*Big Sid painting and other famous drummer caricature paintings by Michael Haslam available as prints and swag at FineArtAmerica.com
*Thanks to all who responded to my request for a site developer for DrumSellers.com. Especially to my friend, Aaron Rochotte of Nashvile, who recommended Patrick Adams’s company, Patch Digital Media, in Columbia TN. I have hired Patrick, who is also a musician by the way, and we had a great face to face meeting last Monday. I am still in need of volunteers to help digitize old content on the Not So Modern Drummer site. If you know how to cut and paste, and scan then you have all the skill needed for this project.
*The death of 50 year old Taylor Hawkins last week stunned the world of drummers. Why was he so immensely popular and admired by drummers the world over? Besides the fact that he was a great rock drummer and in a really cool band, I think drummers everywhere saw a bit of themselves in Taylor; the gangly limbed friend with the big goofy smile who “made it” in a famous band; the guy who enjoyed every second of playing and singing on stage and couldn’t help but wear his joy on his face, and the dedication to the instrument and the music. It was a shame to see him go the way he did. I went through a bout of drug dependency as a young man and can understand how hard it is to get out of. The lesson to be learned there is “there are no old drug addict drummers”. They tend to die young. You can either choose drums or drugs, but not both. But his record will show that his life was not “about” drugs, but about great music and great drumming and that he lived that part of it to the fullest. What mark did he leave? He inspired other drummers. Many thousands of them.
Thanks, George Lawrence