What Do Drummers Need To Make Their Set Complete? | My List of Drum Accessories

I play a pretty large drum set. Yes, I see that the trend is going the other direction.  So many drummers are carting around one floor tom, one rack tom, and a bass drum. Add two cymbals and a hi-hat, and you have what seems to be the norm these days. I suppose that it's easier to carry such a light load. The music doesn't seem to suffer that much when all you hear are those two toms and one crash cymbal. It's just not for me.  I play two floor toms, two rack toms, four crash cymbals, one ride, and my hi-hat. It's big. It's heavy, and I like it. This post is more about drum accessories that make my life easier behind the kit, when I'm playing live.  What should you add to your drum set that will make your night more comfortable?  I'll give you my list of "must haves."

One of the first things that I purchased as an add on, was a drink holder.  If you play in clubs and bars, the stages and drum risers tend to have soft spots, uneven surfaces, along with tons of cords, and stands.  That's not a safe place for your drink! What if your singer uses the front lip of the drum riser to launch themself into the crowd?  That riser is going to shake, and your drink will surely get dumped. Now you are looking at either a long night without liquid, or you might have to request that a patron bring up something for you.  Neither option is great. Gibraltar drums makes a great drink holder.  The best part is that it fits into a "gig bag" very easily.

Yes, get yourself a "gig bag." It should be something that zips tight, is a bit bigger than a shaving kit bag, but small enough to store under your floor tom. I suggest a canvas bag from an army surplus store. Don't fall for the old ammo case made out of steel.  It's too heavy, and the lid is a pain the butt.  The canvas bag can be squashed into your drum case, when you are in a rush to get to the club.

What do you put in that gig bag?  I'll tell you.
This is my list of gig bag essentials.

• Spare cymbal felts
• Cymbal screws - Ones that fit your stand's threading!
• An extra drum pedal spring - Also one that fits your pedal!
• A handful of spare ear plugs
• Snare string
• A multi tool - Don't splurge on a Leatherman, try a Gerber.
• A comb.  Yes a comb for your hair!
• Your cool Gibraltar drink holder
• A drumstick holder
• A ziplock bag for your keys and spare change
• Multiple drum keys!
• If you can afford it, a spare hi-hat clutch - Again, one that fits your hi-hat!

The drumstick holder was probably the second thing that I bought, after plunking down big money for the drum set. I'm not talking about a fabric stick bag, but a stick holder that you attach to a stand.  Dropping a stick during a song is almost inevitable for me. Dropping two is the norm.  Consider this double stick holder from Stagg.  It should also fit in your gig bag. Why do I keep bringing that up?  Because you really want all those little extras in one spot, a place that you are going to work from when you are setting up your drums in that dank, dark corner of the club.  Same goes for breaking down the kit, put all that stuff back in your bag! Don't fall for the "I'll toss it in the hardware case, because the sound guy wants us off the stage ASAP!" All those little parts need to be in one location, easy to get to, and safe.  After all, the stuff in your gig bag could save the show one day.  Break a leg!   

Cat Shelter Benefit Turns Into Long Night | Prog Rock Band Crawls Out Of The Basement

If it weren’t a benefit for a cat shelter, we would have walked away without performing that night. “I’m doing it for the kitties.” my bass player told me. It was 1:40am when we took the stage, and within twenty minutes, the sound engineer would give us the “one more song” sign and that was honestly a relief for all of us.

For the past two years, our guitar player had been hoping to get our band on the bill for an annual “no kill” cat shelter benefit. It was for a great cause, and we would get our band in front of some people that wouldn’t otherwise see us. This benefit featured mostly metal bands, but that didn’t automatically mean that we wouldn’t appeal to at least a few people in the crowd. Too bad the “crowd” consisted of our girlfriends, the sound engineer, four musicians from the opening bands, and the bartender.

If ever find yourself on a bill that features more than three bands in one night, you should expect the last band of the evening to get squeezed. And if you are the last band on the bill, that means you should be prepared to play a short, fast set. That is, if you get to play at all. I still don’t understand the idea of booking four or five bands for one night at any club.  That plan rarely works, unless you have a stage manager that will keep everyone on schedule, and shut any band down that tries to go past their allotted time. 

On most live music nights at a club, the first band will try their best to start late, because “Nobody comes out at 9:30.” If they truly were a good “opener” they would have brought in some of their own fans, and started their set on time, with no complaints. The second band will probably be just fine with starting a little late, for the same reason as the first band. At least one of the bands on the bill will take their sweet time getting their gear up on the stage. So that pushes the following band even further into the evening. Again, this can all be avoided, if the musicians just do their job, and stick to the plan.  When there are multiple bands on one bill, will the headline band play last in a situation like this? Not if they are wise. Here in Milwaukee, we seem to have created what is called the “Clean up slot.” That’s when the headline act plays second to last, and the very last band will play to a few hangers on, along with the band members of the previous acts waiting to get paid and pull their gear out of the club.

Back to this cat shelter show. The event started at 5:30, and it featured nine bands with raffles between the acts. We were scheduled to go on at 12:50pm, and that would take a miracle of efficiency for that to happen. We arrived nearly two hours early, as requested. We sat through an “operatic metal” band who’s singer was having a ton of trouble hitting the notes. They were the featured act for the night, and that poor singer just couldn’t find the notes. She brought up two more guest singers, and those two seemed to have no trouble singing in key.  So it wasn’t a fluke that the headline act had an issue with vocals, she just couldn’t sing. Still their fancy leather pants, long flowing hair, and very intricate songs were something to take in. When that band finished, there was one more act to play before us. That was my cue to go out to the van and start setting up my drums.  The show was running on time until the second to last band started to get ready to play. That band started late. They fiddled around with their gear for nearly 30 minutes, even though there was a backline (equipment on the stage that everyone shares,) and got started just ten minutes before we were supposed to go on.  

