Post by fogcitygal on Jun 16, 2007 2:13:33 GMT -5
from the Birmingham News, a nice article about Barry...
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Working in a lower key
Union Station's bassist happy out of the spotlight
Friday, June 15, 2007
MARY COLURSO
"Fiddler Alison Krauss is the angelic-voiced leader. Dobro player Jerry Douglas is the wizardly featured artist. Guitarist and mandolinist Dan Tyminski is the breakout singer from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Banjo player Ron Block is the band's spiritual touchstone.
And Barry Bales, the fifth member of Alison Krauss & Union Station?
He's low-key, has a wry sense of humor and is integral to the overall sound. Just make sure you get his instrument right.
In concert, Krauss likes to tell an anecdote about a besotted fan who thought that Bales, a bassist, was playing the cello.
"I get a lot of mileage out of that one," Bales says during a recent interview. "Most people don't even notice the bass player unless he quits playing or messes up."
He's joking, of course. Fans of the Grammy-winning quintet know that Union Station prides itself on democratic collaboration. To make cohesive, precise and pioneering bluegrass at this level, every person in the group performs a key role.
During a recent phone interview, Bales discussed his 17-year collaboration with AKUS, as the band is known, and talked about the job of a professional bass player.
If you prefer actions to words, Bales will illustrate those concepts vividly tonight when Krauss and company perform at Birmingham's BJCC Arena.
Q. People talk about the importance of band dynamics. What makes your team work so well?
A. I don't want to delve into it too closely, or I'm afraid it would all fall apart. I think a large part of it is where we all come from musically. All of us grew up listening to bluegrass exclusively. Bluegrass music is very much about the ensemble. Everyone has their turn; everyone works to make the person doing the solo sound as good as they can. I think we're all rooted in bluegrass so deeply. And whatever you grew up with gets hard to shake.
Q. Does having side projects make it easier to turn off your ego on stage?
A. Oh, yeah. There's no way we'd want to have a five-way turtle war. We all have outside projects where we get to call the shots and do whatever we want to do, for that particular thing. I don't think anyone feels stifled.
Q. Could you make good music with these people if you didn't like them?
A. Well, a band is a funny thing. It's such a blurry line between it being a job and it being a passion. There are points where I spend more time with the band than I do with my family. So I think you'd better like them.
Q. Do bass players get enough respect in general?
A. A certain number of bass players will tell you they don't. But the bass has got to roll along with everything else. If you want to be more of a star, take up some other instrument.
Q. What makes the bass the right instrument for you?
A. Something just clicked one day. It seemed like it came more natural to me than guitar or banjo.
Q. What does it take to play the bass skillfully? Is it physically strenuous?
A. If you're going to play upright bass, you've got to have pull. The right hand has to play with authority. You can't play delicately or like you're afraid of it. The note has to have a definite point; you have to put that percussive snap on it.
If you're playing electric bass and you want more volume or whatever, you just reach down and touch a knob. That doesn't mean that you can't play the upright bass with finesse. But you need calluses and a decent amount of hand strength to reach across. Having big hands and long fingers certainly doesn't hurt.
Q. Do you take your bass with you when you travel?
A. The days of flying with an upright bass are pretty much over. They flat-out won't let you take it on the plane. I have flown with it extensively as checked baggage, and I have had it damaged a couple of times. These days, if it's too big for the airline regulations, we just can't take it. We probably fly two or three times a year, so it's not that much of a problem. Otherwise, I just pack it in the bus.
Maybe one of these days I'll do what Edgar Meyer, a classical bassist, does. He buys a separate seat for the bass; it's the only way he goes. And he always goes first-class.
Q. You've been in Alison Krauss' band for almost 20 years. Is that unusual, even in the bluegrass world?
A. To spend 17 years with any group is very unusual. A handful of people out there are in the same band they started out with. In most bands, you have big changes; you need a flow chart to keep up with it all. But I found a hole and stayed there. Or maybe I'm too stupid to leave. "
Mary Colurso covers pop music for The Birmingham News. E-mail her at mcolurso@bhamnews.com.
