My name is Mike Lavender and I am the new bass instructor for Little Rock Jams. I am happy to join the family of guitarists here and looking forward to working with all the students. So far, it has been a blast meeting everyone.

First off, a little about my background…

 I started playing bass when I was 12 years old. At the time I never thought about how it would influence my life. A friend of mine came to me and said he needed a bass player and he asked if he could train me. I said sure so he put a bass in my hands and taught me my first notes.

Picking up the bass was the strangest thing I had ever done. Sure, I knew a lot of guitar players but I thought to myself “what’s bass got to do with anything?” After a few years of picking around on it, I heard Blood Sugar Sex Magic by Red Hot Chili Peppers and fell in love with the instrument because I HAD to know how Flea did all that stuff.

Over the years, I played in many bands in South Arkansas but nothing fancy. I moved to Little Rock in ’03. It was here that I would find what I really wanted to do. I started jamming with some guys from UALR. The guitar player was in school for music and I asked him about the program. I started the jazz studies program in the fall of ’04. Since then I have learned a lot about the role that the bass plays in many styles of music. I started teaching during that time and the rest, as everyone says, is history.

I am all about some bass. I’m a huge gear-head. Amps, guitars, effects: you name it. I love reading about it but I really love making noise. Some of my musical ventures include Faultline, Shadowline, Contingency and 3000 lumens.

I will be posting articles about all kinds of stuff like bands and musicians to check out, gear reviews, etc. If you have any requests, questions, comments, rants, congratulatory explanations or should you want lessons, shoot me an email!!