They label their style as a “progressive rock” band, but the few people watching them, they witnessed over playing, bombastic, and overly arranged songs that ran ten minutes in length. They had no singer.  On and on this band played, one ridiculous song after the other. They played their full set, cutting nothing short, and driving the remaining patrons out in the process.  I can’t tell you what they looked like on stage, because I had to stand outside the stage door and guard my drums. I can say this, as they played, I watched the patrons slowly file out. The band was a crowd killer, but ultimately we were going to be the victims. Finally, they announced their last song.  I looked at my phone, to time the song, and joked with my bass player that “This might go another ten minutes.” It went on for just under eleven minutes, including a 45 second rave-up finish that could be best described with a visual image.  It was like putting a jar of maraschino cherries on top of a melted sundae that nobody wanted to eat. Eleven minutes is basically three standard length, rock songs put together! Their last song was really three songs. Three really boring songs.  

When it was over the stage door flew open, and their drummer started to take his gear down.  It was a dust covered monstrosity of a drum set that required three people to lift and move. I bring up the dust, as it meant to me that this band rarely got out of the basement. Dust on your drums denotes too much time sitting in once place, without the benefit of stage lights to point out how dirty the kit actually is.  When I later checked this band online, I noticed that they play just two shows per year, so they obviously weren’t a professional band. No matter how well they played their instruments, the fact that they took too long to set up, played too long of a set, and then took too long to take their gear down, was poof to me that they were just “noodlers.” They were certainly talented.  If I had six months between shows to woodshed my music, I would think my music would be performed flawlessly. Even their band name told me that they have yet to learn some vital marketing skills. They named themselves after an insanely obscure mathematical term, created by some 11^th century mathematician. “What was that band name?  You know, the band that played too long at the cat shelter benefit?” That’s what I hear in my head when I think of that night. 

Do You Lend Out Drum Gear? | Do You Risk The Breakage?

I had a drummer watch me play my entire set the other night.  This was at a rehearsal, and I have known this drummer for over 30 years.  Still, it can be a bit unnerving to have a colleague watch you work, staring at your every move.  We were kids when we met, and he didn’t play drums at the time.  Soon after, he started playing music, and that meant we would most likely never be in a band together.  After all, how many bands have two guys on the drums at the same time?  Watching him watch me, took me back to the night that he broke some of my drum gear. 

I do recall that night where I lent him my kit.  Their band opened for ours. When they finished their show, I noticed that he had broken my ride cymbal, and my drum pedal.  $400 dollars damage, to be exact, and there was no way he could afford to pay me back. That’s when I learned the lesson that most drummers should know without it costing them money.  “Do not lend out your snare, cymbals, or drum pedals.” Why? Because, those items are the ones that receive so much force and pounding from drummers.  You reduce the risk of that drummer breaking something when you eliminate those items from the “lend out” mix.  Rarely do I break that rule.  Sure, someone can ruin the skins on your toms, but that risk is pretty low.

My current Milwaukee band played a show last month in a very tiny club.  The place was so small that it was vital that both bands use one drum kit.  I lent the “opener” my drums, but kept my rule, mostly.  He used my drum pedal, and my sticks. (What drummer comes to a show without sticks? A bass player that was forced into playing drums for a few gigs, that's who.)

This guy was a light touch on the drums, and it was amusing to watch him play.  When he hit the skins, he looked “like someone doing a dog paddle, while sitting upright.”  He had obviously taught himself how to play. It almost worked.  Sadly, the band had some talented members, but the drummer dragged the whole thing down a notch or two. So did this guy break anything? No. What he did do was totally rearrange my drum kit, and that’s also a huge pain in the butt.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I’m an open handed drummer. For me, that means my ride cymbals are placed in the opposite spots where most right handed drummers would have them. That also means that my second rack tom is usually taken down if another drummer uses my kit.  That’s where they tend to put the ride cymbal.  Not only did this “dog paddling drummer” put his ride over there, but he pulled apart the tom holders and repositioned the rest of the kit to his liking.  What does that mean to me? It means that it’s going to take just as long to get the kit back to the way I like it, as compared to having that drummer bring up his own drums and strike them after they are finished. I forgot about that, and it took 15 minutes for me to get my kit back in place, about 10 minutes longer than it should take to do a set change.

So that’s lesson number two. Avoid lending out a drum kit, if the first person using it is going to completely dismantle the darn thing! This brings me to another point.  If the opening band’s drummer plays a modified drum set, where half of the kit is set up for left hand drumming, and the other half is set for a right handed drummer, let that person use their own kit.  My old band opened for a (crappy) cover band back in 2009, and the club owner insisted that all the drummers on the bill use the house kit.  When I explained that it would take longer for me to rearrange that house kit to my liking, compared to letting me bring my kit up for our set, he said no.  So there I was, after my set, watching the next drummer fiddle with all the stands and toms.  He was not happy. I had no problems, because we were first on the bill, so the kit was a mess for the next guy, not me.

Finally, have you ever played someone else’s drums and that drummer told you that you couldn’t arrange them to your liking?  I did.  Way back in the 1980’s we were opening for a pretty big local act.  Their drummer didn’t want to break his kit down, and there was only room for one set on the riser, with no room in front.  He insisted that I use his kit, but I couldn’t change anything.  That meant that I couldn’t even move the stupid Roto-Toms that he had in place of rack toms! The ride was on the right, opposite of how I play, and the snare was nearly impossible to adjust to my desired height. It was possibly my worst night of drumming in a long time.  When it was over, he came up to me and gave me one of those “good show kid” compliments.  I often wonder if he did that just to make sure that he was the better sounding drummer for the evening. After all, the band took over 30 minutes to get up and play after we finished. What was the point of making me play his drums, if there was all the time in the world to strike my kit?  It was to make me look bad. (I’m kidding here.)  By the way, that drummer who watched me play, we did end up in a band together.  It was a “four drummer” band.    

