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Rich Redmond, Veteran musician and longtime drummer with Jason Aldean, hosts “The Rich Redmond Show”, a show highlighting all things music, motivation, and success. Candid conversations with musicians, actors, comedians, authors and thought leaders about their lives and the stories that shaped them.
Unknown: I wrote this story
about William Shatner. I played
for the weirdest band. Was
called Neil Norman's cosmic
orchestras put together by
Paramount Pictures. And we
played all this really eclectic
space 1999 all the theme songs.
And then we would back up the
actors. So all the actors play
guitar, saxophone, sync dance,
something we'd back him up, play
for him. And then Tim Russ, who
played Tuvok on Voyager Star
Trek, I am Tuvok. I am Tuvok.
Dude, that dude's a killer
singer and a great guitar
player. And we were, we were his
band, and we put on this, this
show, and at Star Trek
conventions. It was really
cool all the Trekkies. It was
like the cast of Big Bang
Theory. That was totally,
this is the rich Redmond show.
What's up, folks? Rich Redmond
here? Yes, you're in the right
place, you're in the right
space. We're somewhere in the
matrix. But usually I have my co
host, co producer, longtime
friend, Jim McCarthy, joining me
as well. But today's a solo
show, one on one with my good
pal, Bart Robley joining us from
Southern California. What's
going on? Man,
you know what? Man, I knew I was
coming on your show. So I'm
sitting over here doing my
random accused as I'm going to
talk to rich Redmond, I got to
be able to play the drums.
Look at the blob
over here talking to rich
Redmond, dude. I'm so stoked to
be on your show. Thank you so so
so much. This is,
no, this is, this is a great
thing, you know, we, you know
we, we've been aware of each
other for decades. But finally,
one of the great reasons to join
the percussive Art Society is
all the greatest drummers,
percussionists, educators, pros,
hobbyists that love drum and
percussion. Drums and
percussion. We go to
Indianapolis, Indiana, Indiana
once a year, and we converge,
and so we're up at the Sabian
party, and you and I finally got
the talk in the flesh,
but a year ago, almost,
yeah, almost a year ago, and I
gotta give a shout out to our
mutual friend. JJ, Garcia.
What's up? JJ, dude, everybody
loves JJ. He I think JJ is the
glue that holds the musical
universe together. Yeah, that
dude knows everybody you
know, really does. He's the
ultimate connector, and he's the
ultimate sweetheart. And, you
know, every couple of weeks I
get a hits magazine in my in my
mailbox, and always makes me
think about, JJ, Garcia, what's
up? JJ, yeah,
he I called him the other day. I
was like, Dude, I need the
Pope's number. He's like, no
problem. I'll text it over to
you. He knows everything
He really does. So we got to
kind of kibbitz a little bit,
you know, way high up
overlooking, you know,
Indianapolis. We were just kind
of catching up, and then you had
me on your show. But you know,
if people have had their head in
the sand, they don't know who
you are. I don't know,
understand, hailing from
Littleton, Colorado, been
calling Southern California home
since 1989 that's about 36 years
living in the Inland Empire.
There sunny and 70 you don't
need a WEATHER GIRL. But we like
weather girls because usually
they're very attractive in
Southern California. Um, but you
know what? You know how to keep
a gig, my friend, you've been a
member, the drummer in the SAM
Morrison band for 25 years. I
mean, you guys do clubs,
casinos, fairs, festivals,
always working. You do covers,
you do tributes, you do original
stuff. So we'll get into that.
How you got the gig, how you
kept the gig. And you know,
you're a full time educator.
You're always teaching one on
one, one lessons. You know you
do clinics. We have Sabian
symbols and in common, but also,
you know you're a several time
author, but this is your latest
offering. Drum up your business,
a practical blueprint to
thriving in the music business.
It's step by step, and you can
see there's an acronym there.
People love these acronyms,
determination, relationships,
understanding and mentorship. So
I don't know where to start,
man, but we could start right
there, if you want. This is your
latest offering.
