It’s been about 18 months since I started working with and advising Noble & Cooley. It has been a fun and exciting ride so far and my expectation is it will only get more fun. For the most part, I stay in the background. Noble and Cooley is about the drums, the history, the family and our global drumming community. Also, while I am actively involved in many of the key decisions, on a day to day basis, anyone who interacts with the company is more likely to be in communication with the Jones family or James Wyrick. This is as it should be as I am here to help a brand I love, not get in the way.
However, I was thinking the other day, that there is an area where I could be more visible which may be of interest to our extended family and drummers in general. This past year and a half has provided me personally with a window into every aspect of the music world, all the way to the absolute pinnacle of the recording industry. Having played in multiple bands with albums on the radio and in stores I had toured and shared the stage with some of my favorite artists. So I had some access and some connections. But now I get to experience the music world as a representative of one of the most respected drum manufacturers and I get access to all kind of experiences I would otherwise never have. This is not unique to me. Everyone in the industry has this. What is relatively unique to me is that I am really a drummer and a fan first and a company rep second. Which means I am pretty much like most drummers in that I love the drums, have drummers I admire, bands I love and just love being around music in general.
Which is what gave me my idea.
All of my friends and people in the workforce routinely tell me I am living the dream. I can’t argue with this. I go to concerts all the time, get backstage, meet everyone, talk shop with some of the best drummers in the world get to play different drums whenever I want. Not so bad. My friends routinely ask me who I met this week, what concerts I was back stage at, what some artist was like in person, what it’s like on a tour bus, what the Modern Drummer office looks like etc. And, in truth, even though I approach each of these things as business opportunities and I deliberately act like a jaded, super experienced veteran, I really feel like a little kid when I go to these events. So I thought, why not share some of these experiences and provide other drummers with a window in to a world we all love? Pull back the curtain and see what goes on and what it’s like for the session guys, the arena players, the club-level touring guys, the shop owners, the educators, etc. Heck even some of the guitar players and singers are slightly interesting so I can cover that as well.
So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to share some of these cool experiences to give other drummers like myself a window into the world of auditory creation. If nothing else, it will help me preserve my memories but hopefully it will bring everyone inside the professional music world a little bit. It might also make them realize that when it comes down to drumming and playing music, we all have something different to offer, we all have unique experiences but we all share the same passion for what we do.
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