Eating Good Food While On The Road | Digging Deeper To Avoid Junk Food

Our van pulled into the parking lot of the bar we were scheduled to play in.  We had just arrived in the teeming metropolis of Rockford Illinois. It was another band road trip, and it started with a show in northern Illinois. Actually the suburban Rockford outskirts were more "teeming" than the downtown club we just rolled up to.  It was warm for a mid October evening. We had the windows rolled down, so it was easy to hear the woman standing against the building when she said "Oh no, a van full of f-ing hippies!"  It's never good when the first patron of the club you are about to play in has something really bad to say about you. Still, we laughed it off and started to unload our instruments.

Rockford happens to be the home town of our guitar player, although he had not been back for many years.  He was surprised at the amount of development out in the suburbs, but not surprised to see that the metro area was dark and quiet. We got to the club with plenty of time. Once we unloaded our gear, we went off to find food. Once again, we found ourselves in a pizza joint. It's become the norm for our band to eat pizza. I wonder why that is? I must say that my other bands would find themselves in the same situation. What town doesn't have a thriving pizza restaurant downtown? Even the most desolate of city centers seem to support at least one Italian restaurant.

Our guitar player had been in this place before.  In fact, he remembered it well, and told us a few childhood stories as we waited for our food. But this post isn't so much about food, as it is about being on the road. One thing that I have come to realize is that the food you eat can dictate how you perform. Yes, pizza is just bread, cheese, meat, and a bit of sauce. It's not the best food for energy, but I have had far worse. These days, I actually bring along some cooked pasta. It can hold up pretty well for at least 12 hours without refrigeration.  It's got just what you need for energy too. When in doubt, boil some noodles! It may be boring food-wise, but the rest of the band will be jealous when you find yourself without enough time to find food in the neighborhood.

Avoid The Junk Food Before Performing

I had a drummer friend tell me to "Look for the second place" when it comes to food while on the road. What that meant was that it's easy to find the junk food.  It's very easy in fact. But it can be worth the effort to dig deeper, to take another 10 minutes to find a much healthier alternative.    

   

Yes Without Jon Anderson On The Road In 2013

I was excited to see that Yes was coming to the Wisconsin State Fair this summer. Would this be the time that I finally see them perform live? After all, they aren't getting any younger.  Most of the band was born in the 1940's.  In fact, Jon Anderson will be 70 years old next year.  But wait, Jon Anderson isn't in the current lineup.  How could that be? The voice of Yes is sitting out this current tour? Is this another case of the band waiting for the singer to get around to playing live, like Journey did with Steve Perry? No, this is not the case. Let's take a moment to see why the band is on the road with another "Jon." This time it's Jon Davison taking the role of lead vocalist.

Davison is 41, and was singing in a Yes tribute band back in 2005. He has the vocal chops to pull off those high notes, and found his way into the "real" band without a true "tryout."  That was 2012, and the touring members of Yes were a hodgepodge of accomplished musicians, but only one true original member was on the list.  That was Chris Squire. This go round, Steve Howe and Alan White make up part of the band.  Having three original members on this tour will certainly bring out a few more die hard fans. Will they warm up to Mr. Davison?  Here is a clip of his handiwork. You decide.

 What happened to Jon Anderson?  Anderson suffered from a pretty serious respiratory illness starting in 2008.  The band just couldn't wait for Anderson to get well.  In their defense, Anderson was out of commission for nearly four years. Prior to that, Yes was on the road more than one would think.  Those aged rockers were keeping up a tour schedule better suited for musicians 25 years younger.  Anderson wasn't really thrilled with that.  His last project was a duo affair, featuring Rick Wakeman on keyboard. That was back in 2012.  Anderson hasn't completely shut the door on future reunions.  He would love to be standing on stage with Yes when (or if) they ever get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Until then, we Yes fans will have to make due with guys like Jon Davison, a man who can certainly hit the high notes.

Vintage Ludwig Snare Drums | Painted Interiors And Dating The Drum

For a few years, I got caught up in the vintage drum craze. Acquiring old Ludwig snare drums was my thing. It took me some time to learn about them, mostly through trial and error.  I should have gone right to this vintage drums book for starters. 

The book gives the reader a solid base of information on most of the larger or more popular drum companies of the 20^th century. It was in that book where I found out about the WFL Symphonic snare, a drum that has been in my possession for nearly 20 years now.  I love that drum, and I try to take great care of it. When I took it on tour in 2000, I made sure to bring it in from the van every night. 

I have found just one other Symphonic, and that one was a couple years younger than my first, with extra holes drilled into it.  Someone had replaced the Ludwig Classic snare throw off with a cheap Japanese throw. The interior of that “newer” snare has a coat of interior paint. That was a common thing to see on the early 1960’s models. It was done at the factory. Some say that they were painted to hide the lower quality of wood in use at the time.   They sound very different from each other.  The painted snare produces fewer overall tones when compared to the 1959 Model.

I feel that I was one of the lucky ones who got into Ebay early enough to grab some pretty nice snare drums and parts before things got out of hand, and opening bids went through the roof.  Finding a good deal on a vintage drum on EBay seems to be a thing of the past. Prior to that change, it wasn’t unusual to find a Ludwig Supraphonic available for just over $100. At one point, I managed to snag a pair of vintage Supraphonics for $75 each. When I log on to an auction site now, it’s easy to see that the public at large has been educated. At least I made my splash early.

Gogol Bordello With Bombino At The Pabst Theater | A Bit Of World and Gypsy Punk Music At Its Finest

What can I say about Gogol Bordello that hasn't already been said. Are they a Gypsy, punk, reggae-dub band? Yes, the band is a mix of all three. One thing that they certainly convey is pure musical energy. Just when you think that you have the band pegged, they riff in a direction that you just didn't expect. Last Saturday was my first time seeing the band, and I was not disappointed. I can appreciate them on so many levels. Let me take the next few paragraphs to describe that in better detail.

It's fitting that the band formed on the East Coast.  I'm certain that it helped. With NYC hosting a large Ukrainian and Russian population, it's not hard to fathom that there were plenty of musicians to choose from. If you watch an early Gogol Bordello documentary, you can see that the band was first made up of Russians and other so called "immigrants" who played a rough version of Gypsy pop/punk with Ukrainian twists. As the years have passed, it seems that the sound has become more polished, but still has a driving edge that maintains the punk and Gypsy origins.

