The very first bass line I ever learned was a Crosby Stills & Nash tune called Carry On.  It was the B side of an old 45 record my parents gave me.  From there I became infatuated with Zeppelin and the amazing bass lines from John Paul Jones.  I can still remember that feeling of my jaw dropping every time I heard the Lemon Song.  I loved Triumph and even the Grateful Dead. Rush was probably the biggest early influence.  Couldn't get enough, still can't.

Who are some of your more recent musical influences? 

On the bass, Dave LaRue, Victor Wooten, Stanley Clark, Tony Levin.  Musically, I'm inspired by: Miles Davis, Stewart Copeland, Genesis, Dixie Dregs, Jeff Beck.  

What 's in your CD player right now?

Jaco.

What kind of effects do you use?

For my bass effects I use a Korg Toneworks processor with a little compression and verb for my main sound.  I'll sometimes kick in the chorus during lush parts, tapping sections or solos.  I will sometimes use a delay patch for solos. I also have a Boss stereo reverb stomp box for kicking in more verb on solos. For the duet shows I use the BNX3 by Digitech.

What's your current main bass?

I am currently using two "main" basses: my Blue Dawn MusicMan Sterling and my MusicMan Bongo. The Sterling is more for slap style tunes and tunes where I need a little more speed. The Bongo has 24 frets (the Sterling has 22), a piezo pickup, a single coil pickup and a Hipshot de-tuner so it gets used for everything else since it is so versatile. The neck is a bit fatter so it's not my speedy bass, but the tones are amazing. I am also using a MusicMan SUB Sterling with a custom installed whammy bar. That thing is just for fun.

What's your amp setup like these days?

I'm using Ampeg's SVT IV Pro, with Ampeg Classic cabs, 2 8X10s, Stereo.

What's the deal with your footpedals?

I use the Fatar M-1 midi pedals.  They are basically a midi controller, the brain is a Kawai GMega.  I also control an EMU sampler.  The main use is for bringing in strings or pads that were overdubbed on the album.  I can also trigger samples, so it just allows me to perform the album parts live.