this situation. Especially since I teach Read More …

I found this fantastic little mod on YouTube while looking for another schematic. Temporary (or permanent) wiring harness to see if you want to jump an active instrument to an 18V system. Just made one of these for a friend who isn’t sure if he wants to go 18v but he wants to try it. Read More …

Consider yourself warned; we’re getting deep into the music nerding today, dear reader. We’ve got more tales from the Fun Home office. Today’s installment; the signal path for 5 basses. And what roles these 5 basses play in the show. I’m running a pedalboard with two Baggs Paraacoustic DIs out. The top chain (with the Read More …

Time for this week’s schedule updates. Tomorrow kicks off week number two of UMW’s production of Fun Home. The remaining FUN HOME shows are are on; Thursday – 11/14, 11/21 – 7:30 PM Friday – 11/15, 11/22 – 7:30 PM Saturday – 11/16, 11/23 – 7:30 PM Sunday – 11/17, 11/24 – 2 PM Head Read More …

Sunday’s office was the Sitzprobe at UMW’s Wonder Bread Studios for their production of Fun Home. Consider yourself warned…this post is FULL of bass nerd stuff. Continue on at your own risk. This musical *requires* five basses to play the show. The different basses are called up to help move the story through different decades Read More …

The run of UMW’s production of Fun Home is coming up. This Wednesday, 10/23, from 10 am to 10 pm, all tickets are $15. You can use the code MAPLE to save at checkout. Go to FredTix.com to get tickets. Show opens 11/6 with a “Pay What You Can Preview” performance. Tickets are regularly $25, Read More …

The “beater” 12 string that appeared in my last blog is ready to prove out against a stock Dean 12 string. I’ve always wondered how a Dean 12 string would sound with a different electronics / pickup package other than the stock set. It’s expensive (and disheartening on some level) to yank pickups out of Read More …

At the end of July/beginning of August, a donated project bass arrived home with me from work one day. It was a pretty beat up Dean 12 string bass. There were some significant scuffs on it, the pickups were missing, and I was told the truss rod was shot. That’s a promising start, right? LOL… Read More …

THIS Friday, September 6 “Whiskey & You” The Songs of Bonnie Raitt & Chris Stapleton The Tin Pan – Richmond, Virginia GET TICKETS HERE! Call the box office to avoid TicketFly fees. This is one of the videos Ted and Ashleigh did for a behind the scenes look at the show. More are on Facebook Read More …

This video was shot by bassist Scott Montague of The Ginger Bass Mafia performing during Roy Vogt’s Thunder Row Bass Invitational in July 2019. These are excerpts from “Oracle Rising” by Brittany Frompovich. The band is; Chris Welborn using a Warwick 7 string Custom Corvette $$ with GHS strings. Our special guest drummer was the Read More …

So…two major changes in the past week. Last Wednesday was my first day at my new Wednesday studio home, The Sound Post. It’s really well thought out space, with a lot of attention to how detail, colors, and design work together. Making it feel like a warm, welcoming sweater in the fall. Thanks to Bill Read More …

Last week. Last day. Last hours. Last carloads of office items being packed up. Last time in this teaching office. Thanks to Chris Welborn; he helped me get four carloads of items out before we headed to NAMM. All the Rock For Strings gear; drumset, PA, practice amps, electric violins, sound reinforcement, percussion, music stands Read More …

Maybe there’s a reason I’m nicknamed the Red Tornado. Here’s the week so far. Hang on folks…it’s a ride. Monday – taught lessons, dealt with major construction on the street outside Lady Bass Music that caused major, major delays for students. Tuesday – got stung by a wasp, 5 minutes before my first lesson. Yeah, Read More …

This is my original tune, “Exploratory Flight”. But this is the first time I’ve used a bass other than the mighty Blue Spector Euro6LX to perform it. This was the first gig with Anora, the first “Exploratory Flight” of that bass. This Prat 7 Original II was built for solo bassist Edo Castro, and it Read More …

Here’s where you’ll find me…and my bass guitar…in the coming weeks. 7/18 – 7/20 – Next week is Summer NAMM in Nashville. If you are attending, swing by booth #1133 for a demo of the Gizmotron from Aaron Kipness or myself. www.gizmotron.com 7/18 – Chris Welborn and myself are very proud to be part of Read More …

I am saddened to see the closure of Forte Music this month, I have a lot of history in that building. A lot of great bass players performed or taught in that ensemble room in the basement as part of the Virginia Bass Forum. However, as that chapter in my story ends, another begins. I Read More …

The August issue of Bass Player Magazine arrived in my mailbox today. Page 33…full page ad. So much gratitude to Aaron Kipness and Gizmotron for the continued support. The last few months have been “full steam ahead” for myself on a variety of gigs and projects. There are a lot of people who have stepped Read More …

