Another confirmation of PRS playability - my wife and basses

[shinksma]

If you may recall, my wife started playing bass a while back - a good burst of enthusiasm with some initial energy to learn, unfortunately tempered by reality interfering and not getting as much time practicing as she would like. She has now essentially taken ownership of "our" PRS SE Kingfisher bass.

Recently she has been playing a bit more regularly, and has really kicked it up after I got her an early Valentine's gift of a pink She Rocks PRS strap. (Very nice suede strap, btw.)

We have been practicing a song I am trying to fully learn for St Patrick's Day (Black Velvet Band - chord pattern easy, but lots of words to memorize!). She picked up the basic pattern right away, which was nice to see.

Last night at band practice, held at our bandmates' house this particular time, we practiced Black Velvet Band again, but she had to use their bass (a not-terrible Yamaha). When we got home she said, effectively: "Wow, that bass of theirs doesn't play anywhere as nicely and easily as our PRS!" (I think she said "our", might have been "my"... )

Based on her comments, I suspect the Yamaha needs some action adjustment. But I also know it just doesn't quite play as well as the Kingfisher, because I've played it a time or three.

So...fully converted, she now groks my mantra of "but it's a PRS, of course it plays awesome, why play anything else!".

My hunt for a 5-string is renewed. I've always wanted one, and I figure if she learns on 5-string now she may have a more natural feel for it, rather than later on, when many 4-string bass players fall into the trap of thinking of a 5-string bass as a 4-string bass with an additional novelty low end string. Instead she may learn to play 5-string bass, and then a 4-string is just "a 5-string bass with the low-end string missing".

 

[alantig]

Black Velvet Band? Nice! Which song?

 

[shinksma]

Black Velvet Band? Nice! Which song?

That's the name of the song. Trad Irish pub song, about a young man who gets led astray by a cunning young vixen whose hair is "tied up with a black velvet band".

Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds, you'd think she was queen of the land
And her hair hung over her shoulder, tied up with a black velvet band

 

[alantig]

I was afraid of that.

But I do like the actual band...

 

[shinksma]

I was afraid of that.

Well, we are a Celtic Fusion band, and when playing St Patrick's Day or a pub that wants and advertises "Irish Music tonight!" (our monthly gig) you are sort of obligated to play the genre. We play it a bit different from most - we don't sound anything like The Dubliners, for example. My version of Whiskey in the Jar is far closer to Thin Lizzy (with a bit of Metallica thrown in) than The Dubliners.

On the other hand, our next CD (recording in the studio a few tracks this weekend) is leaning very strongly to "Western", "Americana", and "Roots" styling. Lots of songs about cowboys, horses, and dirt tracks. Not where we usually get our inspiration! There will be a couple of Celtic-ish songs, probably one or two full up trad tunes.

But I do like the actual band...

Interesting - never heard of that band before, but their style is similar to some of the stuff we play - our singer-songwriter stuff where I can mix in some light electric.

 

[alantig]

Interesting - never heard of that band before, but their style is similar to some of the stuff we play - our singer-songwriter stuff where I can mix in some light electric.

I don't remember where I first heard them, but it was something off the first album. It was sometime later, I believe, that I found out Maria Doyle (now Maria Doyle Kennedy) in this band was the same woman in "The Commitments" (and later "Dexter", "The Tudors", and "Orphan Black"). I love her voice, although it's not the dominant voice in the band. Only two albums, but I really like both of them.