Of course, there have been scenarios in which
I did not have the luxury of time to work this
methodically, and in those instances I had to
crash-cram within the limited time I had even
if it meant sacrificing sleep! When I got the
last-minute call to do the Dave Weckl Band
tour dates years ago, I only had 24 hours to
learn the set, and it was the most difficult show
preparation I had ever done to date. The bass
charts were incredibly long and most of the
parts didn’t sit on the fingerboard comfortably
because they were composed by virtuosic
keyboard players with a penchant for intervallic
bassline contour. I had no choice but to read
the parts, as there was no time to memorize. It
was a terrifying first few shows but at the same
time it was hilarious because they literally set up
3 music stands for me side by side each night
just so I could see the charts in their entirety.
[WM] Currently I see you doing several Kenny
Loggins dates. One of our Christian friends
(and a very good guitar player) Scott Bernard
has been Kenny’s guitar player for years now.
Tell us about that gig?
[Adam] The Kenny Loggins gig has been
an incredible experience so far. I have always
been a huge fan of his, and having grown up
listening to his music, it is kind of surreal getting
to play all of these mega-hits with the artist,
himself. What is so great about his music is
that it is so harmonically interesting in addition
to having catchy hooks and melodies. Many of
the bass parts are actually very melodic with a
more subbing situations and if so how do you work in context. Once I have listened through lot of clever movement, and when you combine
prepare in a crash course way to feel confident completely, then I go to work on learning the those lines with the background vocal parts, it
on stage with a band you have never played bass parts (and background vocal parts, if makes for a very challenging and enjoyable set.
with before? any). My approach will typically vary somewhat The gig definitely keeps me on my toes!
depending on whether or not I have to have
[Adam] With Lincoln and Chris, I was involved the set memorized. For memorized sets, I work [WM] At one of our Late Night Café’s at the
as a sub. My work with Casting Crowns to date exclusively on one song at a time until I have Christian Musician Summit years ago we
has been limited to playing on most of their it internalized, then I add songs one by one placed Phil Keaggy on guitar, Zoro on drums
albums, but not in a live context. Anytime I am and memorize the group of tunes up to that and yourself playing bass on the stage for some
preparing to work with a new artist or band, I point. This forces me to continually revisit the free-form improvisation. It was an experiment
try to completely immerse myself in the music tunes that I first learned so they don’t get foggy. that was amazing. During that hour long
that I will be performing. That means listening Ultimately I get to the end of the set and then set you did a jaw dropping bass solo on a 6
attentively first without even having my bass will rehearse the memorized set as a whole. string bass.
in my hands, so that I can hear how the parts
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WorshipMusician.com