That Thing He Did

I was a little kid living in a small town in Minnesota when That Thing You Do came out. I didn’t see it in the theater but I was at a friends house and we rented it on Directv. Back then when you rented the movie, if you popped in a VHS tape to the VCR you could record the movie.

And that’s exactly what I did.

I watched that movie a hundred times. Every scene is pure gold…but the foundation and the glue was the song.

The drum opening. The quirky verse/refrain structure. Smart chord changes. Innocent lyrics while not crossing into cheesy. And ending the song with the major seventh chord. There is not a wasted moment in the song, not an ounce of mediocrity. Start to finish, still to this day, THAT is how you put a song together.

That Thing You Do was (and is) an important movie to me. Eye opening and inspiring.

So I was sad when I heard the writer, Adam Schlesinger, passed away today.

I met him once. I was working the front desk at a hotel when I got out of college and he happened to be in the lobby. At the end of my shift I went and said hello. He was a nice dude, answered my all too excited questions about the song and the movie and the bands he played in.

I’ve always been glad to have met him, and now more than ever. That thing he did (that song he wrote) made a difference to that little kid in Minnesota.

So for all of us, keep showing up and making great music, playing great music, releasing great music. Now more than ever you never know who is watching and listening and being inspired by it.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Should I Post?

If you don’t make a better plan beforehand, there’s a draining conscious and subconscious social media dialogue sequence…

Should I post something

What should I post

What words should I use

Is it too much

Is it too little

But what will they think 

But what will they think if I don’t 

Have I already posted too much

Ok I’m going to post but when is best

All of these questions are a time and energy sucking distraction from doing the work you should be doing. 

What is YOUR social media for?

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

The FaceTime Angle

As a culture we’re getting a ton of reps in live-via-the internet performances. As performers and as the audience.

That camera angle isn’t great, it’s not flattering but we’re getting used to it, it’s getting normal. You know the one. The camera is a little below you so you’ve gotta look down a bit. In the last few weeks you’ve seen everyone at that angle and they’ve seen you. For better or worse.

But the good thing about both normal and repetition is that out of it will come variance and better ideas.

Artists will come up with better ways to live performances and more creative ideas. They already are.

Everyone will learn how to position the camera to make the Zoom call more pleasing.

Zoom and all the others are racing to fix that latency problem and the video hiccups.

We are all in this together. That is: the middle of a crash course on how to make live video communication and connection better.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Better Than Nothing

I hung out on Zoom last night. Not a meeting, nothing work related, just some of my best pals chit chatting away.

Hanging out on Zoom for fun isn’t amazing, but it’s certainly better than nothing. Actually it’s a lot better than nothing. And right now better than nothing is great, it’s what we have.

In this case having the attitude of ‘its better than nothing’ works to our advantage because it delivers something beneficial while not at all inhibiting a better alternative.

On the other hand…

You’re an artist and you need a new booking agent. You take a meeting with one. It doesn’t seem like a great fit but the agent is willing to bring you on.

So you sign on because having an agent is better than not having one.

In this case ‘better than nothing’ inhibits a better solution. If you already have an agent (even one you don’t think is great) you’re less likely to search for a better one. And if you’re off the market, other agents are unlikely to hit you up.

Having nothing can be better than something. Nothing can create the necessary urgency and vision to find the right solution. Nothing creates a void, a felt need, a known need that is much more likely to get your best attention.


Sometimes the temporary answer is better than nothing.

Sometimes the temporary answer keeps you from better.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Things Might Not Ever Be The Same

You’re right and time will tell and we can’t know now.

A couple things…

It’s easy to associate ‘Things might not ever be the same’ and ‘There is no end in sight’.

But it’s important to distinguish between the two.

The end doesn’t need to be in sight for us to know there to be an end. There’s always an end.

Things MIGHT not ever be the same but there WILL be an end to this.

By ‘end’ I mean a point at which the culture doesn’t revolve around it and the effects of it get absorbed into normalcy and we don’t think about it. (consider 9/11)

Things might not ever be the same, there’s no end in sight!

The end comes when we redefine what same is. And we always do.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Abs In A Day

Every time I work out it’s been a while since I’ve worked out.

If there was a way to get washboard abs in one day I would do it. 8hrs, 10hrs doesn’t matter. I would commit and see it through.

But that’s not how abs work. Abs are 10mins a day everyday. Much more difficult.

So the goal isn’t to max out on sit ups today, the goal is to do sit ups again tomorrow.


Know when to surge and know when to pace.

Know when to go extra hard because it’s the right thing at the right time and when you’re just trying to get abs in one day.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com