back to music

I had the distinct pleasure of attempting to tune both my guitar and my bass today. I still could use a tuner, but I think with the guitar at least I am getting better. I managed to play a number of simple, catchy, repetitive bass lines without getting bored. As I gear up for a shot at the local music scene (seems crazy, I know), I'll need to be able to stick to basics. I don't really know what level of skill is actually required to play bass in the sort of band that plays around locally once in a while. I wonder if social skills are more necessary than musical ones, as bass players just don't have to do that much as part of the typical rock act. This all leads to the question: what sort of band should I be playing in, anyway? I think something folkish, singer-songwriter type stuff would be good. That way I wouldn't need to provide much creative input. Perhaps singer-songwriters go straight for the flawlessly talented backing musicians; their music is pretty much about them, and they need decorative embellishment from the supporting cast, not personality. More collaboratively creative bands could be welcoming to someone they simply thought was fairly interesting, or they could be overly picky about who they think is worth welcoming into the fold. Right now I am getting too tired and hungry to think about it, but maybe that's the best hint. More than anything else, the success of my foray onto the alleged scene will depend on how many people there are that play bass.