Linda Bracamonte & Lance Davis Interview

Where and how did you get your start in music?

I started playing coronet and piano in elementary school. By junior high, I decided to be rebellious and play the tuba. It was large and looked obnoxious, and I felt special since so few kids wanted to play it or lug it around. I had a tuba instructor who also played electric bass guitar and acoustic string bass, so I started taking lessons on those instruments, too. My first band was the Outta State Jammers, and we started out playing original songs before gravitating to covers of Skynard and Zeppelin. I played in high school and college jazz bands and a various cover bands to make some spending money. Since then, it’s pretty much been down hill.

Who were your early musical influences?

I have an older brother and sister and first listened to whatever they were listening to. My big sister was an original Beatles fanatic. She owned all the fan paraphernalia and even saw them perform in Dallas. I heard all of their music when I was young. I also heard a lot of Blood, Sweat & Tears; Donavan; Led Zeppelin; David Bowie; Yes; Moody Blues; Santana and much more from their music collections. The first album I ever owned was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Déjà vu.”

My earliest bass heroes were Deep Purple’s Roger Glover, Yes’ Chris Squire, Stanley Clark, Tony Levin and Jaco Pastorius.

What’s your opinion of the Sacramento music scene?

What can you say about a town that boasts the greatest concentration of Star Trek tribute bands? Check this: http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A15683
It may not rival the Bay Area for quantity and diversity, but it has it’s own strengths and quirks. I’d like to see more festivals and more venues for original music. Still, in order for the scene to grow, we all need to do our part and support live music whenever we can. Right?

What are the elements of a great song?

Songs that use words like “heart,” “fire,” “bird,” “dance” “eyes,” and other words like that tend to work better than songs that use words like “marmoset,” “psittacosis,” “speculum,” “masticate,” and “bovine.”

It’s hard for me to say what draws me to certain songs. My taste is rather broad - different things will strike me as appealing. Sometimes, the performance of a song is so unique, no one else could replicate the song and make it work. Other songs are so sturdy it’s hard to ruin them. Ema is very good at writing songs that express honest feelings and have hooks that listeners pick up right away. I think you’re on to something if people sing along with the refrains of your songs as they are hearing them for the first time.

What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?

I believe that moment occurred while I was performing in a group called The Spanky Herman Band. I was singing lead on Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock’n Roll.” The instruments start and then there’s a break where the vocal enters alone. The line is supposed to be “Just take those old records off the shelf…” and then the band comes in on one. I blanked out on the lyric but didn’t realize it until it was time to sing. I sang something like, “Aaaaa shakuku odo roco ro!” Still, I was able to recover o.k. To this day, the sound of Seger makes me sweat and stutter.

What types of songs are the most fun to play on bass?

I often enjoy an opportunity to create a counter melody within a tune. James Jamerson (Motown, mainly) and Paul McCartney were the best at finding ways to place their own “bass compositions” within a song. Bass is generally fun to play, regardless of the tune.

Who are you listening to on your ipod these days?

I don’t own an ipod – yet - but Christmas is just around the corner (hint). However, I do listen to music and occasionally load some of it on my foreign made, refurbished, bargain-priced MP3 player I got on ebay. Most recently, I’ve been listening to - in no particular order - Taj Mahal, Beck, Los Super Seven, Brad Mehldau, Steve Earle, The Bad Plus, King Crimson (with Adrian Belew), Finn Brothers, Duke Ellington, Hank Williams, Cassandra Wilson, Radiohead, Storyville, Yes, Marvin Gaye, The Dixie Dregs, Stevie Wonder, Rob Wasserman, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti, Derek Trucks Band, Wayne Shorter, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Soundtrack, and some other stuff. Also, since I’m kind of cheap, I love free music. I downloaded a bunch of great stuff from the South By Southwest Music Festival website.

How does the band get along off stage?

Terrible. We’re the Iraq of bands. But, what are you going to do? Still, we all work hard to overcome the obvious tension we feel when we’re around each other. You can see it in our gritting teeth. If we could find someone like the therapist that worked with Metalica, only cheaper, we might be able to fix the deep-seated resentment we deal with every moment we’re around each other, but it’s a long shot. Sure, I may love these people, but I’m not turning my back on them for one second, no sir. (Well, I kinda have to turn my back on John from time to time, but there’s usually some people watching him for me.)

At least Linda’s a tremendous talent, and John and Ema do an incredible job and work hard to make the band sound tight, which makes me feel confident that when I invite friends to come see us, they’ll enjoy the show – and not just because it’s funny to watch me make up new words to songs! By the way, I feel I’m much too young to be in the same band with someone like John Swanson. Anyway, it seems like all the bands I’ve ever been in were either just as dysfunctional or worse than this one. Sometimes I start to think I might be part of the problem. Nah!

What is your favorite piece of equipment and why?

I’m not that attached to any of my equipment, although I am quite happy with my weed eater and food processor. But you’re probably referring to musical equipment. Hmmmm. There is one connector cable that has really been doing an outstanding job lately, now that I think about it. It may be responsible for “my sound.” I should probably take better care of it.

Who are your favorite groupies?

I really like the ones that buy me beer while I’m at the gig. If a groupie brings me an ipod, that groupie will become my favorite.