Drummer appreciation can be a real thing

[Hasty]

I know bashing drummers for sport is a thing here... but I've gotta say this, when you find a great drummer it's an amazing thing.

I've played with some terrible drummers, and I've played with some amazing drummers. However I feel really fortunate because the one I play with most frequently is pretty great. We've played together in several bands over the years, and we pull each other into one-off type projects all the time.

I've gotten so used to playing with him that I forget just how good I have it. I think the event that recently brought it to mind was that we were both subbing in on this gig and after the first tune the piano player looked at us both and said we must have played together before (he didn't know either of us prior to this). Then another player on a different project said something similar.

There's just something really great about having a drummer you lock in with all the time, and when things go sideways you both know exactly what you're gonna do to get everyone back on track without even thinking about it. A few times we've backed a soloists who gets lost in the changes and we just organically get them back on track and no one in the audience ever really notices. That's a pretty great feeling.

So to all those great drummers out there that lock in with their bass player and are pleasurable to be around... I salute you.

 

[el murdoque]

I've had that pleasant experience more than once.

You get those drummers who lock in with you, those lead guitarists that actually listen to the rest of the band and know when to stop. Those singers that will help unload the drums. Most cliches have a reason to them, but there are genuinely decent human beings that happen to play the right instrument with the right set of mind, too!

 

[Lobster11]

I remember my first experience playing with a really good drummer, after having cut my proverbial teeth on a guy who had only recently converted from bass. My reaction was "Wow -- playing bass is so easy!" He'd just cut a deep groove, and all I had to do was fall into it.

 

[JRA]

...when you find a great drummer it's an amazing thing.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

William Allen Chatoney, who shuffled off this mortal coil two years ago, was the first pro drummer I ever worked with. He'd spent four years behind Bo Diddley, hung out with the Allman Brothers, Grinders Switch, bunch of other Atlanta and Jacksonville cats, back in the day. As the BL used to say: "There is no point in counting off. The tempo is going to be whatever Billy plays." Some of you will remember this story: I'd been hired, and played half a dozen gigs, and nobody was giving me any kind of feedback. At rehearsal one night, I screwed up my courage and asked "Is everybody OK with what I'm doing?" Billy looked up from his kit and said "Just keep doing that BOOM-BOOM-BOOM."

 

[Hasty]

@Bunk McNulty what an amazing story. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Bassic_desires]

Quote from one of my band members a few weeks ago - "I've never played with a drummer before and, now I have, I don't want to play without one".

 

[Parzival]

Play with a guy now that’s outstanding. It’s just so easy to lock in and play without worry with a great drummer. He’s very loud, there’s always something, but I’ll deal with vs this other guy I’ve played with recently. It is torture playing with him. I know you don’t ever stop a song, but he came in at the beginning of one the other day and we just stopped, looked at him and said, No! The song was Superstitious. What damn drummer can’t play that? This is part of an event band I am leaving and I told the bandleader if he doesn’t make some personnel changes, he’s gonna get a bad rep quick and won’t get any business.

 

[JohnnyPustular]

I've been pretty lucky in that my best friend in most bands has been the drummer. Sure-- they can be odd-- just like catchers and goalies. Must be something about sitting in back of everyone. Or maybe I just don't trust anyone who wants to be the center of attention (singers & guitarists). I do know that it's always fun to have someone to complain about the front-people with or to really mess them up by secretly shifting the tempos around.

 

[bobalu]

So to all those great drummers out there that lock in with their bass player and are pleasurable to be around... I salute you.

Yes, both of them!

 

[LiptonJigglers]

My brother has been playing drums for longer than I've been alive.
We're in 2 bands together and both bands are tighter than a whales rectum 20 000 leagues under the sea..
Got a compliment from one drummer.... he called me the human metronome...

 

[hieronymous]

Yes - drummers get a bad rap. It's too bad - bad drummers deserve it, good drummers deserve respect.

Kinda sad that the "drummer appreciation" thread only has a few responses since this morning - perhaps their reputation precedes them?

When you find a good drummer, it all makes sense. I bet they feel the same way about bassists!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I know bashing drummers for sport is a thing here... but I've gotta say this, when you find a great drummer it's an amazing thing.

I've played with some terrible drummers, and I've played with some amazing drummers. However I feel really fortunate because the one I play with most frequently is pretty great. We've played together in several bands over the years, and we pull each other into one-off type projects all the time.

