1). ended up “leading” the worship(or praise) music at my church(we were just praising to an iPod) and that was a huge step to me. I had never done it because I had never felt called to; also I feel it is a huge deal to be playing and singing to God let alone leading people into that place. THat whole process has led me to a deeper understanding of what I believe “worship” music is and how it can be done.

2). I applied to MSU Billings and not to my surprise they were terrible to deal with but Rocky  Mountain College was more than accommodating so I enrolled and almost everything was taken care of. Such an easy process! The faculty there is AMAZING!

3). Started rehearsing as much as I possibly could to make my efforts musically honest. I knew that things would happen if the rubber met the road. The last performance I was in with the “Jaded Ladies” was very good and a perfect sendoff for Jess Lechner. Also I was rehearsing with the Alex Nauman Organ Trio www.alexnaumanmusic.com , preparing for New Years: A seven piece band with the Organ Trio, plus Me on bass, percussion fury, and two horns. We practiced a lot, honing some killer funk tunes like old Freddie Hubbard, Zappa, Trombone Shorty, Roy Hargrove and some killer Originals. There were moments in the process that although rehearsing would become tedious and time consuming, some of the musical moments made me feel like we were finally paying music its respect, doing it justice. The gig went off with out a hitch and we impressed the people worth impressing. I was happy to be apart of it. Amidst those gigs were some recording sessions(for Dump Studios and My other band SKY COLLIDE!) and some other gigs that took more rehearsing but I just made myself available and had a positive attitude. It pays off to be positive. Alex Nauman, Brad Edwards, and I started doing a regular Thursday Jazz jam at the Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. This gig is great because it gets that upright in my hand more than once a week; practicing tunes during the week so not to be shown up by anyone sitting in and learning new repertoire. Lastly performing my own songs in a few singer/songwriter shows to keep that aspect of my playing up.

Musically There have been so many avenues for me to go down, new and old, amazing musicians to play great music with; and personally I have gone beyond what I thought I was going to accomplish; personal relationships are great and over all spiritual, mental growth has improved. I think it all boils down to making moves. A friend of mine told me, the ever so wise Elija, that “God only works if you work, when you put in 100% GoD will put in 100%. He used Joshua as an example against AI. Nothing is going to get accomplished if you sit around thinking that God is going to do something – you gotta walk towards a door to get through it. I am guilty of sitting on my hands but now that I think about it, I was in such a long prayer state and finally every thing was ready to fall into place. So there is a time for everything. I am glad that this everything is happening now. I could not handle this huge amount of work without my wonderful wife, our relationship continues to grow deeper and I am blessed by her daily. 

Although I don’t remember being interviewed for this I would like to add my own thoughts on why I think this is a great thing for musicians and listeners: First, the band is top notch:

Guitar: Alex Nauman with a BA in Jazz guitar from UNC who is fired up and always taking his playing to a new level. Alex has done a lot for the Billings scene since he moved here three years ago. Making a lot of gigs happen and freelancing in some great bands from Jazz, country, rock and Funk.

Drums: Then you have Brad Edwards. Brad is a professional in the true sense. The legends that he has played with makes my jaw drop. He has toured all over with the NRE trio or Nell/Roberti/Edwards trio playing with cats like Eddie Harris, Woody Shaw, Emily Remler, Ray Brown, Mose Allison, Freddie Hubbard ( that is just to name a few).  !!! Brad is one of the most encouraging musicians that I have met. Although, my first time playing with him he was quoting “BLue Velvet” every time I looked over at him, Screaming, “Don’t  look at me!!!!..Don’t…” It scared me a lot until I got the joke. Now that is all I think of when we are playing. He is pretty hilarious.

Now,  What struck me the other week is that this is unlike anything that I have seen since I have moved to Billings in 02′. This is a venue for musician to sit in and have an audience, an audience that is appreciative. You get to come sit in cold(almost literally because you are in a garage pub) with a great group of musicians and show your chop. You don’t get to do that anywhere else. You are exposed but what is cool is that the people that come to listen are so encouraging – it’s like playing for your family when you were a kid. You could really hack and people would still give you a hand for trying(maybe). I appreciate the people that have come to support and to play. It is bringing our community and musicians together to do something really great in Billings. It may not be for everybody but it could be. I love looking out and seeing people and musicians of every age hanging out and listening with eachother. Business owners, students, professors, writers, photographers, construction workers ect. You also don’t regularly get to see talent like this for free and George M. @ The Yellowstone Valley Brewing Co. has been gracious enough to cover that for anyone that want’s great music or to see some people get pushed and stretched to their limits – musically and sometimes socially. It’s a good time to be in Billings. We all appreciate all the support.

Thursdays 6-8:00 P.M.

