A Young Drummers Story Of His Biggest Supporter.

Some are Mothers, mine is Mom.

When I was very young I had a small drum set I pieced together that I did not own. It belonged to a friend of mine I met walking home down an ally one day with my friends, his name was Denny, and he was a Motorcycle Club member. He had a slew of Harley-Davidson's in his garage and was blaring Hendrix and Black Sabbath. I was so intrigued I walked right into his garage to talk to him when none of my friends would, they were to scared.
We struck up a good friendship and I would stop by and talk to him every time I walked past his garage. We always talked about motorcycles and music. One day he told me he had a pile of old drums sitting in the corner up on a shelf (like I didn't notice).
He let me borrow those drums for a long time, it consisted of three snare drums and an 18" bass drum, all different colors! I cleaned them up and used one snare as a Tom-Tom and another snare as a Floor-Tom, the third and best one I kept as a snare drum. I started my first band with this set and proceeded to lovingly beat the crap out of it.
Well, he showed up at my door one day needing the drums. Back to playing on my old plastic hamper upside down.

I had several paper routes as a kid and that spring I secured a job cutting grass. I was saving all my money to buy a brand-new Tama drum set I saw in the latest catalog at the end of the summer season.
I worked all summer cutting grass and did not get paid in the end, I was very, very upset! My mother knew what happened and was also upset.
I saved all my paper route money and it was insufficient for the new Tama set I dreamed of.
That month I found out that a friend of my brother had a huge pile of used vintage drums and hardware he wanted to sell. I went to go see them, it was a big heap of junk, only to him, not me, I saw the diamond in that rough. He told me I could have it all for $40. That was a huge sum of money to me back then.
When my Mom found out she gave me the difference in funds I was lacking, and I’m sure that she sacrificed buying or paying for something else that month, but to her credit never said so.
I was all to happy to get this pile, those of you who know me know that I love to take things apart and build and restore them, especially drums. That weekend an old friend of mine Pat, that has since passed on, (RIP Brother, and thank you for this) stayed up with me for three days straight listening to Pink Floyd as we cleaned, polished and assembled this pile into a usable drum set. It was mismatched colors of red. Some were sparkle and some were swirl pearl, and it was also different brands, Ludwig, Pearl and Slingerland etc...., I didn't care, I finally had my first real drum set that was all mine!

A year later we moved and I decided that all the drums should match. I spent the next week tearing all the drums down, stripping all the red covering off, sanding them by hand, and applying seven layers of clear-coat.

I played that set for twenty years.

My mom always believed in me and my music, she was always there to help with words of encouragement or when I broke my drumsticks and needed a new pair.
She purchased my first Seth Thomas metronome for my birthday, which I still have. It was and still is the most treasured piece of equipment that I ever owned. It taught me to be a human metronome. I still use it today myself and with my students.
She helped make my dreams come true.

Mom, I want to thank you for everything you did for me growing up and everything you sacrificed to help me with my music and my career, I would not be the man, father, husband, drummer, musician, teacher or student I am today without you and would not have my great love of music or my current career.
Thank you Mom,
I love you, and I will never forget what you did for me! I will call you tonight!

The first drum set you see in the pictures is because of my mother and the one from this story. The second picture is the actual catalog and wallet, and the photo I carried in my wallet for years, ever dreaming. The third picture is, well, I finally got my Tama dream set many years later, albeit in a different color. I still own and perform on them.

Edward Tucker
Fate Up
Studio 3T