I say we start on page eight,
because look at this handsome
dude right there. Look at that
guy. Oh, thanks for having me in
there, man. You know what? Thank
you so much. Yeah, when, when I,
when you and I were talking in
Indianapolis at Andy Zildjian
party, man, I told you that I
was writing this book and what
it was about, and when I said,
when I said to, yeah, it's an
acronym and determination. And
you just simply said, hey, yeah,
when determination,
determination takes over, when
everything else fails, I was
like, Oh, that's perfect. Can I
use it in the book? And you
said, Yeah. And so, yeah, that's
how, that's how that whole thing
started, yeah.
Well, what an honor, man. I
mean, now you have other books
as well. Take us back. I mean, I
think that you've got School of
Hard Rock. Bucks and you got the
rock and pop and snare drum,
yep, yep. So it all started this
way. It's I, I've always been,
like a lot of our drummer
friends, I have an opinion, and
I want to get it out there, and
I want to get it out there to
help my fellow drummers and my
fellow musicians, right? I want
people to learn from what I've
learned. I want people learn
from my mistakes. They say that,
you know, success is found at
the at the bottom of a pile of
mistakes, right? Sure, and Lord
knows I've made them. So I used
to write for a magazine, way
back in the day. It's like this
little as like a newspaper you'd
see inside a club when you
walked in a rag. They call it a
rag. Yeah, exactly. And it was,
it was called music scene
International, and I did a
double bass column. And it was,
it was archaic. I found a recent
version. I was like, oh my god,
I can't believe this is
horrible. You had a big mane of
hair at the time as well, right?
Tons
of hair, tons Well, I did have
the main Well, I did tease it
out, but I had hair down past my
butt. You know? I had hair nice
and, yeah, but I did that whole
thing, and it just kind of
slowly progressed, and I started
writing for classic drummer
magazine. You remember that one?
Oh, yeah, yeah. So I wrote for
classic drummer and I would do
little articles. Here's how you
play this, here's how you play
this. Here's a Soca groove,
here's a double bass and
whatever. And so I put together,
yeah, school of hard rocks.
That's the first one. This one
right
here. Oh, nice, yeah. And you
sell and you just self publish
right on Amazon or
no, this is on so this one is on
center screen publishing, and
it's distributed by Hal Leonard.
Well, there you got
it. You got to have Hal in the
mix. Same with my book. Yeah,
look at
that. And then same thing with
rock and pop and snare drum.
This one right here. So it's
kind of like a snare drum method
book, but something tells me,
knowing you, it's kind of like
fun, and it's rocking totally.
It's, it's just, it's it. And,
you know what? Here's my thing.
When I wrote my instructional
books, I didn't try to reinvent
the wheel, you know. I mean, if
it hasn't been done with stick
control or syncopation, you
know? I mean, right? So I just
wanted to get my opinion out
there. Again, I just wanted to
be one of the voices that people
could turn to in the drumming
industry and in the music
industry to go, here's how you
do this. Yes, and so that's why
I wrote the books, and how I
wrote the books. And, you know,
just trying to help drummers
out,
if you're listening to this
podcast, it means you're already
looking to improve your
drumming. Why not level it up?
In person with me when you book
a one on one day, drum tenset
drummers from around the world
have traveled to Nashville to
study with me. We cover subjects
like reading, rudiments,
technique, hand development,
charting the Nashville Number
System, styles, percussion,
music, biz, insider info, career
development, positive mindset
and much more. Of course, we
address all your questions, and
my deep curriculum has helped
players of all kinds move the
ball down the field to be closer
to their goals, even getting
accepted to college music
programs, moving to that dream
music town, getting gigs and
keeping them. Find out more
about my one on one day, drum
tensive go to drumtensive.com D,
R, U, m, t, e, n, s, I, V,
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should I
like the fact you call it a
blueprint. You address
determination, you address
relationships, you address
understanding, mentorship, fun
photos of all the adventures
you've had in your life,
practical stories how people can
learn things through your eyes.
