Monthly Roundup #22 - December '19

For my last post of 2019 (although you’ll be reading this in 2020!), I thought I’d do a bit of a summary of what the year held for me drumming-wise, touching in on some of the various highlights that I’ve especially enjoyed throughout the year.

First up, I was delighted to have the year start with a run of quite a few musicals, which I thoroughly enjoyed! There was “West Side Story” in February, followed by productions of both “Bugsy Malone” and “Cabaret” in March, then a run of “The Wedding Singer” in May. Shortly before these, at the end of 2018, there were also productions of “Les Miserables” in November and “Whistle Down The Wind” in December - making it six shows in seven months. Granted, there are plenty of folks out there who do different shows week in/week out, but for me, that was quite a few of them! While I didn’t do any other musicals in the second half of the year, I thoroughly enjoyed starting the year with so many, and shall look forward to my next stint whenever it may come along!

Then, as mentioned in my previous post, there were a few months spent playing more regularly with Eagles tribute band, the “Alter Eagles”. The official period which I was depping with them was from March to the end of the year, but there had been a handful of dates with them before that too. It was great fun to have a run of doing the gig more regularly and getting to know both the music and the guys involved better, which has been really nice! As mentioned last time, the band has secured a regular drummer for the new year onwards which is great, so I wish them all the very best and shall look forward to joining them as and when required!

There were a number of things with the “usual suspects” throughout the year too. With Pete James, we started the year with a conference in January (which we’ll be doing again this January), had some recording for the new “Throwback Kid” record back in February (which is set to be released shortly - early 2020), and some Spring Harvest tour dates in September ahead of the main event in April 2020. Then, there were a few outings with Tom Fitzpatrick too, which were often restaurant/bar type gigs, but one highlight there was doing the “Tiddly Proms” festival at Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens, which was a really nice gig to be involved with! Then, there were dates throughout the year with “The Rhythm Crew” too, doing the usual hotel function gigs. There were some of the more one-off gigs that came up too which I really enjoy (as they keep me on my toes!), but of course it’s always nice to play alongside friends in the more regular settings too.

While I don’t always mention it so much here, 2019 was a great year with my teaching side of things too. At the start of the year I made a few changes to my schedule, taking on a fourth school but stepping down from some of the private, “after school” lessons that I had been doing beforehand to balance the time. Now, each of the four schools that I visit are on a full or almost full day, and I really am enjoying the time spent with my students - there’s rarely a dull moment, that’s for sure!

The change in my day-to-day teaching schedule was largely prompted by a desire to get more practice time in for myself. With my previous routine of three, long teaching days a week, I found I was struggling to make regular practice a part of my routine. Now, doing four shorter teaching days a week instead, on each of those teaching days I then have a two hour window when I get back from school which I’ve carved out to make sure I get some practice in each day! Having that routine in place this year has really helped me to get the practice time in that I wanted, and I’m certainly feeling the results of it now, feeling more comfortable and confident behind the kit than ever before. While I wouldn’t say I’ve added masses to my playing vocabulary this year, I’ve been very focused on cleaning up some elements of my timing and technique, and now I’m starting to get the itch to start playing new things with that fresh perspective.

2019 was also a massively successful year in terms of the local drumming community. At the start of the year we began our monthly “Drum Hang”, which has become a well established group which is continuing to grow as more drummers find out about it. Over the first year, I think we’ve had some 28 different drummers come along in total, which I’m absolutely delighted with! Before the group started, there were some drummers who I had been in touch with for years but never actually met, so it’s been great to get together and spend time among other drummers, getting to know one another better and forming good friendships. Another highlight for the local drumming community was the “Drumathon” that we held in October for our good friend Craig. In the end, some 23 different drummers totalled 52 hours of consecutive drumming over a weekend (Friday morning to Sunday afternoon!), with just over £2,700 going to Craig and his family to support them as he continues his treatment. It was a wonderful show of support from the local drumming community, and of course we continue to wish Craig all the best as he continues his treatment!

Well that just about concludes my summary of 2019… Over December there was our monthly drum hang (of course!), plus a couple of gigs to mention, but really I had a fairly relaxed Christmas period work-wise - which was a real treat to be honest, at what can sometimes be a very busy time of the year! The first of the two gigs was another with the regular function band, “The Rhythm Crew”, doing a hotel Christmas party, and the other was a New Year’s Eve do with “Tempo One”, which was my first outing with them. It’s run by the same folks, but is a slightly different format with a horn section and some different material, so it was good fun to play some new tunes!

Familiar surroundings for the hotel Christmas party!

Same setup, different gig! NYE Setup.

I’ve been very grateful for all the playing opportunities that have come my way during 2019, and want to express a genuine “thank you” to those who have chosen to have me play with them. I’m well aware there’s plenty of brilliant drummers out there, all keen to play as much as possible, so I genuinely do appreciated all the work that comes my way. I’m looking forward to seeing what 2020 holds for my music, with a number of dates already booked in over the year and a couple of ideas in the works for potential new projects, so watch this space! In the mean time, I wish you all a very happy new year, and thank you as always for keeping up with my drumming antics…! Happy new year, and all the best! Ed.