Electric bass players know a secret.
Eclipsed on stage by magnetic vocalists, showy guitarists and frenetic drummers, they’re often the most understated and least noticeable members of a band. But if a bassist were to take the night off, the audience would sense it instantly. The background thrum of bass provides something elemental, creating a kind of rhythmic scaffolding to which the rest of the instruments cling.
“The bass is like the foundation,” said Emmett Haas, 63, longtime bassist with the popular regional cover band, The Electrix. “If you get a note wrong, it’s the one that stands out the most.”
Emmett’s love for music stems back to his pre-teen days growing up in Baton Rouge. Then, he eschewed the quieter clarinet his parents hoped he’d play for the bass guitar. Fast-forward several decades, and the full-time IT consultant is still playing music for fun, both at home in his studio and with The Electrix, a band that specializes in crowd-pleasing cover tunes. The group plays weddings and events throughout the region and can be heard regularly at the St. Anne Wine Bar in Mandeville.
Playing live music to enthusiastic crowds has brought Emmett joy for years. But it became especially important after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2022.
“That changed everything,” he said.
The diagnosis was jarring, but Emmett said he quickly felt he was in good hands at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.
Immediately after discovering a tumor in Emmett’s kidney, medical oncologist Daniel LaVie offered him the chance to join an immunotherapy clinical trial. A key objective of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has been to expand its participation in clinical trials, which advance knowledge about leading-edge treatments. Every patient at Mary Bird Perkins is evaluated for a clinical trial, which is added to standard of care treatment and may benefit the patient’s ultimate outcome.
“They offered me the clinical trial and I definitely moved right into it,” Emmett said. “Along with getting better, I wanted to also try to help people out there beside myself.”
Rather than chemotherapy, Emmett was placed on a pharmaceutical regimen. “Over several months, the course of drugs helped shrink the tumor from around 15-18 centimeters to around 9-10 centimeters,” Emmett said. He has since completed the trial and is now undergoing another drug therapy.
Like any cancer treatment journey, Emmett’s has seen some side effects and down days. He said music has helped brighten his spirits.
“I find that when I listen to music, I don’t think about having cancer. I’m not emotionally attached to the cancer,” Emmett said. “It’s been therapeutic. It stimulates my mind. Not only does it take my thoughts away from the cancer, it also helps my brain because I’m remembering different patterns, notes and parts.”
And it’s not just while playing live. Between gigs, and after work, Emmett composes his own music in a home studio, where he plays a variety of instruments, including the keyboard.
The social aspect of playing in a band full of friends has helped, too.
“When I told the band, they said, ‘Hey, we got your back, and we know what you’re going through,’” Emmett said. “It’s been great, just continuing to get up there with everybody.”