I can also appreciate the fact that the band has members from many parts of the world.  Starting with Elizabeth Sun, who is of Chinese descent, but raised in Scotland.  Sun sings, dances, and plays the bass drum. Sergey Ryabtsev is a key member of the band, providing violin and vocals.  He's quite the Russian performer. Add performers from Ethiopia, The United States, and Ecuador, and you have a true melting pot of musicians.

Last but not least, these musicians are truly talented.  They dance and sing at the same time. That can't be said for modern pop stars who just dance to a prerecorded vocal track. Does that mean the vocals are a bit sloppy at times? Yes, it does.  Does that matter to the fans? Not at all.  When you watch them perform, it's like the wheels are just a few mistakes away from coming off, but the group has been through that so many times before.  The wheels managed to stay on at the Pabst last weekend.

If I was to say anything about the founding member Eugine Hutz, I would say that he seems like a man who's always looking to the horizon, while standing right in front of you. He has a pure energy about himself. It comes across in the way that he performs on stage. He might riff off the members playing right next to him, but it surely seems that he's in his own world. If I learned anything from reading about Hutz, it's that he's turned his travels into an opportunity to bring odd music to the masses. Some folks might not understand or appreciate those odd sounds. He once said in an interview that Americans tend to have an "imaginary barrier" to being open minded about all forms of music.  If Gogol Bordello continues to perform here, that barrier will be broken down.

Bombino opened the show.  Bombino is well known in his country, and his world music album has touched the hearts of many. The volume for Bombino's show was too low.  He has a way with the guitar, but next time they have to turn up the volume!

 

David Bowie Top Ten Singles And A Bit Of History

David Bowie surprised his fans with the release of The Next Day. It had been ten years since they had seen any new material and the recording process for this disk was done quietly over three years time. What I found to be unusual was that the song he released early was the mellowest on the disk. Still, it is a great song, and I can’t think that anyone would have been put off enough by the nature of that song to write off the entire disk before they had the chance to hear it.
Looking back at his 40+ years, Bowie’s highest chart topping album was Station to Station. It reached the top five. He’s never and an album hit number one, but many of his singles have reached the top spot. At the time of this posting, his new album is charting at 35.
The song Space Oddity hit number one in November of 1975.  Ashes to Ashes made the top spot five years later.  Under Pressure was also a number one song, along with Let’s Dance, and Dancing in the Street. He’s had 23 top ten hit songs, if you include Where Are We Now. 
Bowie had over ten years of solid tours, and hit songs before musical tastes had changed.  Dancing in the Street was his last top ten hit song for many years to follow. He released three truly bad albums between the years 1986 and 1988, and acted in three just as awful movies in that same time period.
When he created the band Tin Machine in the late 1980’s, those of us who find every Bowie effort a “must listen,” would have to agree that this was not one of those times where the project clicked in like a puzzle piece. Personally, I had completely forgotten about the Tin Machine years. When I watch those old Tin Machine videos, it looks as if he’s trying to capture a bit of that late 1980’s punk momentum. You just can’t “un-class” a guy like Bowie. It didn’t work.   
His 1993 release of Black Tie White Noise was hailed as his glorious return to the music that he’s best known for. While I agree that songs such as Night Flights and You’ve Been Around certainly sound like the old Bowie, it’s hard for me to say that the album was any better than some of his marginal works.

Nine Inch Nails And David Bowie

He tried his hand at appealing to a younger audience when he hooked up with Nine Inch Nails in 1995.  That tour failed to bring new listeners to Bowie’s music.  Fans of Nine Inch Nails just didn’t get it.  In fact, there was a bit of backlash from those who felt that he was trying to wedge his way into a fully matured musical culture that had no need for old farts like David. It’s funny to see that Trent Reznor’s fans love Gary Numan, a band that came to fame 15 years before Reznor became a household name, but they passed on Mr. Bowie outright. But then, Reznor owes his musical career to guys like Numan.
If I’m allowed to fast forward to his 2003 release of Reality, I would say that the first song on the disk is quite strong, but the remaining songs seem to drift. David Bowie had a serious heart issue while supporting that disk, and it was scary enough to force him to retreat from the stage. Bowie took a ten year break, but the wait was worth it. The Next Day is a strong effort, and I find nary a “clunker” on the CD.  I hope he doesn’t take another ten year break. If he tours to support the new album, I’m certainly going to check him out.

Bikini Kill Had Something To Say Back In 1990 | It Still Rings True In 2013

I stumbled upon an old Bikini Kill video the other day.  They were performing live outside some state capitol building.  If they weren’t dressed in 1990’s clothing, I would have guessed by the musical style that it was a recording from 1979.  Was this a band that had been playing these songs for a dozen years? No, they were too young to have played back when so many other bands played this same style.  So why did this band gain the attention that they did?  This version of stripped down, repetitive, less musically inclined style of music has been done so many times before.   

So I took a look at the lyrics.  Maybe that’s where I would find the lure of this band. Yep, that’s where the band hits a nerve. They speak of being a strong woman, being yourself, feminism, and so much more. They might have sounded like old school punk rockers, but their lyrics were “new school.”   

Bikini Kill’s second album contains the song Alien She.  The words that ring out in that song speak of someone who is two women.  One is pulled towards the stereotypical way “girls” are supposed to be. The other tries to understand that other side. What I pull from that song is that it’s about someone who struggles to be herself.  Someone is trying to understand why they think the way that they do.

The band wrote more focused lyrics as they gained a better knowledge of song writing.  Take the song Double Dare Ya.  The song challenges women to speak out, to fight for their rights, to stand up for themselves. The song Feels Blind starts off slow, and almost melodic.  Is it an anthem? It could be. It has one great line, but the words leading up to it are very important. “As a woman I was taught to always be hungry. Women are well acquainted with thirst. Yeah, we could eat just about anything. We'd even eat your hate up like love.” 