804-617-7086 is the number of the Snake Identification service from Virginia Wildlife Management. I shared this resource some time ago in a Facebook post, and then saved the number to my phone. This morning gave me an opportunity to test it out. A friend posted on social media that he needed help IDing the type Read More …

I’ve been spending the morning notifying students that a transition is on the horizon. Forte Music Studios is closing August 3rd. I’ve had both emails and phone calls about this news over the weekend. So here’s an observation I made to someone in my inner circle this weekend during a phone call. I felt it Read More …

So, I have a friend who has been working this particular hoarding situation for several weeks now. Yesterday brought a new level of success in securing help for these animals. These animals were finally removed from he home of the hoarder and taken to a safe place. Along the way, there have been many late Read More …

A student at Penn State Harrisburg, reached out to mel (along with other female musicians) to ask a few questions about what it means to be a woman in rock music today. Here’s some excerpts from my portion of the interview…. Can you think of a time that your music or credibility as a musician Read More …

“Unrequited love does not die; it’s only beaten down to a secret place where it hides, curled and wounded. For some unfortunates, it turns bitter and mean, and those who come after pay the price for the hurt done by the ones who came before.” Saw this in my FB feed a few years ago…someone Read More …

A few years ago, I was looking for material on Musescore to use with a Rock For Strings class. I stumbled on a string quartet version of “Killer Queen” and saved it to my hard drive. And it sat dormant for many years as it simply wasn’t used that much. Fast forward a few years Read More …

I had a few sick days recently. Most people binge watch something. Nope… instead SuperVan gets a spa day with new plugs and an oil change. See, SuperVan doesn’t get many breaks either. If I’m grounded with a cold, that means the car has actual downtime to be serviced. So I bought parts online on Read More …

Becca Griffitts worked her magic yesterday. Here’s a preview!

I decided to write this blog after two different conversations with friends this week. Folks *apparently* know I’m busy from seeing my weekly social media calendar updates, but sometimes keeping all the various projects straight can be hard. As nice as it would be for folks to come to every show…I realize most folks have Read More …

A parent came in yesterday; a rather cool fellow. Ex military, a drummer, a single dad with two young ladies he’s raising. He’s been following my stories of DIY exploration on Facebook. He told me about a bit of drama that unfolded last weekend. On a major evening. PROM NIGHT. FOR HIS DAUGHTER. AND THE Read More …

I’ll be bringing my looping clinic to Sam Ash in Richmond in a few days! Won’t you join me?

Saying our goodbyes. It was fun doing bass duos again with Mr. Titus and then kidnapping him for drums in the Ginger Bass Mafia! Chris Welborn got to shine when we rolled into Mafia mode; really enjoying hearing him explore his ideas in this lineup. Good times….we just had breakfast and we’re saying our goodbyes Read More …

SuperVan 2.0 heads across western Pennsylvania…and we see this. No need for concern folks…we’re ok. Owning a SuperVan is known effective deterrent against Windmill Cancer. #shieldsup In case you are from the far future, and you have no idea what the hell is going in on the popular culture of April 2019…here’s a FAQ on Read More …

Part of Bruce Vermett’s performance during the Glass City Low Down. The visuals included clips from 80’s Transformers movies, Dr Strange, and more.

I added this cover to my solo bass show in 2018. The arrangement came to life for this trio with the addition of a fantastic bass part by Chris Welborn and powerful drums from Tom Sapp. #teamwork Sadly Tom is off camera but you’ll definitely hear him tear it up. The Gizmotron is at work Read More …

Just added some more shows….here’s where you’ll find me and my bass guitar next… Sunday 4/21 – The 3rd Annual Glass City Get Down and Low Down – Toledo, OH Lots of great stuff on tap for this show. Performances by cool kids Ben Titus, Benji Katz, Jonathan Moody, Bruce Vermett, and steven guerrero! I’m Read More …

It’s been a good week. A very good week. This picture pretty much sums it all up. It’s not everyday I get to play in Ryan Martinie’s office. Seriously…big thanks to Ryan for being the kind of guy who would let me use his rig. Unbelievably, we use EXACTLY the same bass rig. Roll call Read More …

Video is still coming out from the Pearl Street Warehouse show at the start of March. Still very honored and humbled to be part of such a special evening. This is video of Ashleigh Chevalier performing Z’upo when the band opened up for BMA Winner & Grammy Nominee Danielle Nicole Band in Washington, D.C. Jon Read More …

Here’s the sound of an open seam on a string instrument. This is a good check to do during seasonal weather changes.