Geddy Lee, the legendary bassist and vocalist of Rush, has launched a new four-part streaming series, ‘Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?,’ in which he interviews and visits the homes of some of the most influential and interesting bass players in rock history.
The series, which is available now on Paramount+, is a spin-off of Lee's 2018 book, Big Beautiful Book of Bass, a massive tome that showcases Lee's collection of vintage bass guitars and features interviews with other bass icons.
Lee says he was approached by Sam Dunn of Banger Films, the company behind the 2010 Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, to create a new project based on his book. Lee says they brainstormed some ideas, but nothing clicked, until he remembered one of the interviews he had done for the book, with former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman.
"Here's a guy who invented his own metal detector because he's got small hands. Him and his daughter have discovered relics that are now in the British Museum. He's written nine books; he's a butterfly photographer; he's a cricketer. So, it dawned on me, 'Wouldn't it be fun to set out a goal to try to prove that bass players are actually human too.' They're not just those characters that you see hanging around the drum kit skulking in the shadows checking out the girls in the first few rows. Some of them have more going on."
Though Wyman is not featured in the show, Lee did shine the spotlight on four other bass players who have more going on than just playing the low notes: Les Claypool of Primus, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Robert Trujillo of Metallica, and Melissa Auf der Maur of Smashing Pumpkins and Hole.
Lee says he learned a lot from visiting these bass players and exploring their communities and passions. He describes the show as "part travel show, taking me to places I really haven't been before, and learning so much about all the various communities that these bass players are a vital part of. And that was really gratifying. I hope fans love it and I hope they have as much fun watching it as we had making it. I think they will. It's pretty charming."
[Source: Classic Hits Today]