Growing up in west Texas and eastern New Mexico, I wasn't exposed to a wide variety of music. At first I just tried to learn to play what was around me. We mostly had country, what was on the pop charts or MTV, or tejano to feed off of. So I've been playing root-fifth bass lines since I first picked up the bass. I was lucky enough to start playing bass for our high school calypso band. I got used to weird rhythms and time signatures, but I still mostly played root-fifth bass lines. But as I started to get more into rock, mostly punk rock and ska, I became obsessed with their "off the wall" bass lines. I would start putting hammer-ons and pull-offs in country songs that I played because at first I thought once you learned something new, you had to apply it everywhere. I eventually grew out of that, though it did take some time for me to realize that usually less is more. I learned that ska is a special type of music where bass lines like that can function and work out quite nice. But not every kind of music needs that.

Then I was off to college to continue to widen my spectrum of music. Up until then I had mostly played the standard crowd favorite rock and country songs. I had never really gotten into much jazz or anything like that because I wasn't around it much. The only funk I was familiar with was what I heard on infomercials late at night. Thanks to the help of my bass instructor, when I got to college, he turned me on to people like Gary Willis and the great George Porter Jr. I've recently gotten into the whole New Orleans thing like upright bassist, James Singleton, which has blown my mind. I had no idea that that world was even out there. They have this incredible style that's all their own.

Another great bass player that I actually had the pleasure of hanging out with is Erik Scott. He has changed the way I look at the bass. We have very similar styles but he opened my eyes to new ways to play and how to leave some space. He has this style that instead of playing a crazy fast paced bass line with lots of notes and tricks, he plays what the song needs. He has his tricks, which are quite amazing, but the difference is, he knows where to put them. Much the same as George Porter Jr. does. He lays a fat rhythm down that can groove the fire out of you, but never over plays or tries to be fancy.

When I first started playing, I wanted everybody in the audience to look at me so I tried to play these fast, loud, and difficult bass lines, but now I've learned to hold back and groove it. But I might not have figured that out had I not expanded my musical intake. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, that no matter where you come from or live, try to get your mind out of that area once in a while and pull in some music that you might not usually hear in your neck of the woods. Try to listen to everything you can. Even if you don't really dig it, you can pull something worthwhile out of it.