Life as a Navy Bassist

If you had told me four years ago that I would be wearing a Navy uniform, getting up at 0500 to be to work at 0830, saluting officers and following orders, I would have either laughed or recommended you for mental counseling. I was a rock star in the country circuit, touring the roads of the world, making my own schedule on my days off, and rarely getting up before noon. What could possibly make someone trade in a life of music and traveling? I traded mine in for a life of music and traveling that included a guaranteed, steady paycheck and benefits. I am a bassist in the US Navy's Pacific Fleet Band.

"Navy Band ?!? "Enjoy playing marches and swabbing decks, because your days of being a rock star are over," you say? Yes, I do play marches, though I cannot remember the last time I truly swabbed a deck (I believe it was back in boot camp). I am currently stationed in Pearl Harbor, HI, playing in the Pacific Fleet rock band known as Hang Ten. We play everything from classic rock to modern hits, from Hawaiian music to Reggae, and from country to metal and even jazz… and we do it well.

Before I joined the Navy, my sight-reading skills were sub-par at best and I was feeling stagnated as a musician. I was an ear and chord chart musician that occasionally took the time to bother with tablature, but I was good at my job. I could hear a song and chart out the chord progression without an instrument in my hand and catch vocal harmonies on the fly. The problem was that I didn't feel like I was getting any better and the work definitely wasn't flying through the door. The final straw came when I accepted a full-time upright bass gig with a well known country band, learned all the material, only to be called a week before the first rehearsal and told they had just changed management companies and couldn't make any band member changes.

I remembered back in college, while studying under John Reid, I had seen a flyer for the Washington, D.C., based Marine Band. They were looking for someone with extensive sight-reading and classical bowing chops… definitely not my gig. I went on a fact-finding mission to find out what kinds of bands the different services had and, after much research, decided that the Navy Band was right for me. After enlisting in the Navy's Delayed Entry Program (DEP), giving me time to get my affairs in order, I left for boot camp in December of 2003.

Boot camp was a tough but good experience. I learned a lot about myself, about teamwork, about leadership, and about getting in shape. After nine weeks of boot camp (it has since been shortened to six weeks), I left for the Navy School of Music in Norfolk, VA. This was six months of daily practice, weekly private lessons, and more military training. For those that do not have a set practice schedule and regimen, this is the place where it will develop. After a series of auditions and it being determined that you are qualified to go to a band station, you are issued orders… like I said before, mine were to Hawaii, which was fine by me. When I spoke with the band director, he asked me about my musical background (bluegrass, country, and rock) and if I sang (I do). He laughed and said they would be putting me to work very quickly.

When I arrived at Pearl Harbor, the rock band was touring over in India, so I had two weeks of intense practice time to get tunes worked up. When the rock band returned, I was thrown head-first into a set list of disco, funk, country, and pop, with a set-list of around fifty tunes to learn for a big gig in two weeks. Thankfully, this wasn't much of a problem as I was used to learning two or three albums on less than a week's notice for fill-in gigs.

Along with playing in the rock band (that has evolved from disco all the way to the current incarnation of classic rock, alternative, metal, and neo-funk), I have gotten the chance to play in big bands, small jazz combos, classical wind ensembles, and marching bands (playing bass drum or cymbals in the latter). I also get the chance to do a lot of song charting, arranging, and I get to utilize my computer skills, web design knowledge, and love of photography.

Over the course of my two years here, I have improved my tone, time, coordination, feel, intonation (both vocal and on fretless bass) and, possibly more important than anything, attitude. The Navy's Pacific Fleet Band has afforded me the opportunity to play music while maintaining a somewhat regular sleep and exercise schedule. Whether I decide to leave at the end of my first enlistment or stay in and make the Navy a 20+ year career, I know that I will come away a better musician and a better person.