Me: Oh, yeah? Who is it?
Son: I dunno know.
One week later: driving by the music store, the sign reads, "Billy Sheehan, bass clinic."
WHAT?!
I nearly put my husband through the windshield, as I hit the breaks and turned the car around to buy tickets for the clinic!
About three weeks later, my son and I arrived at the music store ready for the clinic. If you've ever read my blog, you know I have a thing about being as CLOSE TO THE STAGE AS POSSIBLE. Since it was a weekday (workday for most), I figured lining up for the clinic about an hour before the doors opened would be sufficient. My bet paid off, and we were the second people in line.
When the doors opened, my son and I found seats in the front row. Only 100 tickets were sold for this event. The room continued to fill, and soon enough, the music store announced that it was time for the clinic to begin.
After a nice introduction, and a big shout out to Yamaha, who was sponsoring the clinic, Billy took the stage and played for a few minutes. (Sheehan playes Yamaha bass guitars, and has his own signature model Yamaha bass available for purchase.)
For those of you who don't know, I am not a musician. I LOVE music. I DEVOUR music. A BIG part of MY WORLD is music.
Of course, most of the room was made up of men who ARE musicians. I came to this clinic prepared to pretty much not understand whatever "technical" things Billy would talk about. But it didn't matter to me, I was just SO HAPPY to be there.
I first heard of Billy Sheehan when I was a freshman in high school and David Lee Roth released his album Eat 'Em and Smile (on which Billy Sheehan played bass). In fact, the first concert I ever attended, was David Lee Roth's Eat 'Em and Smile concert at Chicago's (then called) Rosemont Horizon. That was a GREAT SHOW! I've been hooked on rock concerts ever since!
A couple of years later, in '89, my friend Marie bought Mr. Big's first (self-titled) album. (Yes, of course I bought it right after that!) I remember the two of us playing it in the car while driving. I was addicted to that rush from the first time I heard it (sorry for the pun...somewhat sorry, anyway). If you're a regular reader to my blog, you know that I have BIG LOVE for Mr. Big, and that they have been one of my favorite bands for many years. And if you're not aware, Billy Sheehan also has a band called the Winery Dogs. I recommend you check them out if you haven't already!
Back to the clinic, after Billy played for a few minutes, he opened the floor for questions. The questions ranged from things like, "What was it like to work with David Lee Roth?" to "How do you do play an appregio?" He was so gracious as he answered the questions. When he was showing the crowd how to do certain bass riffs that he was asked about, he explained the riff and showed it in slow motion. He encouraged the audience, saying that anyone could play anything they wanted to with practice, thus making music, even complex, music attainable to all present.
It was fascinating listening to him as he talked about his daily warm-up routine and how he practices the same finger exercises on his bass everyday for hours. Interestingly, this is the same routine he's been doing for years. He explained that if you teach your fingers to be anywhere they need to be on the fret, then you can play anything, because you remove the physical limitations from yourself. (In other words, the notion that "I can't do that because my fingers don't reach there" is no longer an issue.) If you train your fingers to reach anywhere, then you can play anything to which you set your mind and practice habits.
What may have amazed me most, is that he said he discovers something new EVERY day on the bass! He said that even if you don't feel like playing, do your finger excersises, and stick with it, and eventually something new will present itself to you. First comes discipline, then comes inspiration.
He talked the artists who inspired him to come up with some of the different playing techniques that he uses. He also shared personal stories from his "early" days with Talas. He talked about how he put Mr. Big together, and their journey to fame. When someone asked how to put a band together, he said that he is of the opinion that it's more important to like the people with whom you're playing than to have the "best" player in your band. I remember the stories he shared and could say more, but if you've read my blog, you know that I am unwilling to spoil a future event for others by sharing too much.
And do you know what? He made everything so uncomplicated that I understood everything that he said! His total time on stage, most of which was answering questions, was about two hours. But the evening didn't end there! Billy Sheehan stuck around to sign autographs and take pictures with people. He was so kind to all. When it was my turn to talk to him, I told him that I LOVE Mr. Big and that "Alive and Kickin'" is my favorite song. I asked if he would personalize an autograph to me with the words "Alive and Kickin." Fortunately, he was happy to oblige! Can you imagine that? After all of these years (29 years to be exact), I got to MEET, and take a PICTURE with, and get an AUTOGRAPH from Billy Sheehan! I am one HAPPY GIRL today!
I'd like to extend a big thank you to all of my regular and new readers! I so enjoy taking you along with me on my rock music adventures! I also really love hearing from you either in the comments section or through social media. Do feel free to share any of my posts that you like. I especially like to have conversations about music on Twitter. You can find me my on Twitter page by clicking here.
Until next time...
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