I wanted to say 'Hi' and update as to the haps in the life. Before going any further, it's all good, so fear not as to any bad tidings, though you might make yourself comfortable, as I've got 'just a bit' of catching up to do!
Thanks to everyone that's written, or called to 'check up on me'! I could make all kinds of excuses, but ultimately it's mostly been a matter of not being able to play, due to my fretting hand tendon injury, and thus not 'wanting' the 'reminder' of playing music. Pretty tough on an emotional level when I found myself unable to 'play on demand'. On a positive 'note'
over the last 20 months or so since my initial injury, I've almost completely recovered now. And, had I not reinjured myself a few weeks ago, I'd say I'd probably be close to 100%. Currently I'm running maybe about 95%, as if I could actually assign these numbers as having any real meaning.
Bottomline, as in my opening, it's all good.
The negative though is having lost a lot of my material. I've still got the fundamentals (chords-progression-melody-etc), but as I'm such an improv player and it's all about 'feel', the tunes just don't have the same 'meaning' anymore as I've changed and my interpetation is different now. Some have made the 'test of time', some haven't. The biggest bummer is injuring myself a month before recording and really having lost that particular 'musical' time in my life. C'est la vie.
So, what have I been doing in the interim? Thought you'd never ask!
My pedal board has grown some.
I've added another looper, a stand alone drum machine and more multi-effects. Needless to say, there was/is a learning curve associated with it. Dimensionally it's four feet by two feet and maybe about 9 inches deep (the 'upper tier is hinged and lifts up to expose the wiring for multi-configurations based on a 'little gig or a big gig'). Little gig is a 100 watt Roland Cube and pedal board, bigger is my Epifani single 12 combo and pedal board, bigger is adding an extension cab (either an EV ZX1-90 8 compact full range PA cab or an EV SB122 sub) and the 'real deal' is the Yamaha 5016 mixer with a pair of the EV ZX1's and SB122's. Needless to say when I'm doing the 'full monty' I'm running the synth, effects, drums and loopers through their own channels/aux channels to tweak tone to my little hearts content. Have to admit though, sometimes it's a bit much to keep on top of live, but when it's setup right, hold on, as the sound is simply quite awesome.
I'm starting to go into a 'latin/nuevo flamenco' style here of late, (when I've been able to play without hurting myself). Tierra Negra is my latest inspired listening choice. For those of you who may have wondered, 'acoustic type nylon string guitar music' translates very well to the six string bass. Matter of fact it's pretty awesome if I do say so. Try it, you might like it.
My first gig since last August is the end of July timeframe. It's a test to see how I hold up doing two hours. It that goes well (physically) I'll start booking again. Actually I'm working on one now that's just too good to pass up. I'd get to 'play at volume' with an in-house sound guy taking care of all the tweaking. That would make my life a lot easier, not to mention be a blast! I did an open mike there a while back (I was the only one who showed) and played an hour before calling it a night. From playing as a 'celestial tinkling' soloist to a 'fire breathing rocker' was great fun. Something to be said for having serious PA power with subs.
This last year or so during my 'recuperation', I've picked up on a new hobby.
Anyone shoot 22 rimfire? I bought a used Anschutz Match 54 1411 made in 1965 for a very reasonable price this last summer. Added a period correct scope, (a JW Fecker from the 30's-40's era) and restocked it with a custom exhibition grade maple benchrest stock, (not so period correct but it works for me). I started practicing up and started shooting 22 benchrest competition this season. I'm a member of the Rimfire Benchrest Association and am listed with the United States Rimfirefire Association IR50/50 matches. I've been shooting sanctioned matches and to date have competed in 4 and this weekend coming up I'll be shooting in the Northwest regionals. To date I've managed to 'claw my way up' to 'next to last' in the local standings.
The guys I'm shooting against are pretty darn good. I practice 4-5 times a week and by the time the season is finished, I'll have fired in the neighborhood of 12,000 rounds of ammunition. Good clean fun and best of all, it keeps me occupied and off the street.
And I guess that's going to be it for now as I've totally lost track of time and now note supper's going to be a little late.
Til next time.
Best Regards,
Kimberly Lynn - Solo Bassist
http://www.youtube.com/bassplayerkimberly PS. The youtube link reminds me, sometime last month I passed 100 thousand views on my account there. There's no doubt, more people have seen/heard me play on the net, than all my years of being an 'ole road dog'. Modern technology, just gotta love it!
