Jabs and jams, part 1

As Doug mentioned in the previous post, we’re on our way to spend some time with my mom in Florida. We decided to treat ourselves to a little bit of normalcy. We made plans to visit a few OVFs (Old Vaccinated Friends) along the way. Doesn’t that sound, er, normal?

Friends and loyal readers know I’m a drummer and member of Drumeo, an amazing online drum education community. We improve our craft by watching video lessons, recording ourselves and sharing videos with others for feedback. As a side benefit, we get to know each other through our videos and forum conversations. Over the years, I’ve developed online friendships with other Drumeos and have thought it would be fun to meet up live someday. Well, let’s make someday happen, at least along the route to Florida…

Bram

Our first stop was in Maryland to visit Bram (aka Brammie). Within minutes of arriving, he enticed us to join him in a trip to a fabulous local music store featuring outstanding used gear. Candy store! Anyone who’s watched Bram’s videos had seen the recent transformation of his home studio. They’d also know about his epic cymbal garden – a delightful combination of mostly hand picked cymbals from the aforementioned music store, providing an artfully sonic palette of sound to include in his music. Almost better than the music store, I wandered through the garden, striking each and creating a list of my faves. (This could be an expensive trip…)

Bram’s wife Inge treated us to a delightful dinner, then shooed us back into the studio for a jam session with Bram on drums and Doug on guitar/vocals. I’m rehabbing a shoulder injury, so served as a combo groupie/sound guy. Who knows? A recording could appear one of these days… So fun to spend time with Bram and Inge and their dogs Seva and Poser. We also got to meet daughter Amanda and her pup, CrazyDaisy.

May 19 edit – thanks Bram for the video link!

Zac

Our next stop was in North Carolina for a visit with Zac (aka ZDrums), conveniently on a gorgeous day when his band, KTZ, was featured at an outdoor gig for a community fundraiser. It’d been so long since we’ve heard live music!!!! Zac’s been a pro drummer for more than 45 years. Anyone who’s seen a video of Zac playing something he’s just learned would recognize his smooth style of playing. Watching him with the band play tunes he’s played for years shows us all smooth at a whole new level…

Doug and I got to be roadies for a day, helping to set up and break down the gear. It was great fun to meet the guys in the band – Kevin and Tristan – as well as Zac’s wife Rose, and Max the wonderdog .

Of course, we also toured Zac’s home studio where we got to play around with his new EAD10 acoustic/electronic drum module which could make his above-the-garage studio sound like an arena. (Did I mention this could be an expensive trip…) Zac also introduced us to another friend, Jay, also with a home studio. We regret our schedule didn’t allow enough time to jam. Next visit…

Susan

In South Carolina, we visited with Susan (aka Susan2200). She’s been busy transforming her home studio’s recording set up and was totally excited to show us the new technology driving her latest videos. We had to dig in and see how everything worked. OMG, motorized faders! (This is gonna be an expensive trip…) And of course, what better way to check it out than to start jamming! Susan was on drums, with Doug once again on guitar and vocals. This time, I got to play recording engineer and official photographer. Hmmm, perhaps another recording could appear…

Susan was also excited to take us to her favorite pub (perhaps super extra excited after the 14-month hiatus…) where we shared great food and great conversation. Between the pub and her classic front porch, there was lots of time to trade stories about women who start drumming in retirement. Susan’s dog, Ripley, loved hanging with us; her 2 cats braved poking their heads out as we were leaving.

We loved our live meet ups with friends! And these bits of normalcy do feel so good.