Double bassist Tyler Bakken sent me a link to this story about the Houston Symphony’s newest PR idea–trading cards! Kurt Johnson, the violinist mentioned in the following quote, is an old acquaintance of mine. We both attended Northwestern University and...
After finishing my doctoral coursework in 2002, I moved out to the suburbs of Chicago, not knowing what I was getting into with building a private studio. Like many bassists, I planned on trying my hand at freelancing (in a bassist saturated city like Chicago). What...
Bill Harrison wrote a great piece on his blog recently elaborating on some of the issues I discussed in the latest installment of This Crazy Business. He writes: There’s an old joke in the biz: Q: “How do you make a musician complain?” A: “Give...
Plane Trips with Basses Are Fun – If Fun for You is Getting Attacked by Rabid Weasels Traveling with a bass is an annoyance by cab and an irritation by train, but the real drama occurs when we intrepid (or foolhardy) bassists venture out to our nearest airport to load...
This week featured the second part of This Crazy Business, my new series about life as a working musician. Unlike Road Warrior Without an Expense Account (which is about being a freelance musician), this series is about life as a musician in general. If you’d...
