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 was completed (as best as I can determine) around June 2016. From Edo Castro, the Prat 7 then resided with bassist Chris Cardonne for some time. After a visit to Colorado in 2018, I became the bassist who plays the instrument now named Anora.

Anora is a Prat Original II with ebony top, swamp ash body, ebony fingerboard on curly maple neck, 18v system and Nordstrand pickups. Anora has an ebony ramp, knobs and pickup covers. The intention upon construction was to create an instrument that echoed the aesthetic of some high-end sports cars; uninterrupted lines of slick gloss black that hint at both stealth and speed. Anora means “grace”; perhaps more applicable in my case, divine grace…” divine influence which operates in humans to regenerate and sanctify”. Anora is currently strung with GHS Progressives, tuned low B to high F. (Big thanks to GHS for working with me on all my string needs!)

This performance happened at Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville at the Thunder Row Bass Invitational, a yearly benefit for the students of Belmont that happens during the NAMM show. Many thanks to Roy Vogt for hosting the Ginger Bass Mafia, and many thanks to Robert Harsen for being our special guest drummer for our set. Regarding Mr. Harsen; wow. We had never shared a stage together before this performance; this all came together on the fly. I’m still hearing those drum grooves in my head, days later. And it makes me smile.

And as most of you probably know by now, Mr. Chris Welborn is the other half of the Ginger Bass Mafia. He’s playing a left handed Warwick Custom Corvette $$, strung with GHS Super Steels. You can find out more about his instrument in the Warwick gallery here.

Thanks to Scott Montague (and his impressive arm strength) for filming our set with my phone. He was double fisting the phones for 35 minutes (get your minds out of the gutter folks…holding a phone in each hand!) He was live streaming our show on his phone, while filming our set with my phone. 💪🏻 Thanks to Scott and Seth Hill for helping us load in at Douglas Corner.

And many thanks to Edo Castro Woodhouse and Christopher Cardone for making owning Anora possible. The bass community is a mind blowingly wonderful place.

This video from Roy Vogt’s live stream on Facebook:

Stay tuned for a video from this show of a new song I teased earlier this week on social media, “Oracle Rising”.

#ghs #ghsstrings #prat #summernamm #summernamm2019 #douglascorner #thunderrow #warwick