That 1 Guy: New Gear/Tour
By Team JamBase Jan 27, 2009 • 9:22 am PST
With extensive U.S. and Canadian tour beginning on January 30
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Uniquely talented one-man band, That 1 Guy, is launching a 50+ date tour through Canada and the northern and eastern United States on January 30. The tour comes fresh off the heels of That 1 Guy’s acclaimed fall tour with Buckethead. Stepping back out on his own is nothing new for That 1 Guy, but this time he’s doing it with a brand new version of his self-designed instrument, The Magic Pipe. “We’re not talking about a rub, polish & tweak – we’re talking all new high grade aluminum and phosphor bronze, machined by the same machinist responsible for the Phoenix Mars Lander,” says Mike Silverman, aka That 1 Guy. “I can do a whole range of new techniques with this new pipe,” states Silverman. “It’s more refined, I have a wider range of sounds and pitch. I can get the whole thing to move in a completely new way.”
A classically trained upright bassist who won several jazz scholarships and competitions, Mike became one of the most original and in-demand upright bass players in the 90’s progressive jazz scene. At the peak of his powers, Mike was developing and utilizing techniques that were previously thought impossible on the upright bass. Often getting hired as a one-man-rhythm-section, he would function as a bassist, drummer, and entire mini-orchestra simultaneously.
Silverman’s self-taught percussive technique — banging the strings and the instrument’s body — led him to develop the Magic Pipe. Eventually frustrated by the inability to get all the sounds in his head from the upright bass, he built a system of electronically wired, steel plumbing, shaped somewhat like a harp, with a thick bass string wired from top to bottom and a hole that billows smoke during the climax of his live shows. Adding an electric cowboy boot plugged in and played like an African talking drum and an electrified musical handsaw, Silverman evolved into That 1 Guy, playing everything with his hands and feet while incorporating such disparate influences as Dr. Seuss, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Rube Goldberg and Stanley Kubrick. He would never play a conventional bass in concert again. “So much of my music has an indigenous, tribal feel to it, based on rhythms from around the world,” he says. “These last few tours, I’ve really noticed it taking off,” says Silverman about the response to That 1 Guy’s live show. “People are starting to grab onto it and come back, bringing five or 10 others with them. It’s just growing exponentially.”
Click here for a quick peak of That 1 Guy’s live show.
For a complete list of That 1 Guy’s extensive tour schedule, click here.
