This little place we played is the consummate “Redneck” bar. Again, I don’t mean that as an insult, it is what it is. It is the size of a very small home. Made of wood, obviously many years ago. The two front windows on each side of the door have cut-outs to resemble car windshields (NASCAR baby.). Inside the decor is sparce. the seats and tables have seen better days and lighting is low.
On the other hand, the people are friendly, the beer is limited in brands (Think Bud, Bush, PBR and Michelob Ultra for the upper class), but ice cold. Then there’s the food. Southern home cooking at it’s best. The special on the night we were there was pork tenderloin sliders with your choice of french fries or macaroni salad, along with fried pickle slices on the side. The pork was a thick slice of meat, wonderfully cooked and seasoned. Everything tasted pretty close to what my Mama made. Good stuff.
I personally grew up around places like this. I like it, others may not. Trust me when I say that the owner and patrons could care less what anyone else thinks. And that’s okay with me.
I believe that they would welcome anyone that came in, though that may or may not change as the evening (and drinking) goes on. There’s bound to be at least one drunken fight, and yes, we had one break out during a later set. The physical part ended pretty quickly, a bunch of yelling and trash talking came afterward until the owner (A Lady) came out and ran the whole group out the door. The fight was between two ladys. different, but not all that unusual.
This all may or may not sound ridiculous, but one thing is certain. These people are real. What you see is what you get. They may seem a little rough around the edges, but they would be the first to stop if they see you broke down on the side of the road. If you needed to eat, they would make sure that you get fed well. These small communities look out for each other, and are surprisingly open to those not like them. There will always be those that are just plain jerks, but you can find that in any community.
Just a peak into small town life in the Southern United States,
My girlfriend is from east Germany … from a region that some would call “Redneck” (Thuringia).
They have bars that match your description, but are totally different - with a certain “soviet” chique. Simple & honest. Lots (!!!) of alcohol flowing around. When it’s getting late, everybody starts singing the songs from the “good old times” (including communist anthems)…
The people there are almost all hunters, very traditional - and they don’t take sh#t from us “Westeners”. Like you say: “These people are real. What you see is what you get.”
There is always a barbecue or two going on, cause of the famous Thuringia sausage … and freshly hunted wild boars and other game.
Did I mention the abundance of alcohol going around? And I don’t drink alcohol, so it can be overwhelming.
I always have a good time, and get along really great with the locals - and I am the complete opposite of them, the type that would be tarred, feathered and kicked out in old times
A few years ago they even made me “Honorable Thuringian” during a very dunk village event: “Son, you might be a f#cking softie imperialist western liberal, but you’re alright :-)”.
It was great fun!
There is a lot of music and singing going on, but nothing as cool as I expect to happen in you place!
Thüringen is a beautiful part of Germany, first in Germany, then in East Germany and then back in Germany after the reunification in 1989. The Germans love their sausages, but a freshly grilled Thüringer Bratwurst in a fresh semmel is hard to beat. I’ve eaten a LOT of them.
Same here - the parents of my girlfriend bring lots of them every time they visit, but even better: when we visit them, we have a Thüringer Bratwurst barbecue every 2nd day at least - also in the winter. They even prepared the outdoor area so we can barbecue at very cold temperatures comfortably.
OK, they lived in the Soviet Union for a while, so they are used to anything very cold. And me, being a softie westener, partake in “Kurt-Russel-The-Thing” level clothing
Today was pretty good. I did a new cover and showed it to my bass teacher asking for critic.
Should work on note length to suit certain genres, especially when the drums are dry and crisp, but that he loved my attack and that watching my left hand is textbook technique.
Also, today I got an invitation to join a jazz band at the school. These guys seriously can cook and it would be a major step up for me to play with them.
Just back from band rehearsal and we played Uptown Funk for the first time.
Used my birthday present pedal (MXR Bass Synth) and it sounds fantastic. Used the Stevie Wonder / Tonto synth preset and tweaked it a bit to suit. Hot Damn that pedal tracks so well.
Looking forward to playing this at our next gig in a few weeks time.
“Notorious” by Duran Duran ticks off two of my practice boxes.
A simple John Taylor bass line that I can actually play
Something to practice my slap/pluck
Also realized that I’m getting better understand slap. The idea of slapping through the string has finally clicked, and I’m not just hammering straight down. (Which also fixes the issue I had with being totally out of balance with the rest of my playing and peaking out my amp constantly.)
Yesterday, I picked up my bass after a few weeks of little practice. I sing in a pop/rock choir and the practice took away the time to work on bass.
It was great to be able to jump back in right where I left off. I think my work on the fundamental drills pays off that way. I may not be shredder fast, but I can play all “my” stuff.
I took about a month hiatus from playing because I moved and started a new job, but I have restarted B2B within the last couple weeks and started the 25 Grooves challenge from Mark at Talking Bass. It’s only been about two week but I have felt good about my practice time and progress. Hopefully this time around through B2B will be more consistent and not take as long lol
Good bass day: yesterday, I was contacted by an originals band, asking if I wanted to join. Their music was actually petty good - my kind of thing, guitar led, but not full on “heavy rock” / “hair rock” / “metal”…
Sadly, I had to say no. They are prep’ing for an audition on the 29th Nov, but that is mid way between two confirmed 1 hour gigs we have in my band. That, combined with a rather crazy work travel schedule over the next month or so, means I just don’t have the capacity. Plus my wife would divorce me!!
Been trying to really focus on slap bass for a couple weeks now (2 or 3) and really make improvement.
Today, I randomly found myself Double Thumbing on a bass line! I wasn’t even trying to. It just happened naturally.
I think spending as much time as I did working on pick playing actually helped a lot with this. Especially time put in on Peter Hook lines playing over a droning string. It feels a lot like that sort of strumming.
Saw a clip of some guys talking about the bass line for Come Together and wondered if I could play it. First time picking up a bass in months and learning that song has kicked off a good week of bass playing.
