Check me out at http://www.sonicbids.com/DESIREETHETIMEMACHINE
<
At first glimpse, Desiree' Bassett appears to be like any other kid living in rural New England. As cute as a button, straight-A tenth-grader, who chats with friends on the Internet, rides horses and dirt bikes in the woods behind the house, and fishes for trout in the nearby Mt. Hope River. But there is more to Desiree' than meets the Norman Rockwell eye.
She's 15 years old, but already with a six-year reputation as the kick ass guitar player the little girl, with repertoire filled with Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck ,Joe Satrianiand her original music, blows away nearly all who see her play in and around Ashford, Connecticut. Most recently, Desirees rock n roll career turned an important corner when Living Colour bassist Doug Wimbish joined her legion of local fans.
After two weeks with Little Axe, opening for Robert Plant on his west-coast tour, Doug was home at his loft/studio apartment in downtown Hartford, making arrangements for his first Wim-Bash, a comfortable show with an all-star line-up. He had invited a number of his closest, most accomplished musical friends and collaborators to participate in a relaxed,
house-party-like jam at a small, West Hartford neighborhood bar called Sully's.
The Thursday night before the Bash, Doug went down to Sully's for a plate of ribs and, because it was open-mic night, maybe a taste of what was new on the Hartford music scene.
"Off the Chain" is how Doug described the amazing little girl playing Jeff Becks Cause We Ended as Lovers. He, like so many before, was blown away by the maturity Desiree exhibited onstage, and invited her to play his Bash.
Desiree's father/manager Dan was happy to accept the invitation for Desiree'. She was always excited to play, but he was well aware of the opportunity playing Doug's Wim-Bash could be for his daughter. It could be a significant step in a career Dan has dreamed of since Desiree's third birthday, Sept. 11, 1995 the day he gave Desiree her first guitar, a half-size Stratocaster (with tremolo bar)
The dream is actually a recurrence of Dan's own rock n roll fantasy. In 1982, he was a 23-year-old Marine, stationed on an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific.And because he worked in the music business before joining the corp, and missed his music so much, he bought a guitar in an Okinawa pawn shop, and playing along with his favorites (The Allman Brothers, Joe Satriani, Triumph), he taught himself to play. He never performed in a band, but Dan did own his own stage lighting company and work with music as a tech, he did attain a respectable level of proficiency on guitar and passed his aknowledge of the fretboard on to his daughter.
Alone on the farm, Desiree's musical development has been similar. Listening to the same music and watching the same videos, Desiree finds her hard-rock playlist straight out of her fathers collection. It was instantly clear to Dan that his daughters talent far exceeded his own and that she would benefit from outside influences, but wrestled with knowing how far out he should let his little girl go and waiting till the time was right.
So imagine Dans added excitement, knowing that the invitation for Desiree' to play the Bash comes from Doug himself, the bassist who has recorded with Jeff Beck and Joe Satriani , artists Dan has always held
out to Desiree as musical role models.
In 1988, when Dan decided to leave the service to marry Desiree's mother Myrna, Satriani released Surfing with the Alien, the popular album that took an instrumental path away from Metallica, Guns n Roses, and Pearl Jam. So moved by the records shift toward fusion, Dan has used Surfing with the Alien as something of a template for Desiree's development.
The possibility of Desiree' actually collaborating with Doug was enough to raise Dan's anxiety level as he prepared for that Saturdays show, a more-relaxed evening for Doug and his friends, but for Desiree', the most important audition in her young career.And she probably did'nt know it, she just wanted to show her stuff.
Desiree' was characteristically cool as she and Dan arrived early for a short sound check. Even then, she caught the attention of those who were at Sully's for nothing more than an afternoon brew. Everybody wanted to know who she was.
Later, the Wim-Bash shaped up to be everything Doug had hoped for. A full house filled with family, friends, a collection of Hartfords musical elite,
and all others lucky enough to have scored a ticket.
Desiree stepped up between sets of Skip Little Axe McDonald's blues funk, and Doug and Will Calhouns bombastic dub attack they call Head>>Fake.
Once again living up to her reputation, Desiree' delivered another soulful, sophisticated Cause we Ended as Lovers, and then obliged the appreciative crowd with an even more intense, up-tempo blues shuffle to close what Dan knew had been the most important set of Desiree's life.
For her part, characteristically unexcited, Desiree' did wear a big grin as she shyly entertained the questions and photo's from those in the crowd who wanted to get close to the starlet.
As far as Doug and his musical family were concerned, Desiree' had most certainly passed the audition.
In fact, Doug has invited Desiree into the studio to work on developing a few of her riffs into songs for a demo.
And for a taste of honest-to-God rock n roll fame, Desiree' joined Living Colour to play out a screaming, standing-room-only show at New Havens Toad's Place, where she rocked with the band .
Not letting the moment fade, the next week, Doug invited Desiree' and Dan to Los Angeles at N.A.M.M (National Association of Musical Merchants), the industries largest convention. There, Desiree played with Doug, Bernie Worrell, Will Calhoun, and TM Stevens. And maybe even more importantly, at least for Dan, audiences included Mary and Hartley Peavey, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, Simon Phillips, John Taylor, Dave Ellefson, and last, but you know not least, Joe Satriani.
Indeed, Desiree' and Dan's dream could come true.
Hey Desiree, I would love to have a copy of your new cd! I looked for it on CD BABY - did not find it. Your comment sounded like you would like to give me a copy, how's about you send me the link to purchase it, so I can support your efforts :-) Peace always, -Chris
Please be so kind to visit my profile and check out my new video (only one in profile) - "Great Gig In The Sky" in memory of its composer Richard Wright. Please tell a pair of words about this solo and playing. You words are very very important to me!
..
