[ berkleebassist ]

About

An accomplished upright and electric bassist hailing from Charlotte, NC, Jeff Byrnes began his journey in music at the tender age of 11, playing trumpet in his school band. After picking up the euphonium in his last year of middle school, Jeff discovered that the deep end is where he likes to swim. Discovering the electric bass his freshman year of high school, he picked up the instrument & taught himself, listening to the Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and 311 for inspiration. Playing in the high school jazz band is really where it all happened though, and Jeff got into jazz and funk through that institution.

Now, after having spent the last four years attending the Berklee College of Music as an upright bass principle, Jeff has acquired an even greater understanding of music and the bass in particular. Priding himself on being fully capable of holding down the low end & really funking it up, Jeff has furthered himself by studying with a variety of teachers, immersing himself in every music that makes him move. Stuff that really gets him going is anything with James Jamerson on it (pretty much every Motown hit ever), Paul Chambers, James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire, Jamiroquai, and a whole host of other musics. If you want to check out his music library, it’s viewable online at www.jeffbyrnes.net/iTunesCatalog, but be prepared to wait a minute, it’s a big collection!

Jeff plays a 2003 Chris Stambaugh Designs custom 4-string bass and a 1997 Warwick Fortress One, both strung with DR Strings Lo-Riders. His upright bass is a 2002 Romanian made “Euro Artist Series.” It’s strung with Thomastik-Infeld “Spirocore” on the E, A & D strings, and a D’Addario Helicore for the G. He uses Ampeg amplification and either a 4x10 Ampeg speaker cabinet or a 2x10 SWR cabinet.