{"id":438,"date":"2016-11-07T02:21:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T02:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/?p=438"},"modified":"2021-06-11T15:28:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T15:28:50","slug":"flow-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/?p=438","title":{"rendered":"Flow State…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n11\/6\/2016 – Tech week for Drood has passed, plus the opening night and the first weekend…8 days.\u00a0 Last Saturday feels like a solid MONTH ago.\u00a0 A million things have happened….teaching, tech week, load-in, sound checks, preps for a recording session, practicing, another gig in Leesburg, booking gigs…the list goes on.

\n\nLooking in my recycle bin, you would think I burned through a month’s worth of Starbucks Refreshers. \u00a0 Peach Passionfruit and Blueberry Acai flavors make the green coffee drink quite palatable. (I’m not a fan of regular coffee, at all). \u00a0 It\u00a0helps me keep the crazy hours that I sometimes need to do without jitters or feeling overly caffeinated. \u00a0I should probably get a Refreshers endorsement at this point; that beverage has powered more than a few excursions across the country.

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\nIt’s the Saturday night show of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at UMW. \u00a0The show normally ends at 10:30 pm. \u00a0The band is tightening up with each successive night.\u00a0 Tonight was following this trend.\u00a0 It felt good. Real good.\u00a0 I’m slightly spinning from the dopamine rush and from the lack of sleep, but my playing is hitting on all cylinders.

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\nAshleigh had called earlier in the month, asking if I could do a show at Colonial Tavern with the band that night as well.\u00a0 Yes…a most emphatic yes…on my behalf. \u00a0I have to get from UMW Klein theater to Colonial Tavern and be set up in a half hour between the shows. \u00a0Not an issue. \u00a0 The venues are 10 minutes apart. \u00a0I checked it all out…we were both game to do this.
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\nDrood ends 6 minutes early…and there’s gratitude on my behalf…like a nod from the universe. \u00a0“Voting” in Act 2 took less time than usual perhaps. I scramble down off the pit platform, grab my Spector from a storage area, change my shirt so I have on something other than dress black…and I’m out the back door to the SuperVan.

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\nOne of the musicians sees me leaving…”Oh, is that other gig tonight?”

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\n“Yes.” \u00a0I’m sitting in the tailgate area of the van, changing footwear from flats to boots. I’ve been standing for three hours playing upright.\u00a0 My legs and feet are sore…changing footwear usually relieves some of that for me.\u00a0 Plus, the night was becoming cold. \u00a0Off with the velvet jacket and sandals. \u00a0On with the fall boots and the brown leather jacket. 10:36 PM.\u00a0 No sweat.

\n\nI had the foresight to load in a bass rig at the club earlier in the day when I had a free hour.\u00a0 All I had to do was hook in my pedalboard and my bass.\u00a0 I had just finished the latest set of changes to the pedal board and I was eager to see it in action.

\n\n45 minutes later…I am pounding through a blues tune Ashleigh wrote called “Hard Working Woman”. And thanks to Will Robinson for shooting the video that this screen grab came from….

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\nThe band was churning.\u00a0 We warmed up on a funky cover of Cissy Strut, which delighted me to no end. The pedalboard gave me everything I was asking of it.\u00a0 The Spector had wah for the solos, and I had new sounds on the backburner that I worked out for some of Ash’s songs. Everyone was encouraging….”Go ahead and turn up!” \u00a0Nods…lots of nods and approval to do so.\u00a0 I reach to the rack-mounted head and the master goes up.\u00a0 The cab thunders in response.\u00a0 The drummer closes his eyes, nods his head, and smiles.\u00a0 We’re not in singer-songwriter small club vibe tonight….we’re going balls to the wall blues-rock. The nods of approval continue.\u00a0 The crowd wants to dance…they want to party.\u00a0 It’s on.

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\nThe oh shit moment follows approximately 5 songs later.

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\nAsh’s music is fun to play for me.\u00a0 Ash channels a great positive vibe, she surrounds herself with truly high caliber musicians, her voice is kindred to Etta James, the message is positive and spiritual…and perhaps, there is great affinity because she is a hardworking female artist as well…not to mention that the gigs are a blast.\u00a0 It’s a great tribe of folks.\u00a0 Plus, supporting Tom’s solos is always a blast. I love creating something for him to hang his hat on and then driving the solos…giving him the energy to build off of.\u00a0 He’s definitely on my list of favorite guitar players.\u00a0 And Toby…we just lock up and drive the bus. \u00a0Toby is so chill, so competent, and full of gig stories and humor. Good people, all of them.

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\nI’ve played upright all night….all week really for various projects…and the Spector is long overdue for communion with me. \u00a0The experience is joyous….like I had been running with leg weights for weeks, and now all the new muscles and callouses had no resistance.\u00a0 I was also pumped from caffeinated beverages, running on way too little sleep, and channeling all the energy leftover from the previous gig..which ended less than 30 minutes prior. \u00a0 I’m cranking hard…as one audience member said later, “bringing the thunder.”

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\nI feel my jacket strike my leg and slide to the floor. Followed by something heavy.

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\nOh. Shit.

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\nI look down, the amp head, Furman and tuner…all in a rackmount SKB case…all 55 pounds of it…is dangling from a power cord and a Tuffies cable. The 65-pound cabinet doesn’t even move. \u00a0 We’re mid-song.\u00a0 The drummer looks at me, I look at him, a little wide-eyed in disbelief…the amp is still grinding hard and singing. The cab had been giving the head a ride…slowly vibrating it across the top of the cab until it slid off the front.

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\nThe guitar player wanders over as close as he can get…we’re mid-song and I’m NOT stopping if I can help it.\u00a0 He looks at me, looks at the amp, looks at me, nods with a slight smile, and mouths “That’s impressive.” \u00a0The oh shit moment was becoming pretty funny actually. \u00a0We’re all smiling at the tenacity of the gear and the bassist using it. \u00a0I shift gears to plan a tasteful recovery. \u00a0 I’m thinking ahead to where there is a break in the song so I can get the head upright.\u00a0 The drummer reaches over and grabs one handle, and I decide to left hand tap my way through things. At the moment I decide to reach with the right hand, the power cable pulls out. The head is hanging by the speaker cable. The bass drops out of the mix and the club has no bottom. And there’s dancers on the floor in front of the stage.

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Time to move.

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\nI slip out of the strap and rack my bass and punch the pedal tuner into mute.

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\n*one bar goes by*

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\nGrab the head by both handles and slam it back on top of the cab.
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\n*next bar goes by*

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\nPower magically comes back on as the power cable re-seats itself in the socket on its own…I’m stunned but moving with a sense of both flow and purpose…I visually inspect the front face of the rig….no harm, no foul…I grab my bass from the stand and slip it back on

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\n*another bar slips by*

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\nTry a note…nothing…stomp on my pedal tuner to mute the bass, turn around and un-mute the head…I discover the toggle switch for “mute” was hit on the way down…stomp the pedal tuner again to un-mute it….I grab the next note to make an entrance after a four bar break…

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\nBAM. \u00a0We’re back in business, none the worse for wear. Welcome back to the song. Big wheel keep on turnin, Proud Mary keep on burnin.

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\nI spend the rest of the gig looking over my shoulder after each song ends to check the rig. If it moves, and I come over and shove it into place with a bump of my hip or a push from a free hand. Obviously, I’ll be getting something rubberized for the top of the cab this week to go under the head. *makes mental note*

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\nThe drummer later offers me his shot of Jameson.\u00a0 And he loves Jameson.\u00a0 But so do I. \u00a0 I graciously accept with a smile and a nod.

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That’s winning my friends.

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