For those of us that aren't hip, tell us why they call you the 'workingest' bassist in Chicago? Back in the 80's I toured with Dave Mason and gigged with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Denver and Pheobe Snow to name a few. Plus a lot of session work in Chicago when there was session work in town.
What's happening now for you? I'm in a band called Mecca on Frontiers records being released on EMI in Italy on Nov 12th and in the USA on Nov 29th. On the record is Tony Levin on a few tracks. Also I'm with guitarist Dave Uhrich (who we call the Steve Vai of Chicago). My own solo record hopefully in 2012 time permitting. It's hard when you're working on so many other projects.
What role does education play in music? Now more than ever education has to be about the Music Business. Can you understand the contracts you sign etc.. When I was young I was touring at 17 so I didn't get the Music Business savy side of things. I learned on the job. You gotta be prepared for so much. Learning to be fluent in different styles of music, to read music, to be courteous and on time. That's all part of it. You gotta learn how not to get taken advantage of.
Where do you see the future of music going? I hope we'll get back to real music. There's so much sampling going on. Kids today don't know the original artists. There are some great new artists out now like Esperanza Spalding. As long as people continue to enjoy music the sky's the limit for music.
You were one of the first cat's to get on board with R. Cocco. Why have you been using R. Cocco strings for so long? I don't know much about the technical aspects of string making but what ever method or formula Richard was using back in the day made the feel and tone of the string better than any of the other countless brands of strings I've tried through the years. And I tried them all!