3:37

My Drummers Dossier:1978 Im 10 yrs old and I want drum lessons. Thanks to this guy named Paul who was my drum teacher back then. He was very encouraging and would sing, play bongos and generally act goofy while you did your simple little patterns and routines. From then on I had an unquenchable thirst for all things drums, drumming and music in general.The Groovetones: 1984 - 1986Apart from the various basement / high school type bands that I was involved with this was the first real steady gig that actually paid with more than beer. My college age friend, Bill was involved with an oldie R&B doo-wop style tribute band that needed more than the drum machine they were currently using. We played parties, bars and shows around campus, did it for the chicks and actually got a little popularity. They were a great bunch of guys worth mentioning: Howard, John, Mike, Leonard, Troy, Billy, Hoov and Guido. Kudos for sneaking in the 16 yr old kid!The Stand: 1986 - 198919 years old and in my 1st real, professional type gig with a steady schedule. We played both kinds of music, Rock and Roll. We were a loud, fast in your face bunch of jack-asses that people actually really got into. Ronnie D was on bass and Scott was vocals and guitar. Neil was one of those guitarists that has the gift and in general a very talented guy. We played freakin everywhere, got airplay, won a radio sponsored contest and were getting a lot of buzz about being the next big thing. It ended up getting all fooked up in the end as things often do. Finding an old schedule of ours, it showed 17 gigs in one month! Not all these were just 1 hr long sets mind you, sometimes 3 & 4 set nights were frequent We had opening slots for the Connells, the Smithereens, Georgia Satellites, Living Color, the Bo Deans, Little Steven and Steve Earle amongst many others. Lots of running up and down the east coast in a converted school bus with your best drinking buddies getting jobs on the road crew because they always showed up and you could pay them in beer. Kudos to the Innocence Mission for being the ones from the road during that era to get heard and actually make a career out of it!Seven Potato Baby: 1996 - 1998Good songs. This band could have actually worked. We had a sound like King Crimson meets the Sundays meets Sarah McL. Shannon had the voice of an angel and was able to make catchy little hooks with her wordings. We had Terry and Dave on guitars with Dave playing the occasional violin. What I liked was that the songs were mostly 6-7 minutes long with really cool breaks and melodies. We won a spot on the local music CD issued out by the then existing alt rock radio station as well as putting out our own 5 song release. More of this bands strength was in its networking and getting more accomplished thru doing that than gigging to death, which happens all the time. Another band that coulda, shoulda but didnt.The Diane Devlin Band: 1998 - 2000One of those rare people that can take G, C, & D and make a really good song out of it. She had some very radio friendly songs, which we spent the summer of 2000 recording while sharing a studio with G. Love & company. Diane has a natural stage personality which between her, myself, and guitarist Chris made for fun banter between songs. Morning radio shows would have been jealous.2004 2005 Katie Knipp, Mill Valley CA. Recorded an independent CD and rambled around the Bay Area helping her do her thing with Nate on bass and Josh on guitar. Still out there to this day giving it her best so check her out if she comes to a hall near you!