Give Bikini Kill a try.  You might enjoy the mix of old school punk music set to lyrics that are so important, even 23 years after they first came out.  Keep in mind that the members of the band went on to work on women’s rights.  That’s more punk rock than so many other musicians who talked the talk, but never walked the walk.

   

Drumming For Profit | Being A Hired Hand In A Band

My last band was led by one person.  She named the band after herself.  She did all the promotion, the booking, and the hard work that it takes to get people in the bar. Sure, the other members of the band had to play well enough to keep people from leaving, but she had no problem with replacing you if you couldn’t make a show. As I recall, she went through some 19 bass players over ten years. One of them was nick-named “T3” because he was the third bass player that was named Tom.  Not just the third guy in the band named Tom, but the third bass player named Tom.    

When you joined her band, you were welcome to play the hell out of your instrument, but you weren’t allowed to bring your own songs into the band.  On more than one occasion, I heard her say to other members “That’s a great song you just showed us.  Now go and start your own band if you feel like playing it.  This is my band.” What’s funny is that I heard her say that at least three times over the years.  It was somewhat amusing; because she would let the musician play the entire song first, then give her speech.  She didn’t bother telling new members in advance that they weren’t allowed to write their own material. If you didn’t like what she had put together you were free to leave.  On the other hand, we were free to add whatever we liked to the songs that she wrote.  In fact, she felt that I never over played my drums on her songs. If she had it her way, I would be going ape behind the kit on every number.

Hitting The Road As A Hired Hand

In 1998, a band that hired me for a tour gave me their disks, told me to learn the music, and instructed me on just where I could add my own creative ideas. (See photo above.) There weren’t many spaces for me to break out on my own musically, but I knew what I was getting into.  When those moments in the song came up, I took full advantage of the opportunity. No, it wasn’t very much fun playing those somewhat rudimentary drum parts that someone else had written, night after night, city after city. But I was the hired help.  That was my job. What was my incentive? Getting paid a per diem, part of the net profits, and getting a cut of the merchandise. There had to be a guarantee for me. After all, I was the hired help.  I wasn't going to see any profits from record sales.  I would receive no income from royalties.  The drummer who made the album, the guy sitting back at home was getting paid for my hard work. The more shows we played, the more disks we sold, the more money he made. At the very least, I knew what base rate I was guaranteed, before I got on the plane for Europe. 

By the end of that tour, we were all pretty sick of each other.   It was nothing personal, you just can't look at the same faces day after day without feeling like you need to get away from it all. The combination of being cooped up together for weeks at a time, and playing the same songs every night made for a long tour. It didn’t affect my performances, but it certainly kept me from going “all in” with that group.  Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, but I lost my mind on that tour. I met up with some friends in Amsterdam just after the tour ended. One of them told me the only way I was truly going to be happy was when I started my own band. I knew that I wasn't "band leader" material, but it was a nice compliment.

What I miss when I join groups like that is the feeling that I was part of something creative.  I came along after these bands had already built up a following.  It didn’t matter if I received a compliment, or praise.  Those bands would go on without me.  I had to understand that.     

I was called back for a second tour, and took the job. They kept me on as a regular member, and that’s when things started to change, albeit slowly. It took another year for the band to start listening to my ideas, and allow me to be part of the creative process. By year number three, we had written an entire album’s worth of material. The record label wasn’t interested in keeping us on, so we had to decide whether to shop our sound around, or go it alone, or break up. The band called it quits, or at least that’s what I did.  I quit, and the rest of the band took a long break.  Two years later they resurfaced with their old drummer, but those songs that I helped to write stayed with the band.  In fact, they went on to record those songs with their original drummer.  It’s very hard for me to listen to that recording.  With all due respect, that drummer was not interested in playing what I had written. I found out later that he couldn’t replicate my style. It was too different. After being in a band for three years, then leaving, it’s an odd experience to then go and watch that band play live. I didn’t feel comfortable with going back stage to say hello.

It’s so different when you aren’t behind the drums.  As an audience member, I was more forgiving of their mistakes.  It made me wonder if I was too uptight when I was in the group. Those little miscues were actually enjoyable. They looked like tiny mistakes when I wasn’t playing, but huge mistakes when I was part of the band. I learned that I should let those little things go. As for now, I don’t know if I would ever go back to being a hired hand in a band, unless the reward was significant.   

Road Trips For The Somewhat Aged Musician In Me

Looks A Lot Like Our Tour Van

Band road trips are getting harder and harder for me. I hate to admit it, but I just can’t bounce back like I used to.  I have long stopped sleeping on floors. My days of rolling out a camping mat are also behind me.  Does that mean that I should retire from playing out of town shows?  I don’t think so, but there are some changes that I have to make if I want to keep on drumming. 

There are pressures I feel from other band mates when it comes to saving money on the road.  If we have a show that is a couple hours from our home town, I’m sure to hear the usual “We can take turns driving back the same night.” Yep, two hours of driving sure doesn’t seem like a long ride when you are heading out of town.  But after I have moved my drum kit six times in one night, and played a show, the two hour ride home feels more like six.  It’s torture. 

We rolled back to Milwaukee around 4am last weekend.  We unloaded our gear, and said our goodbyes.  I still had another 30 minute drive to my house.  When I finally turned in around five am, in a bedroom with makeshift black window shades, I really hoped to get six or seven hours of sleep.  It’s really hard to do that when your body is used to getting up at five a.m. I managed to get about five hours of fitful sleep before giving up.  The rest of my weekend was ruined. The main reason we drive home after an out of town show is to save $100 on hotel rooms.  There is a value to my off days, and it’s much higher than $100.

So what’s an aging drummer to do?  I’m going to foot the bill for my own post-show motel room from now on.  The band can keep their money, and if they want to drive home the same night, so be it.  I’m tired of loading up on caffeine at two in the morning, rolling out of some town soaking wet from my own show sweat, while hoping to avoid the deputies that have nothing better to do than pull over suspicious looking rock and roll vans.  I’m tired of wondering if our singer or guitar player is going to stay awake during their driving shift.  That keeps me up too.  I just can’t sleep in the van, when I’m too busy worrying that one of us is going to drive off the road into a cornfield.

