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Off Topic Question for Craig about his place in lady a

adouglas

adouglas

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I'd post this in the general music forum, but I don't know if Craig goes there or not. There's no EBMM bass content here except for the mention of EBMM basses earlier in the sentence. Oh, wait, now there are two mentions. And if I write "EBMM basses" one more time, then...

Anyway.

Craig, if I understand the situation correctly you're the bassist on all the Lady Antebellum recordings, but you never appear live with them, right? Why?

Do you smell funny? Are you afraid of tour buses? Do you have a restraining order that forces you to stay away from live audiences? Is it a work rule/union thing?

Another question: Do you ever interact with the guys who do play live, or are they basically just doing covers the way we ordinary slobs would?

The closest I'll ever get to knowing what being a studio (or even a touring) musician is like is reading about it. Would love to gain some more insight.
 
cyoungnashville

cyoungnashville

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adouglas said:
I'd post this in the general music forum, but I don't know if Craig goes there or not. There's no EBMM bass content here except for the mention of EBMM basses earlier in the sentence. Oh, wait, now there are two mentions. And if I write "EBMM basses" one more time, then...

Anyway.

Craig, if I understand the situation correctly you're the bassist on all the Lady Antebellum recordings, but you never appear live with them, right? Why?

Do you smell funny? Are you afraid of tour buses? Do you have a restraining order that forces you to stay away from live audiences? Is it a work rule/union thing?

Another question: Do you ever interact with the guys who do play live, or are they basically just doing covers the way we ordinary slobs would?

The closest I'll ever get to knowing what being a studio (or even a touring) musician is like is reading about it. Would love to gain some more insight.
Click to expand...

Nashville has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to musicians. On one side of the line is your average cat that comes to town and is happy to get a mow hawk, put on cowboy boots, and play a antiqued Mexican bass for a couple hundred bucks a night, because it beats the other thing he is qualified to do... Asking "would you like to biggie size your fried sh1t with cheese combo stroke?" a few extremely "lucky" guys land on the other side of the line, but have to sleep with the same woman in the same room in the same place every night... But get paid ten times what the "live players" do for giving up those amenities. I'm not sure when that line was drawn, but presumably it was back when it took a real seriously insanely talented cat to have his thing together and deliver it with not only precision but vibe as well... Consistently. If I shoot 1000 shots from the 3 point zone but only 4 balls actually go in and through the hoop, it don't make me a pro basketball player. These days with technology and the crap music it has unleashed, pretty much anybody that can pump out an 8th note groove, is good enough to play on most recording sessions I've been to. Somehow, the line has remained, and you are cast as one or the other, without very much freedom to jump back and forth. I believe that is about to change, but as of this day, it is what it is. I miss playing live, but if I were a road player, I would (I'm guessing) possibly miss seeing my screaming children and their mother (non-screaming). What I mostly miss is intelligent lyrics wrapped inside the perfect vibe that Also happens to groove it's a$s off. I'm trying to do something about that, but it's harder than it looks. I hope I came somewhat close to answering the actual question. Happy to re-explain further, if I failed somewhat miserably. I'm no pro writer...
 
DTG

DTG

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I don't miss the road ( well nearly never !) but I miss my family every second I am away from them.
Happy out playing weddings and stuff in my home town
 
JayDawg

JayDawg

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When it comes to playing live when you are touring, the time you are on stage performing is awesome but the rest of the time sucks! Now that I have a family, I can't ever see myself touring again. Craig, you are truly blessed to be able to do what you do. I would love to record in a studio more that I do now on the rare occasion when I actually do get to record. Keep up the good work!
 
metalarch

metalarch

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Nov 20, 2008
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Mexico city
what a great answer...sometimes I see my idols and forget that they are normal people also, with families doing the same things that I do...

I'm not a great fan of you...I'm more in the rock metal scene, but I found information saying that you were in MegadetH at some point...is that true? did you record with them? in which ambum?

Thank you...
 
cyoungnashville

cyoungnashville

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Nashville, Tennessee, United States
im not a great fan of me either.. yes i did replace their bass player on a few songs.. it was in 1997-8ish. can't remember the titles...but the lyrics went something like.."ruuur ruuur ruuuur woogguhh yeeeeeyyyaaaahhhaaa, who wants eggs...well-alright-a!"
 
bovinehost

bovinehost

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Dall-Ass, TX
cyoungnashville said:
im not a great fan of me either.. yes i did replace their bass player on a few songs.. it was in 1997-8ish. can't remember the titles...but the lyrics went something like.."ruuur ruuur ruuuur woogguhh yeeeeeyyyaaaahhhaaa, who wants eggs...well-alright-a!"
Click to expand...

Dude, that song totally killed.
 
bovinehost

bovinehost

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cyoungnashville said:
Nashville has drawn a line in the sand when it comes to musicians.
Click to expand...

My cousin Owen played drums in Nashville for rather standard country fare for many years. (KT Oslin, Dolly Parton, that sort of thing.) And Owen was - or is, he isn't dead or anything - a very good drummer. I don't think he was taxed, if you will, on most of those records, but he also worked in Muscle Shoals and other cool places. Excellent drummer, really. In the 90s, a certain southern rock band (think "Free Bird" but don't think it for very long or your brain will shrink) really wanted him to join up, make records - and tour.

He was torn. He "IS" a southern man, he liked those guys and the money was good, but once you leave Nashville, you're yesterday's news. In the end, he was close enough to retirement (and I think there was a signing bonus) that he said to hell with it and did it anyway, but he knew the deal. Everyone knows the deal.
 
Smallmouth_Bass

Smallmouth_Bass

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Sep 25, 2007
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Montreal, Canada
So why is it that touring musicians are considered a lower class of musician than the studio guys?

Doesn't Tony Levin do both? (albeit, not in Nashville)
 
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