All Dressed Up and Nothing to Write

How is it that I can be one of the most opinionated (to the point of being boorish) people on the face of this planet, yet when I finally sign up for a blog, I can't think of a thing to write? Maybe it's because I have so much I want to say that I just don't know where to begin...

I guess I can go with the basic intro posting. My name is Doug and I live in Florida. I am a Christian, married with two teenage daughters, and I play bass. Oh, yeah, there's that job thing - technical instructor for a big corporation, I mostly develop and teach courses on Internet technologies. One of these days I'll launch into a rant about off-shoring of American jobs, the lack of respect for employees, insatiable greed on the part of CEO's, but when you get right down to it, I have a job just to finance my bass guitar-related purchases. Okay, I also am honored to serve my fellow employees by transferring knowledge to them that makes them better at their jobs or more employable if they lose their jobs, but that's just the official story - it's really about the bass purchases.

So am I Geddy Lee crossed with Paul McCartney with some Vic Wooten thrown in for fun? Nah. I'm a mediocre hack who just plain ol' loves to make rumbly notes. I probably lean towards the Paul McCartney school of melodic bass lines, throwing in little fills at the end of phrases, and I do some rudimentary slapping and popping on a couple of songs, but nothing spectacular. I have four basses: Spector NS 2000-5Q 5-string, Dean Performer CE fretless acoustic/electric, MusicMan Sterling 4-string, and a Dean 4-string that I defretted a couple of years ago. I play through a Line 6 Bass PODxt Pro multi-effects pedal into a Gallien Krueger 1001 RB II 2x10 combo, and I also have a Crate BX160 1x15 combo as well as a few stomp box pedals.

I play in a band called The Painless Truth. I don't want to get all mushy, but my bandmates, Christina on drums and Sean on lead vocals and guitar, are two of the greatest people I've ever known. As if that wasn't enough, my two daughters sit in with the band most of the time, Kayla on background vocals and Chelsie on rhythm guitar. Yes, I play in a rock band with my daughters - how cool is that? Sean's wife, Becky, also sings with us a bunch, and Casey plays keys with us most every Saturday night. We have another friend, Cyndie, who also adds to the bgv's on a regular basis. Mostly we play on Saturday nights, leading worship for The Solid Rock Cafe. We're starting to branch out a little; we're playing at the Florida State Fair tomorrow, we're part of the Real Fest Christian music festival, and we're playing at the Gates of Graceland (for the second time) in June. There's also an outside chance we might get to open for a major Christian band in July, but I don't want to say anything until some contracts are signed... Right now we cover praise and worship tunes as well as the occasionally radio cut, but Sean and I are working on several originals.

I think that's about enough for now. Check back regularly - I guarantee that eventually I'll spew out something that will offend you, tick you off, or at least get you thinking.