‘Only pursue music because you love it, not to please someone else’ - Joseph Conyers’ life lessons

My first formal introduction to music was through the piano, with an extraordinary teacher called Rose Marie Smith in Savannah, Georgia. She really emphasised theory, so I learnt the mechanics of music right out of the gate. It was string teacher Lynne Tobin who got me started on the double bass at the age of eleven but my first dedicated bass tutor was David Warshauer, principal bass at the Savannah Symphony. He was an excellent teacher. He wasn’t specific about what I had to play. Instead, he allowed me to explore all sorts of repertoire…