Last night was a great night. I was fortunate enough not to have any rehearsals and a new/old friend that is now living in town L.carr was gracious to buy my wife and I tickets to a show at the Alberta Bair theater. The group was Time for Three; a trio of guys that met while attending Curtis in Philly. Double bassist Ranaan Meyer and violinists Zach DePue and Nick Kendall make up the group that has been playing for 11 years. I didn’t know what to expect but was totally amazed all the way through the show. These guys had obvious perfect facility but also blended pop, fiddle tunes, blues, jazz… all together to create a great sound. To make it better we ended up hanging out with them and going to Walkers for some beverages. I was impressed with how gracious these virtuosos were with their time, and energy. They, especially Ranaan, had us all dying of laughter with some of his antics. It must be a bass player thing because my wife said we were similar in ways. I agreed. He even bought us a round of Scotch. My kind of guy! The show was impeccable and they were great guys. I was able to have conversations with them on a personal level and they gave me some great advice. I am very fortunate that I have people around me that make things like this happen. Thanks L.carr. Here is pic of us together. I am hoping to attend Ranaan’s bass camp in the summer called WABASS  click here or just Type in Ranaan Meyer, he’s got 59 pages of Google, that is his real claim to fame. http://ranaanmeyer.com/index.php?page=about&family=camps&category=01–CAMPS&display=145#offset3

Now, on to a little Simandl. I have been working slowly out of this book because it’s not the most inviting book in the world but once I get into it i dig it. So here is the page that I have been working on over the last ten days. I only date it when I play so it’s not like it’s taking me weeks for one exercise. The last exercise on the page was hard at first then fun. I jumped to 75 bpm right after getting it @65 bpm. Trying to play these runs over different positions to make the fingerboard more familiar. It is the same thing that I do with arpeggios and other exercises. That way I am learning my instrument inside and out. I am not quite there but definitely trying. So here ya go, once again any advice on the 5string would be much appreciated. Thanks, Parker

Two weeks ago something hit me. I decided I was going to try and be as healthy as I could; eat salads and less food, at least twice a day. That is my first S. Then more and more S’s started coming into my mind. I am Stretching more, I have been experiencing some pain in my indexfinger on my left hand. I think it is from guitar and not bass. Thankfully. I am reading Scripture more and more. I started the at the beginning of the bible in Sept. and have been plugging along. I got caught up in Leviticus and finally I am on to Numbers. Some of it is brutal. I am also “Shedding” or practicing as much as I can. Wether it is with a band or on my own. I am trying to be productive. I don’t want to get to a placewhere it is a dragto play music – when sitting at home watching Seinfeld (that is another S by the way started season one a few weeks ago and now almost through season 3) trumps being creative and motivated. I see a lot of musicians get complacent and I have been guilty of it. I am trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. I think down time is great but not every night! I am fortunate if I get two nights a week to hang out at home with my wife. I like it. A lot! So there are a few S’s for you.I bought a new Scarf last week also but I have been Saving my money, which is a very new concept to me. It actually works! Be motivated. Be well. I am leaving you with a SunSet that my wife and I saw a few months ago. Pretty good for a cell phone cam. It was probably one of the best I have seen.

Another “Bass Changing” moment for me was when I had to learn how to play some Bob Marley tunes for a Funk band about four years ago. I thought, “this is going to be pretty easy, just some Reggae”. Damn… I was wrong. These bass lines are the bread and butter to the songs and they ain’t easy! There is a definite intricate strong groove and the lines are very complimentary to the chords and rhythms. So, I thought I would share. I can’t say that I am an expert but the handful of the “Family Man’s” bass lines that I do have down I respect and try and emulate that when ever I have to do an impromptu Reggae jam. I’m white and I live is cold ass Montana so I know that achieving any island groove status is not likely but I try and do the genre justice. I basically just imagine in my head that it is hot as hell and I try and play like that with out slowing down. That is all I can do. I hope I did it justice to others that may see. I also wanted to post this in case some one else is looking for a little help on the tune and can’t seem to hear it with their ear. These can be difficult and any thing can help when you have to cram for a pick-up gig. Alright, enough of my yakkin. Enjoy.

I know that typically I put up musings of Double bass but today I wanted to pay homage to Leland Sklar. This man is a diamond in the rough for me. I had to learn a whole heap of James Taylor tunes and John Denver(Which I hated…) but these bass lines were blowing me away. I thought that this was going to be a simple, straight forward, caucasian thing. You know, I – V – I – V type of bass lines. I started listening to them in arrogance and was totally humbled. I spent a long time learning these lines and they weren’t easy by any means. I love the way the bass is in the fore front of all the other instruments. Even over James Taylor’s cool guitar playing. I had to check out who this cat was. Much to my surprise It was this majestical creature of a man Leland Sklar. He is not only James Taylor’s right hand man but has played on so much stuff it would make your head spin! I love it! I had never heard of him until last June and I am thanking God that I did! I think that more bass players would do themselves some good to study these lines and see how to accompany with a bass. I love to hear guys that totally change the “traditional” role of bass! Especially in POP tunes! I have to give Sweet baby James some credit also, his songs are thoughtful and difficult. The production is outstanding! Basically NO two verses are the same and they cranked out some HITS! Man! So my hat is off you Leland. This has opened my ears to other whitey’s that had some class and some soul i.e. Joe Osborn and Carol kaye. I will record a cool bass line from Joe possibly later on. I over dubbed my bass on Top of Leland’s so you could hear where he was playing. I am pretty sure that I hit it right but It’s been about five months since I learned it and haven’t played it since the gig. So have fun wit it. Blessings, Parker