Save A Life And Get A Room

For those of you in working bands, I know what you are going to say. “So Wisconsin Music Man, you are going to make the rest of the band unload all of the gear, while you sleep it off in a comfy motel room?” Not exactly.  I’ll be happy to take my gear to the motel.  I’ll roll all that crap into the room with me.  The band won’t be cursing my name when they get home, because the van will be half empty.  They might be cursing my name when it’s 3:30 am, and they are somewhere outside of Manitowoc, with another 75 miles to drive before they get to Milwaukee.  Instead of cursing my name, they should just admit that after a show they would love to take a ten minute drive to a hotel bed too.  If each band member put up $50, we could all get a solid night’s sleep, free breakfast, and be back in Milwaukee by noon the next day. I will leave that up to them.  From now on, I’m playing the rock star and getting a room. That’s what old guys do.  They get smart, and sleep well.    

Which Drums Make The Best Sound? | Drum Heads Play A Part Too

I'm still playing my poplar Sonor Force 2000 drums.  These are the drums from Germany, not the newer Chinese drums that Sonor makes now. At the time that I bought them, they sounded great.  I knew little about woods at the time, and had a limited budget.  Poplar isn't the hardest of woods, but with the right drum heads, they sound great.  It took me a long time to figure out just which heads would work for those drums.  I'm still trying to figure out what heads work best on a much more expensive set of Yamaha Maple Custom drums that I purchased about ten years ago.  Is there such a thing as the perfect wood or perfect drum head to go with that wood?

For the Sonor drums, I'm using the Remo smooth white heads.  These heads (and that wood,) seem to produce a great sound for rock drumming.  The tones are somewhat muted by the 10-mil thickness of the head, but the notes cut through, and the attack is still pretty sharp.  For an attack that is somewhat less sharp, I will sometimes use the coated Ambassador heads.  That is especially the case when I'm playing the maple drums.  As the Sonor drums have been taking a beating for nearly 20 years, their bearing edges are in need of adjusting.  For now, the smooth heads seem to help in that regard.  If I ever get the bearing edges redone, I'll consider switching to a head that isn't as thick.  For a long time, I played the Remo Pinstripe heads on the Sonor kit.  Those heads lasted longer, and that was a good thing for a struggling musician.  Their double ply Mylar construction will reduce the decay, but the overall sound makes your drums sound "fat."

Evans Hydraulic Drum Heads 

For a short while, I tried my luck with Evans Hydraulic heads.  They looked cool, but the muffled decay was just not what I wanted for a sound as I left the world of punk rock, and moved into rock.  If you want a punchy sound, go with the Evans Hydraulic heads.  Don't expect very much sustain on those drums.  I realize that it costs a bit of money in order to experiment with different skins.  What you might want to do is head on over to your local music store, and see what skins are on which types of drums.  If you can test drive the skins, all the better.

The Residents Come To Turner Hall Milwaukee

The Residents came to Milwaukee last Sunday night. This was my first time seeing the group live. As I felt that it might be the last tour for the original members, I thought that I better get on it. After all, the Residents have been around since the 1960’s. For those of you who are not familiar with the art collective, I suggest that you check out this Residents link.
When did I get the itch? It was back in 1981, when they released Mark Of The Mole. I had asked for the album as a Christmas gift from my parents. (Pretty cool parents, I must say.) After pulling out the vinyl I put on a pair of headphones and started to play it, while others were still unwrapping their gifts. I was 16 years old at the time, but the album still had a huge effect on me. The songs were almost frightening. Mark of the Mole had a theme. It was all about the struggle of the Mole People, and their war with the “Chubs.”

After Mark Of The Mole, I went backwards in the Residents timeline, and picked up Third Reich “N” Roll. The album came out in 1976, and was labeled as a “parody” of American pop music. I found it to be quite serious music. Perhaps I found it serious because the songs that they chose to parody were musical numbers that were (by 1982) overplayed “Muzak.” It doesn’t take much to turn a happy tune into a haunting, freak out of sound. That’s what the Residents did to so many numbers on the Third Reich album.




The Turner Hall performance featured three “band” members: Randy, Chuck and Bob. Their props and set were quite stripped down. I was a bit disappointed considering that I had heard so much about their previous efforts. I won’t spoil it for those of you still hoping to catch the band on this current tour. It was strange enough just to see the group do their thing. I don’t really know if stage props were necessary. My only complaint: They should have turned up the volume

Weekend Road Trip Tips For Drummers | Be Prepared For Anything

We played two nights in a row last month.  One show was in Milwaukee, while the other was in Oshkosh.  Both shows were in venues that I have never been in before.  That meant that I had no idea what to expect as far as the stage set up, sound, lights, or vibe of the bar staff.  What makes your life easier when you have to play a show in a new club? How should you prepare for a two show weekend? I'll be happy to post what I feel are little things that can make a huge difference in how you perform when you have no idea what to expect.

It goes without saying, but I will say it. Get to the club on time, your first time. Nothing looks worse than being late for your first show at a new club. You have already proved to the club owner or manager that you are not professional. Why should they ask you back if they are worried that you might not show up at all?  If load in is at 8pm, be there at 8pm.  It's not just the club owner that you want to keep happy.  Your band mates might be giving you the stink-eye if you miss load in. 

When you do load in, be aware of the neighbors.  Is the club playing loud music that might disturb the folks that live next door? If yes, try to keep the load in as short as possible.  Be aware of slamming doors, loud band mates, the general "smashing and crashing" of gear, or doors that are propped open too long. Also, be a sport and pitch in when loading in.  You might not be the drummer, but that doesn't mean you just have to worry about your amp head and bottom. There might come a time when I might be hauling your rig out of a club at 3am, when you are dead drunk.  It's a huge relief to know that your band mates have your back.

