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How important do you consider a good drummer?

Very important, all the time.

Unless I'm playing bluegrass, I'm a snob and insist on no drums in my bluegrass

If the drummer sucks, I'll only do the gig for a fair chunk of money. But even if the money was good it still wouldn't be enough to keep me around for long.
 
A good drummer + a good bass player can make pretty much any band good. You cannot say that about any of the other pieces. My brothers (drummers) and I carried many green/hack guitar players and singers back in the day. Long as the rhythm section is good, people dance, and they think the singer/guitar player are better.

So in answer to your question - mandatory. I'd have zero interest in playing in a band with a bad drummer, and I can't think of a single successful one I've seen on any level.
 
"A band is only as good as it's drummer"

-Gasman

Drummer is the most important musician in the band. Because he/she is the only one that can ruin every song by being a bit off. Everyone else can cover a flubbed note. Not the drums.

BTW the quote above is one I've been saying for over 15 years. And it is universally true.
 
I played with a very talented drummer once. He couldn't keep time worth a damn. He was gifted a practice pad and when it told him his timing horrible he threw it away in disgust. Refused to believe it. songs always end much faster than they begin and he claimed it was just us "getting into it." He was a self proclaimed "hardcore drummer" HAH

Talented but doing nothing with it. Shame.
 
Late to the game here, but I'd say that in addition to many other factors probably mentioned in this thread, one thing I've noticed over the last couple of years in writing and jamming is that a good summer playing an interesting beat is often the difference between guitar riffs sounding generic or sounding interesting and creative.
 
I'll bite:

My first band was formed at the end of my freshman year of high school. Everyone in said band was capable of performing our songs true to the records and with energy...except the drummer. His timekeeping was average, and he frequently missed/added sections to songs.

Overall band talent rating IMO: 8/10. We were good, but not great at what we wanted to do.

My second band was formed just before my senior year of high school. I played keys and had to label the note names...because I had never played keys before. Our bassist had played for about six months...two years prior when he broke his leg. Our rhythm guitarist was kinda like me - he had only ever played violin.

This was all balanced a bit by a great lead guitarist and singer...but it was our drummer that made the band good. I actually hugged him after our first practice because he made playing in a group so easy. Atomic-clock-level consistency in tempo, and he could play every song solo with the correct structure.

Overall band talent rating IMO: well, three threes and three tens average out to a 6.5.

The second band got way more gigs, actually made some money, and was much more enjoyable to play with. It didn't even matter that three of us were beginners.