Five Firsts: Mike Dimin

NAME: Michael Dimin
BAND AFFILIATION: Many. Besides being a solo bassist (yeah, you heard that correctly), I also perform with the jazz trio A3, an Americana/Roots ensemble Kylie & the Sympathetic Strangers, an Irish band Emerald Dawn (when they can afford me), as well as my long-standing bass-and-percussion duet with Brian Melick.
INSTRUMENT: Electric Bass

1. THE FIRST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT WAS … Innervisions by Stevie Wonder. I am much prouder of that, then the first single I ever bought (which shall remain nameless). Just admitting that I bought an album dates me.

2. THE FIRST CONCERT THAT I EVER SAW WAS … Now that just brought up a really strange memory. I grew up just outside New York. One summer, with our camp, we went to Central Park (New York not Schenectady) and saw Linda Ronstadt. It was free and outdoors in an amphitheater. There were a bunch of guys in the upper seats all shooting up. Probably not what the camp counselors expected when they brought us there. I think a bit later, the first concert I ever paid to see was BTO at the Nassau Coliseum. It amazed me that when Randy Bachman broke a string on his white Strat, he was just handed another, identical one. Man, the life of a rock star…

3. THE FIRST MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I EVER OWNED OR PLAYED WAS … I was a failed drummer in elementary school. I kept forgetting my sticks. When I picked up bass at age 12, I was lucky enough to have some pretty cool instruments – an early Fender Precision and a 1960’s Hofner Beatle Bass. Both of those instruments I bought for less than $100 with money from delivering papers; today they would be worth 50 times that (at least).

4. THE FIRST SONG THAT I EVER PERFORMED IN PUBLIC WAS … “Midnight Hour” and “Proud Mary” (the Ike and Tina Turner version, of course)

5. THE FIRST BAND I WAS EVER IN WAS … There were so many bands in high school. Sorry, I just don’t have that memory capacity any longer.

Bassist Mike Dimin will perform “Whose Box Is This Anyway, a humorous, inspirational and insightful look into the path to creativity as part of a benefit concert with percussionist Brian Melick and composer-keyboardist Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts in Averill Park. A benefit for the arts center, the concert takes place at 8pm on Saturday (February 23), and tickets are $20.