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Brad's father played upright bass in a Dixieland band when Brad was a
child. Brad, like so many of us, ignored what Dad did and got into a
rock band in high school and subsided into playing blues guitar
in college. One day an acquaintance called up and said "Hey, can you get your father's old bass?" Said friend showed up an hour later with a guitar and a banjo player. Brad had never paid any attention to bluegrass before, so he played like it was Dixieland, and that worked fine. Next thing you know, Brad was in a popular Tallahassee, Florida bluegrass band, playing bass and fiddle too. This went on for several years until Brad had a son, moved away to further his career, and let music lapse in his life. About 1997, the itch got unbearable and he went to Folk Life and ended up on bluegrass hill, singing Stanley Brothers tunes with a banjo player he met there. He realized he needed to get a bass and start playing again. After attending the Maltby jam for a while, he fell in with Back Burner. He also did a stint as a fiddler in the band Lost in the Fog. Brad feels some responsibility for convincing Back Burner to move toward Swing music, which the whole band loves to play but felt hesitant to do at first, for fear of offending the hard core bluegrass fans. But luckily, they still love us anyway. |