I've gotten so used to playing with him that I forget just how good I have it. I think the event that recently brought it to mind was that we were both subbing in on this gig and after the first tune the piano player looked at us both and said we must have played together before (he didn't know either of us prior to this). Then another player on a different project said something similar.

There's just something really great about having a drummer you lock in with all the time, and when things go sideways you both know exactly what you're gonna do to get everyone back on track without even thinking about it. A few times we've backed a soloists who gets lost in the changes and we just organically get them back on track and no one in the audience ever really notices. That's a pretty great feeling.

So to all those great drummers out there that lock in with their bass player and are pleasurable to be around... I salute you.

‘I’ll tip my hat to my drummer as well. Scottie is so well prepared nothing ever goes of the rails. But besides that, we both understand the musical logic of the music we play. He plays the proper rhythm pockets, kicks where they need to be. Everything is organically natural and extremely comfortable.

‘I have played with drummers with better technical skills but most were a PITA to work with because you never knew what they were going to do next. Most were more interested in showing off their chops than serving the song/act.

Our drummer before Scott, was Phil who was also a good drummer and we became best band buds instantly . He had a different take stylistically and I had to completely rework my bass parts to accommodate him, but it was worth it. After I resolved all the conflicts, we were killing it. We had a great 7 years together. But with him living in LA, and gigs were in Pittsburgh, he finally had to give it up. Sadly he just died a couple of months ago at age 76.

 

[NZBassman]

I've played with a couple of very good drummers
First one was in 1996-ish - he was great drummer and had a really good feel, but only stayed in the band for 3 months, as he was asked to join a big 10 piece soul / R&B band.... I was bummed out when he left.

Second one was 2009 - very good drummer who could play anything... he could listen to a song once then play it back exactly as he heard it. I loved his drumming and they way he played... Unfortunately his attitude got the best of him and he just wouldn't play certain gigs because they were 'beneath' him. He cancelled a day before a gig once saying something really important had come up.... BL had to scramble to find an available drummer for the gig - but then found out later the drummer cancelled because he'd been offered a better paying gig....

 

[funkifiedsoul]

Elegant appreciation.

 

[coy garcia]

I love my drummer and we work as a team in 2 different groups. I've had subs when he was ill and I hated it.

 

[Killing Floor]

Amen

 

[metron]

There's just something really great about having a drummer you lock in with all the time

Thats the whole deal. I’ve tried working with drummers that don’t quite get it. It was a waste of time. All good drummers should be appreciated, especially by bassists. If you play with one don’t take it for granted!

 

[mikewalker]

I've had the good fortune to play with a lot of amazing musicians "who just happened to play the drums" - foremost among them Mr. Stan Taylor



I first heard about Stan in high school, when I played in a jazz-fusion ensemble with a teenaged Robin Horn (son of Paul Horn) - who back then bragged that he was already 'right up there' with his drum teacher Stan Taylor. Not long after that a trumpet player (Dave Esler - now Dr. Dave Esler, professor of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UBC) brought Stan over to have a jam at my place, and I started hanging out with him a bit, and soon after had one of those 'learning experience of a lifetime' events, when he brought over his friend Morrow Azziza for an 90 minute straight improv session.

At the time I was playing my home-made bass guitar through an open-backed combo (the one in my avatar pic!) and Stan (who was a couple years older than I) gave me the sage words of advice: "You should really go and push broom at the mill for a while, so you can buy yourself some decent gear!" Shortly after that I got a deal on big Acoustic 260 rig...

(exactly like this one) - and dropped out of University to tour with a rockandroll band *(seemed like a good idea at the time...)

 

[Pocket Dave]

I spent decades playing with ok drummers, really all the way up until 2004 when I first played with Chuck "Popcorn" Louden (Lucky Peterson, Tommy Castro, Buddy Miles, Michael Burks). That's when I realized there was more to it.

Then again for three years starting in 2012 I played with Popcorn every Thursday for a popular house band gig, where he taught me more about the conversational aspects of this music thing. To give some idea of his talent, he once brought out a woman to sit in with us on drums and I told him, "hey, she's good enough to sub for you when you go out."

He told me he didn't think she was available; Turns out she was Yvette "Baby Girl" Preyer, drummer for Michael McDonnald.

Since then, it's been like someone opened a fire hydrant of steady-stream great drummers, from my current soul/funk/blues Thursday night house band to my weekend mostly country band.

Even the pickup gigs - got a private party gig a few weeks ago with a Havana born and raised drummer and congo player who was simply amazing.

So yes, much appreciation for the good ones with big ears who've well honed their craft. Without them, we don't have much of real value to offer.