| Missouri in the 50s Pounded on (mostly) inanimate objects as a child while listening to everything from Beethoven (we share a birth date) to Miller (Glenn,then -- Steve came later) to the Everly's, Johnny Cash, Bing Crosby, The King, The Killer, Little Richard, Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, Perry Como, Brenda Lee, Patti Page, Richie Valens, Fats Domino, Bob Wills, Dion and the Belmonts, Johnny Horton (all in real time, not as "golden oldies"). |
Texas, California, Idaho,
South Carolina in the 70s After leaving college, I didn't play for several years. Found the lady who makes my life complete, blessed with three beautiful daughters and with them shared half of a naval career. That and the family required too much time and didn't allow me to pursue playing. But I continued to listen to everything and imagined how it would be to play those licks with Chicago, BST, Creedence, Zeppelin, Willie and Waylon and Buck and Brubeck. |
| Gene
Krupa was the first drummer whose name I knew. My grandmother told me
my interest in drumming was a sign of potential mental health issues if
Krupa was any example. (She also believed that the Beatles were part of
a larger communist conspiracy to exercise mind control over the youth
of America.) Ringo, Buddy Rich, Sammy Davis, Jr., the great jazz drummers whose names I know now, but didn't know then all influenced my listening. |
South Texas in the 80s A company employee band was the renewed beginning of my drumming. I was asked to be the backup drummer for that band, so having not played for almost 20 years, I bought a pair of no-name sticks and made a practice pad from scrap 1x12 and some heavy rubber gasket material. (No need to invest a lot in what might be a lost cause, after all.) I found that my timekeeping seemed reasonably intact, but my technique was really rusty. Long story short, I hooked up with this band, playing big band swing and jazz, learned a lot more, acquired two drumsets (one used for practice and one new for gigging), and I was launched. |
| Kansas in the 60s I finally could join a band when I was in 8th grade and became part of the percussion section of the high school band. This was not because of my prodigious abilities, but because the school was so small that junior high students were recruited to fill in spots in the high school band. I was given a practice pad and a pair of sticks. I was taught the basics of reading drum charts mainly for Sousa marches and similar songs to be played at halftime and during timeouts of the football and basketball games. By the end of high school, I was able to play the individual instruments of the percussion section and read at an average level. I tended to depend on memorizing the parts, so sight reading was never my strongest skill. |
South Texas in the
90s A couple of years later, I started playing country music gigs in those bars you hear about. (Never had to play behind chicken wire, though.) These were the places that should have been used for those second-hand smoking studies. I eventually graduated to the VFWs, American Legions and senior citizen dance clubs where the atmosphere and money were better. I even got into a little songwriting. I've written three hit songs. I mean they'd be hits if somebody really good would record 'em. |
| Nebraska in the 60s When I went off to college, I majored in English, with an Art minor, but played in the band, orchestra and other musical groups just because I enjoyed playing. I learned to read a little better, but lacked the discipline to practice that skill, though I began to put a drum set together from a concert bass, timbales, snare drum and suspending cymbals from stands. I had no formal instruction on drumset, but tried to duplicate what I heard on the records . (How familiar does all that sound?) While in college, I eventually acquired a drum set of my own thanks to my parents good credit, and not long before I ended my college years, I joined up with two other guys, one on piano/vocals and the other on doghouse bass. (It actually was the "bass violin" of the college orchestra when it wasn't playing rock and R&B) |
Austin in the new millenium In 2000, we came to Austin. Children grown and moved out, we came where the music is. Having a full-time job hampers the career development a little, but I am continuing to meet new players and developing my retirement plan. It's simple. Quit working my day job and do music things for a living. Will it work? I don't know, but there are some great players here and I've been learning a lot from them all. I've had the opportunity to play in some historic venues with some Hall of Fame players, as well as beginners in some places that are maybe a little less famous, but have a lot of history. I found two excellent drumming teachers and they have helped me immensely to improve my drumset playing and reading skills. It's never too late to do what you love. |