And you know, you've got a lot
of experience. You're committed
to education and self
improvement. You've studied with
Greg Bissonette. Ralph Humphrey,
God, rest his soul. Dave
Lombardo, Rob Heskett, I don't
know him. You could tell me
about him. Dom formularo, God,
rest his soul. Robert slack,
what did you get from each of
these guys? And why would why
did you seek each one of these
guys
out? Well, Robert, well, let's
start with Rob Haskett. Rob was
he owned a music store in
downtown Littleton called
crescendo music. Oh, this one,
you're a little guy. I was a
little dude, and he was, I
wanted to. Be in the school
band. And, you know, so my mom
went in, and she goes, Okay, my
son wants to play drums, and he
sells her a practice pad and a
pair of sticks. And I was like,
No, man, I want the big drum
set. You know, I just saw Ronnie
tut from Elvis playing this big
blue thing. That's what I want,
this practice, this Gladstone
pad. I bet you had a Gladstone
pad. I
had a Gladstone pad. And then I
had, remember the it was like
two squares of wood, you know,
they kind of sat on each other
and had one of those and and so
Rob was the first guy, and I had
to play traditional grip and
five stroke rolls and
paradiddles and single stroke
girls and go through the
rudiments. And I was about a
year or more, and he finally
goes, you know, Mrs. Robley, I
think Bart's finally ready for a
snare drum. And so I moved up to
the snare drum and all the way
up. And so he was the first guy
that that kind of taught me
drums that he actually, he's
still around. He teaches in
Colorado. He plays in a bunch of
bands, plays in a church band,
plays in a John Denver tribute
band. They tour.
So he's got to be in his like,
mid 60s or 70s.
Oh, he's he's in his 70s, and
he's still really viable. Matter
of fact, we played Denver was
couple years ago now, we played
in Denver, and we weren't quite
sure logistically, how it was
going to happen, and he was
going to backline because I'm a
Gretsch guy, and he had some
Gretch kits. And he goes, I got
a Gretch kit, I'll let you
borrow. And I ended we ended up
taking our gear out there. We
ended up having a, like, a, you
know, a string of shows. So we
took our stuff. But no, he's
still out there, still viable.
He teaches. He has a studio at
his house called to Cobb Drum
Studios. And just,
he's gotta be proud of you,
right? I mean, I mean, it's
like, it isn't it cool that you
were like the little tyke in the
room, and then now your
colleagues,
right? And you know what was
really cool when I got my
endorsement deal with Gretch The
first year I was at the Gretch
booth. And at the time that ANR
rep was Kim Graham, and I was
standing there talking to her,
and it was, it was the first
time I'd ever been in a catalog,
you know, you get your little
picture in the in the back of
the catalog. Bart, Rob Lee, Sam
Morrison van, and I was just
like everybody had walked by me.
There I am. Look at me. Look at
me. I was totally geeked out. I
made it, you know, totally
geeked out about it. And Rob was
there, and also this guy by the
name of Gary curry. And Gary
used to own a place in Denver
called percussion specialties.
Well, he was the manager. He
didn't own it. He was the
manager there. And he, at the
time, worked for HSS
distribution, right? Sonar,
drum, Sabian cymbals, all this
stuff. Honer, yeah, yeah. Honer,
yeah, yeah. And so we were,
we're all kind of standing
around, and at that point it hit
me. I'm like, wait a second,
these guys who used to be my
teachers. And I was, I was, I
was the dude that would stand
there and stare at the drum sets
going. I want that one. I want
that one so sex. We all were,
you know, look at that one, you
know. And and then now I'm
standing there with them. And
like you said, they're my
colleagues, and they're my
friends. And it was, it was a
good feeling. Isn't that cool?
And because I tell all my
students, I say, you know, look
at if you stay in the business
long enough and you do the right
thing, you follow through.
You're a person of integrity,
character, you know, you
practice you you all of your
heroes become, you know, your
friends, and then the middle of
the night, you know, Carmine
Apoc is like sending you a weird
meme, you know? I mean, you
could, you know what? I mean,
you could text these people. I
mean, it's, it's a cool it's a,
it's a cool thing. And sometimes
it just takes a very, very long
time. Still have yet to meet
Alex Van Halen. Still have yet
to meet, uh, Stuart Copeland,
but the fact that, you know, I
can High Five Carmine, I can
High Five Kenny, I can high I
can hug, especially Greg. You
know, you know about Greg
Bissonette, like dude, he sees
you at a trade show, he will hug
you and and he will not let go
of that embrace. He might hug
you for 10 minutes walking
around the showroom
dude. He is Greg is the shining
example of not just what to be
as a drummer, but what to be as
a person, as a human,
freaking being. Do
you know Chris Brady, yeah,
you're, you're a Remo guy,
right? Yeah, I've been
with Remo since 1994
Okay, so that's about when I got
on with Aquarian. Matter of
fact, Chris and I, joke about
it, I got a picture of us around
here somewhere. I gotta find
it. Roy burns, I gotta. Oh,
yeah. Roy burns, story, man.
