Mark Meadows: The Cat In The Hat
Bass Player "Bassnote" (short feature)
by Bryan Beller
Published May, 2001

Since he's a self-proclaimed "preacher's boy from Kentucky," perhaps it was fitting that his first Japanese tour in 1996 would end with his bandleader-blues/rock legend Johnny "Guitar" Watson-dying literally at his feet during the opening show. "We started the first song, and he just grabbed the mike stand and collapsed. Being a preacher's kid, I've seen death. And he had exited the building. Elvis was gone."

Mark would eventually land a high-profile gig with singer/songwriter Meredith Brooks, but not before paying some dues. A bit overwhelmed by Indiana University's "all heavy-duty bebop" music curriculum, he left to earn his live wings in the Atlantic City casino scene, playing everything from show tunes to ballads to Top 40. Then came the inevitable pilgrimage to LA in 1989, followed by years of tutelage with his musical mentor, guitarist Reggie Boyd Jr. Soon after the Watson experience and a stint with the acid-jazz Brian Auger Oblivion Express, he landed the bass chair with Brooks.

Two tours-one as musical director-and an album later, Meadows has built rewarding industry connections through the Brooks gig. For instance, he hooked up with Dweezil Zappa at a radio-sponsored show in Kansas City. Since Dweezil had been Lisa Loeb's sometime producer and guitarist for a couple of years, Meadows ended up recording several tracks for Loeb's upcoming Geffen release.

And Dweezil's first solo release in nearly ten years, Automatic [Favored Nations], showcases Meadows on two tracks. One is a typically Zappa-tweaked reworking of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch." The preacher's boy turns nasty with a buzzsaw tone in the choruses, which he innocently describes as "just a 5-string, an octave box, and my Eden Navigator. It's a soft-sided distortion-you can overdrive the tube a little."

Mark plays primarily Lakland basses, his main axe being a 55-94 5-String Standard. He also owns a fretless 4-94 4-String Deluxe and a Joe Osborne Signature, as well as a pair of Carvin AC40's acoustics (a fretted and a fretless) and an old Yamaha BB300 with Seymour Duncan pickups. All are strung with Ernie Ball Slinky Mediums. On the road he plugs into an Eden Navigator preamp and WT-1000 power amp, run stereo into two Eden D-4x10T's. Around town he strips down to Eden's WT-800 head, usually bridged mono into one D-4x10T. When necessary he brings along a D-2x10T. Pedals include a Boss OC-2 Octave, Tech21 CompTortion, Boss Stereo Chorus, and a Boss Reverb/Delay for "those melodic, fretless Jaco things." Meadows does those things often on his self-titled, four-song original fusion CD. He cites additional influences Alain Caron ("so beautiful and tasteful, yet so technique-filled"), John Paul Jones ("the Jamerson of the rock world"), and Stanley Clarke ("he is bass").

Meadows is joining the increasing numbers of artists distributing music on the Internet. You can download the samba "Did You Know That." free at http://stage.vitaminic.com/mark_meadows; "Too Loose le Trek" will run you a cool 99 cents. Eventually all four tracks will be posted at www.mp3.com; links from either site will get you to Mark's personal page, where you can order the CD. And he's not afraid of Napster, where he put a couple of songs. "I kind of agree with Courtney Love-the record companies have been ripping off bands a lot more than Napster's ever going to, so what's so big about that?"

Lest you get an image of Meadows as hardened by his ten-plus years in Los Angeles, think of the hat he wears-not only on his head but on his arm as a tattoo. It's a replica of a photograph his late father took of him wearing a cowboy hat at age nine. "You always want to try to keep the kid alive. That's the fun part."

By Bryan Beller, copyright 2001 United Entertainment Media Reprinted from the May, 2001 issue of BASS PLAYER. Reprinted with permission from BASS PLAYER. For subscription information, please call (850) 682-7644 or visit www.bassplayer.com