I’m Brad Bailey, the FNG bass player for Leaving Springfield. The other guys don’t like to talk/write about themselves, so I got drafted. (BK said this, but didn’t say to say this. But I’m the creative writing major, so I’ll say whatever I want and they’ll sit there and like it.)
Some history. Matt Norcross (drums) was in a band with a guitar player, and they asked Brent “BK” Kessler to play bass. (Before that, Matt was in another band, or maybe the band that became that band, but we don’t talk about that.) He said “Sure,” and then went out and bought a bass. After a while, the guitarist left and BK took over. Eventually, they picked the name Leaving Springfield, and operated as a drum/guitar duo with mad scientist BK assembling a rig to cover bass and guitar lines at the same time. (Matt said to make sure I mentioned this.) They released five albums over the past ten years or so, and a couple of years back, added a bassist (not me). The band functioned as a trio for about a year, and then Jim Campbell (bassist who is not me) moved up to the Northwest. The boys took a bit of time to regroup, not knowing if they would be getting back together. So naturally, right about then, they started writing songs for what would become the album Scars Shame Glory.
Sometime in there, BK had sent me a message, asking if I knew any bass players who might want to play with them. I think I forgot to reply. Or intentionally didn’t reply. Or I was barely playing any music myself and had hardly left the house in months, so didn’t know anyone. One of those. I had played on the same bill with Leaving Springfield a few times over the years, and thought they were really cool guys to hang out with. A few months later, Matt messaged me and asked if I would want to play bass for them. My first thought was: “Um, I don’t really do that.” I’ve played guitar for over 30 years, but have only even touched a bass for a total of 13 minutes.
What I actually said was, “So, do you guys want me to do my 7-string with octave pedal thing?”
Matt: “No, we want you to really play bass.”
Me: “…”
Matt: “We have a bass and amp if you need them.”
Me: “Oh, cool. Sure. Also, I don’t really play bass.”
Matt: “We’re sure you’ll be fine.”
I learned all the songs on my guitar, and only picked up a bass for the first time at our first rehearsal. And I f-ing loved it. A lot. I was hearing music differently than I ever had before, thinking about it differently. It felt like my music brain had been rewired. When they invited me to join them, I had been maybe a month from selling off all my gear. I just didn’t want to do it anymore. Now, I was truly enjoying playing again, for the first time in forever. (*Intentional Frozen quote in case my daughter ever reads this. Assuming she still likes Frozen.)
Basically, I saved the band. The other guys say this all the time: “Brad saved the band.” Usually they only say it after I say it, and stare at them, expectantly. But they say it.
Dang. Now I only have 34 words left to tell you about our future, like Matt said I should. We’re back playing shows, including January 12 at House of Blues with a metric ton of other awesome bands. And we’ve been talking about rerecording some of the tunes we play now, because we sound super totally different than before. Also, because I joined the band approximately 4-and-a-half minutes before they released Scars Shame Glory.