Roy, oh,
oh, dude, this is, this wasn't
planned. I have this look. This
is me and Chris. Brady, yeah, 8
billion
years. You guys are wearing your
you guys are wearing your mom
jeans. We are wearing
mom jeans. Man,
who is that ugly girl standing
beside Chris? Anyway? Um, we,
I've been with aquarium longer
than Chris was, but no, Chris is
a dear friend of mine, and and
Chris does a lot of people don't
know this, but Chris is an
incredible drummer, and he's
really good at transcribing
stuff nice, and so he does a lot
of transcriptions for Greg. And
him and Greg are, like, really
tight and, and that's what Chris
says. He's like, man, Greg is
not just a great drummer. He's a
great person, yes, and he, he's
just that dude. He's just, he
makes you feel welcome and and,
well, you know, the the
ultimate, you know, the ultimate
formula for a great clinic is to
entertain,
to teach and make them laugh.
And so, so, so like any great
clinician, you're gonna laugh,
you're gonna learn, and you're
going to be entertained, and
you're definitely going to get
that at a Greg Bissonette
clinic. You'll definitely get
that at a Stanton Moore Clinic,
a Carmine clinic, a Kenny
clinic. So, so that's and I
mean, especially Greg, he's
always, he's got the cat skills,
jokes, and he'll pick up the
trumpet, and you know what? I
mean, he's just always telling
stories, like, like two old guys
in the park. You
know, you gotta ask Brady. I'll
tell it now if you want, but you
gotta ask Brady about the black
page story at a Greg Bissonette
clinic. Oh, yeah, it's
like a I played that in my for
my senior recital. It's like a
coffee can that was spilled all
over a piece of paper. Oh, it's
unbelievable. Well, Greg is
giving a clinic, and he sees
Chris in the back of the room,
and Chris can play the black
page, right? Yeah, and, and
Chris is standing there watching
the clinic, and Greg goes, Hey
everybody. It's, it's Chris
Brady from Aquarium drum heads.
And you should hear this guy
play the black page. Come on up,
Chris. Chris is like, because I
started getting tunnel vision.
It's that scene in poltergeist
where the mom's trying to get
down the hallway, and the
hallway just keeps getting
longer and longer. Right? Right.
My God, amazing. And then, you
know, you gotta, we have to say
something about, I didn't know
Ralph Humphrey very well. I
mean, of course, odd times
specialist, played with Zappa,
taught at MI forever, and then
was kind of like a founding
member of the Los Angeles Music
Academy. Or was it the Los
Angeles College of Music, LACMA?
I believe that's llama, and now
it's Los Angeles College of
Music. Lack them. Yeah, sounds
like a rudiment Slack. So I
didn't know him very well, but
Dom and I were dear friends who
would like, always, like, at any
trade show, we would end up at
some sort of a dinner, and I
would always sit next to him,
and we have our red wine and
stain our teeth and tell
stories, and I would just soak,
soak up his juju, you know,
yeah, yeah, Dom was awesome.
Well, Ralph Humphrey, hands
down, was the best drum teacher
I ever had, and here's why. You
know, I think the sign of a good
drum teacher is when they know
what you need to work on before
you know what you need to work
on, you know. And I went to him
to work on Moeller. I had been
watching Joe, Joe Mayer, Oh,
yeah. And there was the 2005
2005 Modern Drummer festival
days. He's on that video is way
back, and he's doing his Joe Joe
Mara thing, and his hands are
just like water. I'm like, I
gotta learn that. I gotta really
work on that. So I went to
Ralph, and I told him, that's
what I wanted to work on. And 10
minutes into the lesson, he
goes, I'll be right back. And we
were at his house. He had a
little like a pool house, and on
the back of the pool house, he
had converted this room into a
drum room, and and he comes out
with these exercises. And he
goes, here, let's work on these.
