It's hard to not worship and imitation is a big part learning and it gets us so far. But oddly, the closer we get to imitating another persons expression it is possible that, at a certain point, we get further away from our voice. This is just a working theory, up for discussion here or elsewhere. It's satisfying to hear a player who has done the homework, where you can hear the influence, even trace a recording source in real time, but after that initial hit we need to hear what they did to it, how they altered it, filtered and reconstituted, broke up the light source through the prism of their own personality and life experience. In today's broad spectrum of music and content we can take from innumerable sources of inspiration. I think there is more freedom than ever to create our own voice, to express ourselves deeply. Of course, that may not result in a career, in fact, the more personal, the less likely any life-sustaining income will follow but hopefully that isn't why we do what we do. I have a rather cynical and negative term I call the "Forever Student". This is not to be confused with studying our craft over our lifetimes and bear with me, it's not particularly soft or cuddly. The "Forever Student" is a person that worships other players around them to such an extent that they lose sight of themselves and, for me at least, the reason to play music at all. They find comfort in the humility of worship. Unfortunately they often plateau early on and remain there indefinitely and never reach their potential as musicians (or people in some cases). I say don't worship. Study and observe, carefully, but return to the bass as yourself. Face yourself in the mirror, place the bow or finger or felt pick on the string and draw your sound. Play your fundamentals until you start to resonate with your sound, listen for the music within and begin the daily work of refining. Can we seriously talk about Hank Williams in the same breath as John Coltrane? Can we call them both geniuses? By my armchair-regular-guy assessment, yes. Both had influences, but better yet, both knew themselves. The only thing that really interests me going forward is: how close I am to being in the zone of pure expression while fulfilling and hopefully surpassing the music before me?