Feed Yourself On Short Road Trips

For short road trips, I can't stress enough the need for you to bring some extra food with you. Our van broke down on the way to a show that was just 90 minutes from home.  We planned on eating when we got there, and with the two hour delay we had no time to stop for food. There are few things worse than playing a show on an empty stomach. I stash a power bar, candy bar, apple, and shelled peanuts in my bag when I go for an overnight show. Also, stash a full water bottle in your bag. (More on that later.) On the night in question, our late arrival allowed me just enough time to eat some peanuts while I set up my kit in a rush. I had the power bar after the show (before my first alcoholic drink of the evening,) and knew that if I woke up starving the next day, I had some fruit and sugar to keep my stomach full enough.

Don't forget to bring a water bottle on stage the moment you start loading your gear onto it!  There are times when you were supposed to be on "ten minutes ago," and you are looking at a club that is so full, that you know you won't get the bartender's attention.  All you want is a drink, or some water to take onto the stage. That lonely water bottle has saved my butt many times. It's especially handy when you are playing a tiny club, and you just boxed yourself into a corner of the stage with your drum kit. You are thinking about that mad dash to the bar, but your band mate just hopped on stage and she's strapping on her bass.  What are you going to do?  You are stuck, and the band wants to start.  At least you have 12-14 ounces of room temperature water to suck down for the next 90 minutes. Also, check out this useful drummer's drink holder. It's so much better to keep your liquids off the stage floor. We all know how easy it is for our precious drinks to get knocked over. Sometimes your singer can shout out to the bar that the band needs need a drink, and you get lucky enough to get a response. Don't count on it.

In part two, I'll add some "non-food" related items that I find essential.  For now, keep your tummy happy, stay hydrated on stage, and be on time!.

Cigar Box Guitars | Much More Than A Toy

I’m a drummer who owns a cigar box guitar. I use it for therapy. What do I mean by therapy? If you ever picked up a cigar box guitar, you would understand.  Their simplicity encourages you to interact with them. You can’t help but play with it, pluck it, strum it.  The open tuning helps me find a sound, as I just can’t jam my fingers into any discernible chord structure. When I get a bit hung up on the fact that I really can’t play chords, I recall the following quote by Bluesboy Jag: “In the cigar box guitar revolution, everybody does what they want to do.”

There is an annual festival held in North Little Rock Arkansas that celebrates the cigar box guitar. That festival brings together many of those folks who love to build and play cigar box guitars.  There are no hard and fast rules on how to build one.  The same can be said about how to play, or tune it.  It’s all about the feel, and what the box says to you.

Their origin springs from a time and a place where money was tight. They were built with items on hand, like a broomstick, broom wire, and (of course) a cigar box.  Things have evolved to a point where serious bucks are spent in their construction.  Mine is made with a vintage box, real hardwood for guitar necks, and tuning pegs.  The retail price for mine would probably be in the $200 range. It was an investment, to be sure. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find the materials to make one yourself.  It just means that a cigar box can come from humble beginnings, or be part of some serious luthier work.

Two of my childhood friends now build cigar box guitars.  One was a professional luthier, the other a machinist.  A few years back, the luthier taught the machinist how to cut the wood, and assemble the guitars. It had been a long time since the two had worked together, and they both came away from the experience having learned that some things never change.  They both retain a passion for building and playing. As for the therapeutic properties of the guitar, I must say that I usually turn to it when I’m stuck on a writing project, or when I’m patiently waiting for my wife for one thing or another. When I play it, my back muscles loosen up.  Time slips away, and before I know it, I’m relaxed (or my wife is ready to go.)      

David Bowie's New Album | The Next Day

David Bowie turned 66 yesterday. He released a song from his new album, as sort of a gift to everyone. It's darn good.  His voice does show signs of those 66 years, but once you settle into it, you will find it quite pleasing.  He went back to Tony Visconti for support on this one.  It shows, in a good way. Visconti is credited on a dozen of Bowie's albums, including what is called the "Berlin Trilogy," a group of three albums recorded in Germany.  The new Bowie album doesn't come out until March.  It's billed as a rock album.

David Bowie has redesigned his website.  It contains videos, and remixes of classic songs.  I suggest that you take a look for yourself.  As for the controversial album cover, one can find answers on the Barnbrook blog.
If the rest of the album is anything like the sample song, Bowie has a hit once again.

What's The Best Music Venue In Milwaukee

What is your favorite music venue in Milwaukee? That's one thing that people ask me from time to time.  When they do, I have to answer with "that depends." Are we talking about shows at the BMO Harris Bradley Center?  Are we talking about smaller venues like bars and clubs? Can I expand out to southeastern Wisconsin before I answer the question?  There are so many great places to see bands here in Wisconsin.  I guess I better cover my top three or four.

Riverside Theater - Downtown Milwaukee

The Riverside Theater is still one of the best places to see bands perform.  The theater seats roughly 1300 people.  It's one of the oldest theaters in the United States that is still in operation.  The walls are ornate, the ceiling is high, but the sound in the venue is almost always great.  Some of the stage views from the boxes along the side walls isn't the best, but you do get a chance to see into the wings from those areas. Over the years, I have found that it's best to sit around seven to ten rows back from the stage. The sound is better just a bit back from the front edge of the stage.  As for the bands that come to the Riverside, the booking manager has nearly free reign when it comes to who he brings to Milwaukee.

Marcus Amphitheater - Summerfest Grounds 

The Marcus Amphitheater is one of the best and worst places to see a show.  How can it be both?  If you are from Milwaukee, then you know that the Marcus is where the Summerfest headline acts perform.  These performances are almost always sold out, and that means if you go, you are sitting with 23,000 of your fellow fans.  Sometimes that can be the greatest thing in the world.  Imagine being part of a group of people who all love the same band that you do.  If you are lucky enough to get within the first twenty rows of the Marcus stage, you might even enjoy the sound.

