Welcome and I hope you visit often
I specialize in playing upright and electric bass in the styles of Classic Country, Bluegrass & Rockabilly while Touring, Recording and Teaching. I really want to keep that era's sound around for a long time.
I’m also a utility player offering strong Rhythm Guitar, Mama Maybelle Carter style Guitar work (The Carter Scratch technique), Luther Perkins & Bob Wootton (Johnny Cash’s guitarists) style Lead Guitar work, flat-picking Bluegrass Lead Guitar work, Banjo, Mandolin, and more! I offer professionalism, a fun but hard working attitude, an understanding of the Nashville number system, backup vocals.
I love feeling the music to add to, but not intrude on, the other musicians’ interpretation of the song. I just lay down a solid bass foundation within which they can work, but I can sure jam on when required! Dynamics of the song are so important and I work hard to match them with the others' playing and singing.
I have a current passport and flight cases for my basses, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin.
I love to play:
- Classic Country Music circa beginning of time - 1967 or so (I’m a Honky Tonk gal at heart),
- Bluegrass (the great early stuff, raw and beautiful) and
- Rockabilly (Oh, the power and free-spiritedness of it!)
- Swedish/Scandinavian/Finnish (on nyckelharpa, fiddle and mandolin, too!)
I want to personally thank each of these artists and bands for giving me a chance to pick & grin with them and giving me a lot of resources from which to grow and build my musical career. Most importantly was the opportunity to entertain people! Partial Group Resume’:
- The Tennessee Three (band that backed up Johnny Cash) - toured and recorded with Bob Wootton and WS Holland playing upright bass
- Lorrie Carter Bennett (Granddaughter of Mama Maybelle Carter, daughter of Anita Carter - Sweet voice keeping the Carter Family music tradition going)
- Bristol Echoes (Through entertaining and educating, we're passing along how wonderfully important these early captured moments in music are to musicians and listeners today)
- Joe Hott and The Short Mountain Boys (Retro Bluegrass, Country, Gospel, Mountain Music)
- JC Cole & Folsom '68 (Johnny Cash Tribute)
- Perley Curtis (Perley's Place camera cue sheets, teleprompting, website maintenance, and occasional bass sub)
- Scott Southworth (Honky Tonk Anonymous)
- Daughters of Bluegrass (Pickin' Like a Girl) - played on 7 songs on this great collection (mandolin and autoharp)
- Jett Williams backing band (Hank Williams Sr and Jett's Original songs)
- Sweet Nothin's featuring The McCarter Twins and Chip (Beautiful folks with beautiful harmonies)
- Adam Pope's Monroe SUN (Bluegrass with a Rockabilly kick)
- Adam Pope & The Rebel Roots (Original Country, Rockabilly & Bluegrass)
- Music City Hayride (Lots of Traditional Country Music in full band setting and variety of singers)
- Lloyd Wood backing band (Classic Country, Comedy and a bit of Bluegrass and Rockabilly)
- David Church Straight Up Country Band (Hank Williams Sr tribute and Classic Country songs)
- Reedy Buzzards (Vintage Acoustic Country Music)
- Texas '55 (Rockabilly and Classic Country)
- No Brakes (Bluegrass Trio with a kick)
- Pickin' Up Speed (Homegrown Bluegrass)
- Crick County Quartet (My first band from my high school days)
- see my ‘Discography’ page and ‘Gigs Archive’ page for more (sorry - under construction at this time)!
(photo by Gerald Hott, Nashville, TN)