Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL August 2014 Female Bassist Issue | Page 136

Second, if you ever do tour in a rock band with
a bunch of boys, invest in a good set of noisecanceling headphones, an iPad and a PillowPet.
You’ve been on the road a lot in support of
the latest TLB CD SoundMind - Can you tell us
about the new CD and any great road stories
you’d care to share?
Soundmind is a great record, and I don’t mind
saying so. The writing and recording process was
intense, the universe was turbulent and I wasn’t sure
I would come out sane on the other side. I did, but I
was quite happy to hit the road when the record was
finished.
TLB is a non-reckless rock band and our tours
are usually planned around eateries and tourist
attractions. Having said that, we don’t really have
any great road stories but I can tell you that the
Cleveland Museum of Art is closed on Mondays,
the Artopolis Bakery in Chicago makes the best
cannoli and playing “School Days” as a duet with
Dave LaRue was inconceivably cool.
3TLB has some great tunes – I’ve listed a few
of my favorites. Would you care to comment
on any of these songs?
Good and the Bad The duets are usually an opportunity for the bass
to take on a little more motion and melody with the
drum-free space. “Good and the Bad” is a bit of a
glimpse into the Wild West, or so it sounds that way
to me. The bass melody feels poised, on the verge
of discovery, while the rhythmic guitar gallops and
moves you through the tune.
Sticks and Stones I love the bass solo in this tune. The recorded
version almost sounds like it’s effected with a vocal
pitch corrector, but I remember the final mix being
pretty dry, maybe some verb and a touch of chorus.
Sticks and Stones was our show opener for all of

the Rate of Change touring so it still gets a gre
response from the fans, even if I don’t nail the so

Burn Season Burn Season is a “classic” Travis Larson Band son
I was inspired by a Tony Levin vibe for this bass lin
simple but elegant and yes, slanky. It was writt
during one of California’s worst fire seasons, so
tried to emulate that smoldering intensity.

Barrage A Trois I generally start to get in shape before and duri
the record, ramp it up before touring starts, th
hopefully maintain during the season. One of t
toughest things about touring is that you rarely g
to play your instrument, so keeping your chops
can be an issue. Also, our shows are pretty qui
and dirty without much time for rehearsing a part
even warming up. We tend to put Barrage early
the set because it is a great warm-up and worko
tune.

Ol’ Gus O