Contrabass Conversations

Vassilis Papavassiliou has been on my “to interview” list for years, and it was a treat to sit down with him over a coffee at the 2018 European Bass Congress and discuss his current topic of research…

I’ve been looking forward to having Hagai Bilitzky on the podcast for years, and it was great to be able to sit down with him in person at the 2018 European Bass Congress and dig into his exploration…

I first met Jennifer Downing Olsson back in the early 2000s.  She was playing in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago at the time, and we also ended up playing in the Spoleto USA Festival in Charleston, So…

After a recent podcast appearance from Lauren Pierce all about her Practiceology course, I was contacted by Elizabeth Li of Modacity.  Modacity is a practicing app developed by Marc Gelfo, a horn pla…

I’ve been enjoying watching the career of double bassist Grace Lewis unfold.  A former student of John Schimek’s at Oklahoma City University, Grace is currently completing her graduate studies with D…

Today’s episode features a conversation on music, psychotherapy, and double bass.  Bill Harrison and Judith Hanna are both Chicago-area double bassists and practicing psychotherapists.  We met up in …

Today we’re digging into a question that I’ve asked many of my past podcast guests: what advice would you give your younger self?

This question is answered today by the following people (in order o…

I’ve been a fan of Edwin Livingston’s bass playing ever since hearing him play with Natalie Cole several years ago.  Edwin is one of the most in-demand bassists working today, having worked Elvin Jon…

Joel Reist has been a member of the Nashville Symphony for nearly 20 years, and has served as principal bass since 2003.  A former student of Anthony Bianco and Paul Ellison, Joel spent time in the …

Today’s episode features Joe Zon of Zon Guitars plus Zon artists Michael Manring, Cody Wright, Bill Gould, and Jeff Denson. Dan Robbins joined the panel with his Ibanez 6-string and array of pedals a…

Ethan Jodziewicz has carved out a remarkable career for himself in the world of acoustic music.  He plays bass for Sierra Hull and was featured on her GRAMMY-nominated album Weighted Mind. 

A former …

Donovan Stokes is a one-of-a-kind artist.  I’ve been captivated by his playing ever since hearing him over a decade ago, and it has been a real pleasure getting to teach alongside him at the Golden G…

Bass and Gender Talk

Megan McDevitt shares her thoughts on why she has been motivated to dig into this topic and also details about the specific audience for this talk on this bonus episode.

She writ…

Megan McDevitt has been covering a topic that is of critical importance: The Bass and Gender.  She presented a session on it at the 2017 International Society of Bassists Convention, and she had a se…

Matthew Tucker of Bresque Basses has been innovating in a number of fascinating ways in the world of bass luthiery.  A regular attendee of the Violin Society of America / Oberlin Bass Workshop, Matth…

We’re chatting with Katie Thiroux on today’s episode.  Katie’s album Off Beat was named one of Downbeat’s Best Albums of 2017, and she recently completed a three-month stint at Quincy Jones’ Dubai J…

Micah Howard has been on my “to interview” list for years.  As a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, Micah has had a huge influence on countless bass players …

BASS2018 Lucca will take place July 31 - August 5, 2018.  Today, we chat with Artistic Directors Gabriele Ragghianti and Alberto Bocini about what to expect at this event.

I'll be there covering the …

Lauren Pierce has just released a new course called Practiceology.  As the name implies, this is a deep-dive into the hows and whys of practicing.

We dig into all kinds of topics with Lauren, like…

This special 500th episode of the podcast was recorded live at the Golden Gate Bass Camp in San Francisco on June 20, 2018.

It features conversations and performances from the following people:

• Ri…