Yeah, its true, I did in fact play drums the other night.
I got a wild hair about it after watching Homer Henderson on youtube. Seemed like a great idea. And so "hmmm", I thought, "could you combine that idea with the Black Keys or the White Stripes and really strip it down?"
The answer is yes- with help from Mike Oxley on bass we played an hour or so as the worlds only 2-man trio. I rigged the drums up so I could play with my feet, play the guitar and sing. It was pretty primal and of course not as sophisticated as having a real drummer.
You do learn something doing a gig like that, and its something that a drummer or a guitar player alone don't always'get'- that's that a good groove is a mix of the right amount of each instrument in the right place. And in putting together the material for this gig we had to be really careful to find ways to use the instruments to make things rhythmically interesting where EACH instrument (including the vocals) is really a member of the rhythm section.
Oh, this was a great workout. I'm thinking of setting up an aerobics class like this; sing and play drums. Cool, huh?
But in the end it was fun enough that we'll do it again at the Moorings on December 9th. The Malpaso Gang will open the show. Mark your diaries- it's my last show in Aberdeen.
