For the Love of Bass Guitar – Cody Hampton of Shallow Side

I’m Cody Hampton and I play bass for the band Shallow Side, out of Cullman, AL.

I never thought that I’d become bass player by profession. Growing up, I was more into outside activities and loved having and working full time jobs. Creating music didn’t hit me until after high school. I had a group of friends at the time that always picked up acoustic guitars at parties. They would play a song and then give the guitar to the next guy and he’d play a song or two. I became so intrigued with the thought of being able to pick around with them that I begged my friend Wes to let me borrow a guitar so I could learn to play Simple Man. I picked up the chords very quickly playing the rhythm to all the songs I loved to listen to.

Eventually I was playing acoustic guitar in church bands (Remember I’m from Alabama, everybody has to go to church in the “Bible Belt”). That quickly escalated to starting a band that played bars and venues. I set down the acoustic bass for an electric and eventually ran into the guys that would soon become the band Shallow Side. The guys quickly shoved a bass in my hands and from that point on it was hard to set it down.

You can grab the attention of the crowd with sweet guitar riffs but with bass you can literally blow the damn doors off a venue. Not only can you hear the rhythms but you can feel that shit vibrating your soul. I love a good 4-string bass, I love going completely ape-shit on stage.

With two EP’s completed and our upcoming debut album ‘’ONE”, I look back and I’m very grateful that I now have the chance to tour nationally and write, play, and record music as a profession rather than the hobby and obsession it once was.

Current Rig – PRS SE Kingfisher, 4-string Hohner, Ampeg SVT 450 , 2 – Peavey 8×10, Tech 21 SansAmp 3 Channel Bass Driver

Visit online at facebook.com/ShallowSideBand