I believe I mentioned that our drummer quit and we were looking for another one? Well, the guy in Delaware did turn out to be snowing us, so we continued our search for a drummer. I'll call him Lawnmower Man. He seemed like he was going to work out. He had all the right things... or so it seemed: he had a kit, he could play, he owned his own business so work wouldn't get in the way of practices, he wasn't married or seeing anybody so significant others wouldn't get in the way of gigs and practices... he even had (so he said) a complete lighting rig. Well, all righty, then. BUT, it turns out that he, like so many other drummers, was a flake. First, he said that he would come up for the entire weekend of the fourth and practice with us for four days. Well, he CLAIMED that his water pump went out on his car and he decided to stay home. Okay, I can almost see that. Strike One. He then said that he would be up the next weekend to practice and that he would stay the whole week so that we could practice for the gig on the 17th. Well, on Wednesday the seventh, I call him to verify plans. He says he's coming. I call him Friday the ninth, though, and he says that he has too much work lined up for Monday and Tuesday the following week to come up over the weekend and he doesn't want to make the trip twice, anyway. I say, "okay," and AGAIN confirm that he is coming up. He says he is. Okay: Strike Two. So, Lawnmower Man has told us at this point that he will be here at around noon on Wednesday the 14th. Well, on Tuesday night, I call to confirm, and he SAYS THAT HE WILL BE HERE. On Wednesday morning, though, there is an e-mail in my inbox from him that states -- extremely briefly and obtusely -- that the $50 he will make from the gig will not cover his fuel expenses and without more money he won't be able to come up. STRIIIIIIKE THREEEEE!!!!!!! So, I am PISSED. I have already spent about 6 hours cleaning the house and getting ready for him to stay here. I have spent around $35 on extra food to feed him. AND THIS IS MY THANKS?!?!?! So, in desperation, I call up the drummer who just quit the band and ask him if he'll pinch-hit for us. Nope, he says. So now, I am REALLY fuming. I call Lawnmower Man and inform him that because he said that he was coming, I took the gig on 17th. I told him that I would give him my $50 in addition to the $50 he would be making if he would just show up. Because, to me, playing music isn't about money. If you get into the music business to make money, you're in it for the wrong reasons, because, you ain't gonna get rich or even break even. You get into the music business because you love making music and for NO OTHER REASON. Lawnmower Man was fine with that scenario and said that he would come up. Well, by now, I DO NOT TRUST HIM AS FAR AS I COULD THROW HIM. And, the more I think about it, the less I like the set up. I have gotten us the last ten gigs we've had. I also do all the web design work, the flyer design work, the CD cover design work, the CD label design work, all the promotion, all the legwork, all the telephone work, make all the contacts, all the CD burning, all the recording, AND I have to remember all the lyrics, chords, and tempos to all the songs that we do. In addition to all of THAT, I am also responsible for replacing flaky drummers, making up set lists, writing all the original material, and making sure everyone KNOWS that original material.
Anyway, so I am ticked off about Lawnmower Man and his flakiness and his sole desire to make money off of me. So, I got to thinking: who do I know that might know a drummer? Well, I vaguely remember Kenneth saying something about a guy he knows at work knowing a couple of drummers. So, I call him at work and tell him to get names and numbers from this co-worker of his, and I tell him the story of Horrible Drummer Fiasco. Kenny agrees that I am right about this one (big surprise there) and, when he came home, he did, indeed, have two names for me. So, I made him call them. Well, after a long run-around, we finally get ahold of one of them. I'll call him Piper (you can guess why). He agrees to do it. We call Lawnmower Man and tell him to skip it. (Now he won't make ANY money this weekend. HA! HA!)
I'll remind you at this point that it is now Wednesday, and we have a gig on Saturday. Well, we go over to Piper's "house," which is really a loft over a garage, and talk a little about the situation and we thank him profusely for doing it. Now, I like this guy for a few reasons: one, he's enthusiastic about playing drums; two, he lives in town about a block and half from us; and three, while he is employed, his work doesn't rule his life. Anyway, we plan for him to come over to our house the next night and go over material with him, even though his drum kit is "somewhere else." Okay. So, the time for him to show up comes and goes, and he FINALLY calls about an hour after he was supposed to. He says he's not coming. Oh, great, I'm thinking. ANOTHER flaky drummer. But WAIT! If we give him a ride, he'll come. Okay, so I have Kenny stop and pick him up. We spent Thursday evening going over some of the tougher stuff on our set list. We didn't see him Friday, but we did practice with my brother that night. On Saturday morning, the appointed time for him to come over and go over the matierial with the whole band (with his drum kit) comes and goes, so I again send Kenny over. Ten minutes later, they both show up. So, we get everything set up and we play.
This guy is AMAZING. He is FAR AND GONE better than ANY drummer we have ever played with. So, we played the gig, and it went amazing, considering how long we have been playing with Piper (about 4 hours).
