Bass not for girls, say the girls?

image courtesy of Marissa Cap.

A bass guitar on the BBC news site? Oh yes, right here: Why don't girls play guitar?

Interesting that it is either a lefty bass (yeah!) or they have mirrored the picture (looks like the later, from the headstock - doh! Slaps forehead). Anyway, that niggle aside. The article talks about the influence of gender stereotypes on musical choice.

There is still a lot of "girls play flute, boys play guitar" about, and it needs to go.

Top instruments for the boys:

1. Electric guitar - 81%
2. Bass Guitar - 81%
3. Tuba - 77%

Top instruments for the girls:

1. Harp - 90%
2. Flute - 89%
3. Voice - 80%

On the good news front, I am surprised and happy to see bass right up there with the miniature squeaky guitar. On the bad news front, it is sad to see no guitar at all in the girls list.

The article says it is hard to step across the gender line, but easier for girls to play 'boys' instruments, than the other way around. I know a male bass player learning flute - wulf, your secret is out - and I know of infinitely more female bass players around now that I did a decade ago (ok, that is from zero to about a dozen now). So, hopefully, things are on the mend.

Let's break the stereotypes. Bass is for everyone, come and play!

Lakland Owners Group

Wow... The Lakland boys have been busy. They have a new owners group ("LOG"), which you can sign up to on the Lakland owners site: Laklandowners.com. Find the "Create an account" option and sign up - it does the whole funky 'sending you an e-mail' thing - and you'll have access to news, a forum and the mysterious "stable". News, Events, the Forum, the Stable, and other information. It is a subscription site - $26/year - but Lakland are promising to throw in goodies and the like. Know of any other owner's groups?

The group is planning a meet up on May 10th in Wisconsin, details here on the Lakland Blog: Inaugural LOG meeting. A good chance to meet fellow bassists and keep up with the Lakland crew!

London Solo Bass Night

Last night saw a special evening for hard core bass fans in and around London. Yolanda Charles, Steve Lawson and Todd Johnson took to the stage for a spectacular evening of solo bass.

Todd was out with the crowd before the show, sharing his passion for bass and showing off his rather nice signature Zon Bass. By the time it came to kick off a very good size crowd had gathered at Darbucka. It is a superb venue (unless you happen to be a photographer, in which case the ambient light will render even your best kit useless - that's my excuse anyway :) ). Check out their menu, you will want to eat there!

Yolanda Charles took to the stage for her first solo gig. Yolanda has played with artist like Robbie Williams and Paul Weller, but is now an artist in her own right. Quite rightly too, as she filled the room with her grooves, using just a simple loop pedal and raw her talent. Very funky stuff, a wonderful voice!


Next up was Steve Lawson himself, and my chance to see the Looperlative in action. It is a very serious piece of kit, judging by the other-worldly sounds Steve coaxed out of it as he tap danced on more pedals and controllers than this blogger could count. Some old and some new tunes, all very Steve, resulting in very satisfied fans in the audience. I don't think that anyone there will ever forget his rendition of 'a wonderful world'. Which leads us neatly on to Todd...




Todd Johnson's first trip to London since he was a teenager! This was just one stop on his hectic European schedule, he was off to the lucky folks at ACM next. If you like Jazz, you'll love Todd. He is well known in the bass world for his tuition DVDs (check him out youtube) and the A-list of artists he has played with. With the able support of a digitech Jamman for a couple of the tracks, he swung the house.

The finale featured Todd and Steve playing a piece together, seamlessly alternating melodic rolls like true solo bass brothers! For those in London, keep a look out for other events from Steve at Darbuka (for facebook folk, check out steve's fan page), which is a regular haunt for the recycle collective. I'll definitely be back!