The Brief History of Slap Bass

Nashville-based Slick Joe Fick is obsessed with slap bass and has an encyclopedic knowledge of its history and techniques. At the end of our session filming lessons with Joe, I thought I would put him to the test by asking him to do something without any warning. The idea was to showcase Joe’s favourite slap bass styles and players in just two minutes. Joe was completely unprepared, but absolutely nailed it! Playing bass can be hard enough, but to give a 2-minute history whilst talking and playing happening at the same time, is really something special.

Of course, there are numerous notable slap bass artists that we missed in the video, but we hope you enjoy learning about a few of Joe’s favourite bassists and hearing his incredible playing!

Check out this two-minute video to hear Joe’s tour through the brief history of slap bass and if you enjoy it please share on social media to help spread the love of slap bass.

Meet Slick Joe Fick

Known as the Energizer Bunny of the slap bass world due to his virtuosic technique, ‘Slick’ Joe Fick is one of Nashville’s most in-demand bassists. Joe has performed or recorded with Sonny Burgess, James Burton, D.J. Fontana, Wanda Jackson, the Jordanaires, Boots Randolph and many more.

Slick Joe portrayed Elvis Presley’s bass player, Bill Black, in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic ‘Walk the Line’ and played upright bass on the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film ‘Elvis’ (Warner Bros) starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.

Joe currently wows audiences with his band Kelley’s Heroes 5 nights a week at Robert’s Western World on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. Be sure to pay them a visit to see his dazzling slap chops in action!

We’re thrilled to introduce Slick Joe Fick as our newest course tutor at DDB. His full-length online course Slap That Bass! is out now.