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Cool!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Working in a lower key
Union Station's bassist happy out of the spotlight
Friday, June 15, 2007
MARY COLURSO
"Fiddler Alison Krauss is the angelic-voiced leader. Dobro player Jerry Douglas is the wizardly featured artist. Guitarist and mandolinist Dan Tyminski is the breakout singer from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Banjo player Ron Block is the band's spiritual touchstone.
And Barry Bales, the fifth member of Alison Krauss & Union Station?
He's low-key, has a wry sense of humor and is integral to the overall sound. Just make sure you get his instrument right.
In concert, Krauss likes to tell an anecdote about a besotted fan who thought that Bales, a bassist, was playing the cello.
"I get a lot of mileage out of that one," Bales says during a recent interview. "Most people don't even notice the bass player unless he quits playing or messes up."
He's joking, of course. Fans of the Grammy-winning quintet know that Union Station prides itself on democratic collaboration. To make cohesive, precise and pioneering bluegrass at this level, every person in the group performs a key role.
During a recent phone interview, Bales discussed his 17-year collaboration with AKUS, as the band is known, and talked about the job of a professional bass player.
If you prefer actions to words, Bales will illustrate those concepts vividly tonight when Krauss and company perform at Birmingham's BJCC Arena.
Q. People talk about the importance of band dynamics. What makes your team work so well?
A. I don't want to delve into it too closely, or I'm afraid it would all fall apart. I think a large part of it is where we all come from musically. All of us grew up listening to bluegrass exclusively. Bluegrass music is very much about the ensemble. Everyone has their turn; everyone works to make the person doing the solo sound as good as they can. I think we're all rooted in bluegrass so deeply. And whatever you grew up with gets hard to shake.
Q. Does having side projects make it easier to turn off your ego on stage?
A. Oh, yeah. There's no way we'd want to have a five-way turtle war. We all have outside projects where we get to call the shots and do whatever we want to do, for that particular thing. I don't think anyone feels stifled.
Q. Could you make good music with these people if you didn't like them?
A. Well, a band is a funny thing. It's such a blurry line between it being a job and it being a passion. There are points where I spend more time with the band than I do with my family. So I think you'd better like them.
Q. Do bass players get enough respect in general?
A. A certain number of bass players will tell you they don't. But the bass has got to roll along with everything else. If you want to be more of a star, take up some other instrument.
Q. What makes the bass the right instrument for you?
A. Something just clicked one day. It seemed like it came more natural to me than guitar or banjo.
Q. What does it take to play the bass skillfully? Is it physically strenuous?
A. If you're going to play upright bass, you've got to have pull. The right hand has to play with authority. You can't play delicately or like you're afraid of it. The note has to have a definite point; you have to put that percussive snap on it.
If you're playing electric bass and you want more volume or whatever, you just reach down and touch a knob. That doesn't mean that you can't play the upright bass with finesse. But you need calluses and a decent amount of hand strength to reach across. Having big hands and long fingers certainly doesn't hurt.
Q. Do you take your bass with you when you travel?
A. The days of flying with an upright bass are pretty much over. They flat-out won't let you take it on the plane. I have flown with it extensively as checked baggage, and I have had it damaged a couple of times. These days, if it's too big for the airline regulations, we just can't take it. We probably fly two or three times a year, so it's not that much of a problem. Otherwise, I just pack it in the bus.
Maybe one of these days I'll do what Edgar Meyer, a classical bassist, does. He buys a separate seat for the bass; it's the only way he goes. And he always goes first-class.
Q. You've been in Alison Krauss' band for almost 20 years. Is that unusual, even in the bluegrass world?
A. To spend 17 years with any group is very unusual. A handful of people out there are in the same band they started out with. In most bands, you have big changes; you need a flow chart to keep up with it all. But I found a hole and stayed there. Or maybe I'm too stupid to leave. "
Mary Colurso covers pop music for The Birmingham News. E-mail her at mcolurso@bhamnews.com.
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Cool!
