Happy Birthday to Eric Bass of Shinedown!
Eric Bass was born William Frederic Bass Jr., on this day October 23, 1974, in Charlestown, South Carolina. He has been the bassist of “My Boys” in Shinedown since 2008. He is also a co-songwriter on many of the band’s more recent songs and has produced some of their most recent albums.
Bass grew up in a very musical family. They persuaded him to sing and play piano at an early age. At the age of 13, he received a trombone before moving onto guitar the following year. Eric was a drummer in the marching band in high school as well.
And for as talented of a musician as he is, Bass taught himself how to play guitar and bass without any formal lessons. Citing Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots, Chris Wolstenholme of Muse and Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine as some of his influences on bass guitar.
He played in several bands before joining Shinedown, including forming the band Deepfield, with Baxter Teal, in 2002. Bass would soon leave the band after becoming more drawn to the producing and recording side of the studio process.
Career with Shinedown
In 2008, right before the release of The Sound of Madness, Bass joined Shinedown after the band’s original bassist, Brad Stewart, left the group.
Bass has played on all of Shinedown’s albums since 2012’s Amaryllis, he has also produced several of the band’s albums, including parts of Threat To Survival, all of Attention! Attention! And all of their most recent album, Planet Zero.
This shot is from backstage at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, NJ on their “Planet Zero World Tour”.
Known for his melodic bass playing and songwriting skills, Eric has co-written many of Shinedown’s biggest hits, including “Cut The Cord,” “Get Up,” “Monsters,” and of course their more recent smash-hit songs “Daylight” and “A Symptom of Being Human.” He is also a talented pianist/keyboardist and vocalist, and often sings backing vocals on Shinedown’s songs both on tape and live in concert.
Bass is also a strong advocate for mental health awareness and has openly spoken about his own struggles with depression. Bass’ bouts with depression has influenced his work, especially in Shinedown’s sixth album Attention! Attention! Bass’ condition and Brent Smith’s addiction influenced the album.
The songs that Eric & Brent have written and produced together in recent years have been some of Shinedown’s most critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
Bass is a super talented musician, songwriter and producer and has made significant contributions to Shinedown since joining the band 15 years ago!
And of course, we will be playing some of his finest work on my show today between 3pm & 7pm. Oh yeah… and today marks three years to the day that Shinedown was crowned MMR’s 2020 Rocktober Madness Champions of the World!