What's not so great about the Marcus?  The sections numbered "One" and "Three" have views that are so far to the left and right, that you just don't enjoy the performance.  This is an outdoor venue with a huge roof.  The sound can get very muddy when it drifts beyond the first twenty rows.  So if you are sitting far right, fifty rows from the stage, you begin to wonder why you bothered to pay $129 to see "Band X." Strangely enough, the sound and view gets better once you move beyond the bleachers.  Some of the best shows that I have attended were on nights where I abandoned my reserved seat, and checked out the band from the lawn  at the top of the venue.

Turner Hall - Milwaukee

Turner Hall is just across the street from the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee.  The actual hall was closed for decades, until the folks who run the Pabst and Riverside theaters decided to start booking shows there.  It's one of my favorite places to see a show.  The sound might not be the best, but the venue feels very welcoming.  There is a second story balcony that offers an escape from the larger crowds on the main floor.  The stage is high off the dance floor, and that means you can see your favorite musicians from just about anywhere in the venue.  The wood floors are easy on the feet, for those of us who end up standing for three or four hours. The drink prices are pretty fair, but I would suggest that you order the double.  The sound can be a bit muddy, depending on the style of music being played, but I have yet to attend a Turner hall show where I have left early, or where I headed out the door, just to get away from the crowd or noise.

Ravi Shankar Has Two Famous Musical Daughters

Ravi Shankar was already famous before the Concert for Bangladesh, but one must admit that the event helped make him more popular in the western world. That night, he took the stage and proceeded to spend roughly three minutes tuning up his sitar. When he was finished tuning, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. That was how little (some western) people knew of that style of music. 

Shankar was first married at age 21 to a fourteen year old girl named Annapurna Devi. I’m assuming that the marriage was arranged, but it did last over twenty years. They produced one son.  That son also played sitar.  His son died in the 1990’s. Shankar also had two daughters who both went on to musical fame.  Anoushka Shankar was born in 1981, and went on to play sitar.  She is well known for her work in classical Indian music.  The pair did play together from time to time.

The Birth Of Norah Jones

Ravi is also the father of Norah Jones.  Back in the late 1970’s, Ravi was still married when he met Sue Jones, a concert promoter. They went on to produce one child, and named her Norah.  Norah went on to win a number of Grammy awards in the same year that her half sister Anoushka won a single Grammy for her work in the field of World Music.

As the decades passed, Shankhar stayed active in the world music scene. He did all this while taking care of a heart problem that first surfaced back in 1973.  He produced an amazing musical score for the movie Gandhi in 1982.  He became a member of the Indian parliament in 1992, and that same year he underwent heart surgery.  As the 1990’s came to a close, Ravi was performing over two dozen shows per year.

He spent the next ten years teaching his daughter Anoushka how to play the sitar, and toured with her off and on. He made hints of retiring in 2008, but was compelled to play again in 2011.  He was last on stage just this past November, when he played along with Anoushka in California.   

  

Jason Aldean Summerfest Show | What's So Special About Aldean?

Why is Jason Aldean headlining during Summerfest 2013? Who is this guy? I decided to start my research by watching the video of his first top ten song titled “Hicktown.” The video has all the elements that make up the vast majority of successful country hits.  It’s got women wearing short shorts, “mud bogging” trucks, beer, American flags, and bon fires in the woods.  All of that is followed up with more women in short shorts.  If you flip over to Brooks and Dunn’s video titled “Hillbilly Deluxe,” you will find pretty much the same video.  It must be a country thing.  I mean really, the videos are almost interchangeable, elements wise. The theme of both songs is the same too.  Is there something special about Jason Aldean? I certainly didn't find it in that song, or that video.

Aldean hit number one on the country music charts with his song titled Why. It’s a ballad about love and breaking up, or coming close to breaking up.  I can’t quite tell.  It’s a very introspective song.  From there, Aldean found success with a song titled Amarillo Sky.  That song is not his own.  It was penned by McBride &the Ride back in the 1990’s. 

My Kind Of Party Hits Pay Dirt

Jason Aldean fans would probably agree that his 2010 album titled My Kind of Party is his most popular disk so far.  That year, he won the American Country Awards – Single of the Year - for the song Don’t You Wanna Stay.  That one is also a ballad, a duet with Kelly Clarkson.  So is that what makes Aldean so famous?  Is he just one of those country stars that can sing the heck out of a sad, slow song?  His two biggest hits were just that kind of tune. I also have to mention the title track to this same album.  It’s another one of those “This is what I’m all about” songs.  The lyrics cover what’s fun about being “country.” Have I figured this guy out? No, I just don’t have an answer for you.  Jason Aldean is popular, just because he is. Check him out at Summerfest, and let me know if I’m missing something.   

Milwaukee Punk Rock Reunion Show Shank Hall

I'm preparing for another reunion show.  It's for my old Milwaukee punk band.  I will also be filling in on the drums for another great band named Sacred Order.  This time, I'm not doing any of the promotion, as the event is a fundraiser for an aspiring author.  The even is at Shank Hall this weekend.  All I have to do is try to play drums like I played back when I was 21 years old.  That's hard enough.

My bass player already asked me to bring the tempo down a bit on the songs.  I have no problem with that, as I really can't keep up with that drummer who used to be me. I can safely say that I'm not as flexible as I was all those years ago.  It's not that I need the flexibility, but it would be nice to have.  I'm drumming smarter now.

After the first few rehearsals on my own, I was starting to think that I would not be able to get my chops back up to snuff.  I was losing drum sticks, hitting the rims, and folding my arms onto themselves.  It was messy, to say the least.  To make matters worse, I had a ten day vacation planned well ahead of this event.  The vacation would take up precious drumming time. 

Our first full band practice went well.  When the rest of the band saw that I was just about as rusty as they were, it seemed to make them feel better.  Not that they need me to be playing poorly so they can feel better about themselves.  It was more of a "we're all in the same shape" kind of thing.  By our second rehearsal together, we had improved greatly.  The only wild card will be how well our singer performs. He's flying in the night before the event. 

Aside from the singer, the members of the band have all been performing in various bands in the past 25 years.  The singer was doing some hip jazz stuff in the early 1990's.  I don't know if he will be up to the task, but it's punk music, so all he has to do is get through the show with some sort of vocal style.