Nick Cañas
We are pleased to welcome Nick Cañas to our roster of NS Artists! Cañas is a multi-instrumentalist from south Texas. Coming from a background of jazz and metal, Cañas has been able to channel these influences through the WAV RADIUS bass guitar (with his custom pick guard – which we LOVE!).
Check out his high-energy metal outfit Nautilus vs. Pangolin who are currently recording their upcoming release.
Cañas is also a content creator who makes covers, playthroughs, instructional videos, and reviews which all highlight his interpretation of the bass guitar.
“The NS Design WAV RADIUS bass is beautifully made, with some of my favorite features including the di-radial body shape, the custom EMG pickup, the bridge system, and the action I am able to achieve with this bass. I have never been able to achieve my personal “perfect action” on another bass, which makes my RADIUS bass my favorite bass of all time! I truly love my NS Design WAV RADIUS 5 string bass so much that I modified my personal bass with a beautiful hand-designed custom aged pearl pickguard.” – Nick Cañas
Remember the Power of Music in Turbulent Times
On behalf of our worldwide community of NS Artists, Ned and the NS Design team take this moment to recognize all musicians for their power to sustain, transport and heal in tumultuous times. Your music is vital to our well-being, and we are profoundly grateful.
Please enjoy, share, and find inspiration in these videos. We’ll endeavor to share more with you in the weeks to come.
Continue reading…NS Artist Marcos Varela’s 2020 Interview with For Bass Players Only
The latest For Bass Players Only interview is with jazz bassist and NS Artist Marcos Varela, who sat down with Jon Leibman at the NS Design booth during the Winter NAMM Show 2020. Among the topics, they talk bass technique, Mingus Big Band in NYC, a new debut record release planned with the Illumination Quartet on Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent, and Varela’s rock jazz projects in the works with the NS CR Radius bass guitar.
NS Design Booth at Winter NAMM 2020
Winter NAMM 2020 at the NS Design Booth has been lively with NS Artists and friends. Stop in to say hello if you’re in the neighborhood. Hall D #4729.
We have a number of great players at the Winter NAMM 2020 booth performing and demonstrating NS, including: legendary bassist Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon), violinist Daneille Turano, Marcos Varela – Grammy nominated Jazz artist and composer, Los Angeles’s favorite electric ensemble Quartet 405 with a special demonstration including Symphonic Planet, solo bassists Noor Che’ree, Chance Wilder Onody, Donald Waugh and much more!
Continue reading…Donald Waugh FBPO Interview NAMM 2020
Here’s For Bass Players Only Interview with NS Artist Donald Waugh at the NS Design booth during Winter NAMM 2020.
Donald chats with FBPO’s Jon Liebman about a new album in the works for 2020, and advice about learning to play bass, among other topics. Continue reading…
Carolyn Routh – Bass Musician Magazine Interview
NS Design Artist Carolyn Routh with her CR4 RADIUS Bass Guitar.
Check out the new interview with Bass Musician Magazine with NS Design Artist Carolyn Routh of Nu-Blu. She talks about her role in Nu-Blu, her recent podcast and VJing with The Bluegrass Ridge TV, among many other projects. Continue reading…
NS Artist Jamaaladeen Tacuma speaks with Premier Guitar Magazine
NS Design Artist Jamaaladeen Tacuma speaks with Premier Guitar in the August, 2019 issue about producing The Last Poets 2019 release Transcending Toxic Times, and his Steinberger and NS Design Basses. Continue reading…
From Winter NAMM 2019 NS Artist Donald Waugh’s Review of the NS RADIUS Bass Guitar
Donald on the WAV Radius Bass from NS Design!
From the NS Design Booth at Winter NAMM 2019, here is NS Artist Donald Waugh’s Review of the NS RADIUS Bass Guitar with NS Design’s founder and award winning designer, Ned Steinberger: Continue reading…
NS Design Bassist Bakithi Kumalo with Paul Simon – 2017 U.S. Summer Tour
NS Bassist Bakithi Kumalo is back on tour with Paul Simon this summer playing several dates around the country throughout the month of June. The tour kicked off June 1st in St. Augustine, FL and ends at SummerFest in Milwaukee, WI on June 30. Don’t miss it! Tour and ticket information can be found here: http://www.paulsimon.com/news/paul-simon-announces-us-summer-tour/
Kumalo plays a variety of NS Basses and his go-to on this summer’s tour are the WAV5 RADIUS Bass Guitar and the NXT4 Electric Upright. He also plays the NXT Omni Bass and the CR RADIUS Bass Guitar.
Joining him with an NXT Electric Cello is fellow multi-instrumentalist, composer and tour mate Mark Stewart who has been recording and touring with Paul Simon since the late 1990’s. Stewart is also one of the All-Star musicians in Bang on a Can, awarded Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year and heralded as “the country’s most important vehicle for contemporary music” by the San Francisco Chronicle. Mark is also a member of Steve Reich & Musicians and the comic duo Polygraph Lounge with Rob Schwimmer and in 2013 was in a year-long residency at MIT in the Glass Lab teaching students to design and create a glass orchestra.
Photos: Bakithi Kumalo and Mark Stewart in rehearsal for tour with Paul Simon.
Watch: Paul Simon‘s debut performance at Austin City Limits with “Wristband” from his album Stranger to Stranger. The album is described by Andy Greene of Rolling Stone as “an experimental album heavy on echo and rhythm that fuses electronic beats with African woodwind instruments, Peruvian drums, a gospel music quartet, horns and synthesizers.” A great showcase for Kumalo’s talents, who opens this funny song playing his NXT Upright.
Watch: Bass Musician Magazine Interview with Bakithi Kumalo in which he describes how he got his start on stage at just 7 years old playing a Gibson bass in his uncle’s band in South Africa; his ultimate respect for finding the tone, the most influential bassists for him and his willingness to share lessons he has learned along the way to a successful career playing his music for audiences around the world. And at 22:00 in this interview…see and hear the slap sound technique he’s having fun with these days on his CR5 RADIUS Bass Guitar, it’s a real treat and is as fun, adventurous and masterful as Kumalo himself. Enjoy!
Watch: Bakithi Kumalo and his quartet at 2016 Bass Bash at Winter NAMM, with special guest and fellow NS Artist Avery Merritt playing his NS Custom Exotic Top Zebrawood CR4 Electric Violin.
More details and features for all the NS Basses that Bakithi plays along with our new eco-friendly NXTa active series EUB’s, Omni’s, Cello’s, Violin’s and Viola’s featuring battery-free electronics are found at our website ThinkNS.com.