Quick little project: I added some glow-in-the-dark paint to the fret markers on my basses.

Quick little project: I added some glow-in-the-dark paint to the fret markers on my basses.

On a dimly lit stage, it’s often very difficult to quickly check your hand position on the neck of the bass guitar, especially when you are singing backing vocals and you can only look out of the corner of your eye.

In the past I’ve used little glowing-dot stickers, but they wear off rather quickly. This time I used some Glow-On paint. It’s designed to be used on gun sights, but it works great on guitars too. It only takes a few minutes in bright light to charge it for a gig — a flashlight (or cell phone light) works great as well.

So sorry to hear of Eddie Van Halen’s crossing over yesterday, October 6th.

So sorry to hear of Eddie Van Halen’s crossing over yesterday, October 6th. Sadly, Van Halen’s original bass player, Mark Stone just passed away as well on Sept 26th.

Eddie and the whole band have been a huge influence and inspiration to me and so many other musicians. On the cusp of the hard rock era, Eddie rewrote the book on playing the electric guitar and kicked down the door for all the amazing players to follow. Van Halen has sold over 75 million albums worldwide and have 13 No. 1 hits.

Millions of us can say that Van Halen music has bookmarked many of the good times in our lives. Eddie will rock on forever 🀘😎

Merlin’s Beard!

Merlin’s Beard! I’m ready for my first Quidditch match!😜

I swear that we did get some work done at our @werenogentlemen photo shoot yesterday, but I just couldn’t help myself when I saw some of the props they had at the photo studio. I have no idea what you’re actually supposed to use this giant flower for πŸ€”πŸ€·

Much thanks to Dani Brooke Photography (@ladyoftheflowers_xo) for a killer photo shoot for @werenogentlemen — needless to say, there was a bit of goofing around and shenanigans, but Dani managed to get get some great shots in spite of us, and we can’t wait to see the finished photos.

Much thanks to Dani Brooke Photography (@ladyoftheflowers_xo) for a killer photo shoot for @werenogentlemen — needless to say, there was a bit of goofing around and shenanigans, but Dani managed to get get some great shots in spite of us, and we can’t wait to see the finished photos. Shout-out to @red_hareimages and @debbiegabel for all your help.

throwbackthursday (at 19 years old) Hanging out with the band and crew after a gig opening for RIOT — these guys are fantastic musicians, and they treated us very well as their opening act.

throwbackthursday (at 19 years old) Hanging out with the band and crew after a gig opening for RIOT — these guys are fantastic musicians, and they treated us very well as their opening act. So sad to hear of Mark Reale’s passing in 2012. There’s a great documentary about this band called ‘Riot – Fight or Fall’ you can watch for free on The Metal Voice YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq-BAf6CJYA

I just posted a bass play-through on my YouTube channel for the new song from my band The Bredren, “Cali Livin”.

I just posted a bass play-through on my YouTube channel for the new song from my band The Bredren, “Cali Livin”. I’m especially stoked to share this song because I had a hand in writing the music and lyrics. You can listen to this song and all the other tunes from The Bredren on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and all other major platforms.

Watch the full video at https://youtu.be/i8S3pwQeAh0

Presenting a softer, quieter Melonhead for a soothing evening vibe πŸ˜‰.

Presenting a softer, quieter Melonhead for a soothing evening vibe πŸ˜‰. I enjoy the challenge of getting to play ‘unplugged’ on my acoustic fretless bass — it requires adapting my bass lines to the highlight the essence of the song without getting in the way. I find that it’s much harder to play slow and quiet and still maintain technique and accuracy, because there’s a lot more room to mess up, and there’s no where to hide. At the same time, nothing’s more expressive than an a pared down acoustic song. It tugs at the heart πŸ–€.

You can watch some videos of me playing this bass on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr4r2OwDRmHkgkrxpOYXCgw