And it was molar, but it wasn't
molar. It was kind of, it was,
it was a lot more than that. And
it was a, it was a thing of four
exercises. And I teach it to my
students today, and I still
practice it today. I've turned
I've, I've made clinics out of
it, yeah. And he, he knew this
stuff before I did, and he
really helped me with my groove
and my feel, yeah, and my time,
of course, and and he was just a
real sweetheart of a guy. And
when we got the before we got on
the the podcast, we're talking
about the record deal that I got
where we recorded with Michael
Blum, he really helped me
through that. And he was just a
great dude. And he was he would
sit down and play, and he would
play the simplest of things. And
I'm sure you've run into this
where you just see somebody sits
down, one and three, two and
four, and you're like, how do
you make it sound that good?
Yeah, how do you pull that sound
out of the it's so simple, but I
can't do that. And
he did a lot of TV shows like he
was. On Dancing with the Stars
in the house band before they
went to, like, pre recorded
tracks and stuff.
Yeah, yeah, he was. He told
stories of that too. He said he
had stories about that band and
how good they were. He's the
guy. I'm 99% sure I'm right
about this. So if you Google it
and I'm wrong, I apologize, but
I'm pretty sure I'm right at the
on Star Trek, the theme song.
Okay, that that log drum, that's
Ralph, nice. I how cool to be
like, or say you're like, Hal
Blaine and you know you you were
there. Or you're like,
threes coming same film, Yeah,
same fill, different, different
jingle. But, you know, to be the
A part of the fabric of like
American culture, like that. And
Emil Richards, you know,
probably owned the log drum that
Ralph played on the television
show. And he was so smart,
because he was always the leader
and or contractor of the
percussion section, and then he
made money from renting his
instruments,
renting his gear out, and he and
he did the Cartage for it. You
know, what's crazy is and I, and
it was just kind of weird how it
happened, where I ended up
studying with Ralph, I played
for the weirdest band in the
world. And, matter of fact, I'm
a writer as well, obviously not
just my books, but I blog a lot.
And where's your blogs? Medium,
medium. Oh, you blog on medium,
okay, yeah. And I wrote this
story about William Shatner. I
played for the weirdest band.
Was called Neil Norman's cosmic
orchestras put together by
Paramount Pictures, and we
played all this really eclectic
space, 1999 all the theme songs,
and then we would back up the
actors. So all the actors play
guitar, saxophone, sync, dance,
something. We'd back them up
play for him. And then Tim Russ,
who played Tuvok on Voyager,
Star Trek, I am Tuvok. I am Tuva
dude. That dude's a killer
singer and a great guitar
player. And we were, we were his
band, and we had put on this the
show, and at Star Trek
conventions, it was really
cool all the Trekkies. It was
like the cast of Big Bang
Theory.
It was totally and the first gig
that I did with them. We were in
Denver, and it was bitching,
because it was put together by
Paramount, so there's big
screens and all this Star Trek
stuff's coming down. I want to
watch it, and I can't, because
I'm playing to click and, you
know, reading charts read
totally dude. You know the gig.
So I'm doing the gig, and the
first part of the show is all
this, like, I say real eclectic,
weird theme song music, and
we're just kind of background
music. Well, then the show
starts, and all the people come
in, lights go out. And you know
how it is, lights are in your
eyes, and you can only see,
like, the first two rows of
people, yeah, and I'm playing,
and I'm like, That dude has the
biggest head I've ever seen,
because all I can see is a
silhouette. I'm like, what is
up? You know, he had the mask
on, right? He had on a Star Trek
thing. And I'm like, you know,
some and they all dress up. It
was so cool. And the thing that
I learned from that was, it
doesn't matter what you're into
in life, right? Like, if you're
into collecting thimbles,
there's going to be a convention
of thimble collectors that
gather together to talk about
thimbles. And that's the way the
Star Trek thing was. And it was
a lot of fun. It was a lot of
fun. And anyway, back to the
Ralph Humphrey thing. It's just
cool that I did that, and I got
to and I got to meet Ralph and
work with him, and we talked
about the log drama and talked
about all that stuff. And Neil
actually had asked Ralph to do
the gig, and he was like, Nah,
he didn't want to do it. Neil
Norman. That was a guy, Neil
Norman's cosmic orchestra.
Oh, yeah. Well, see, that's
great. So you can start
somebody, you study with people,
and you know, you get on their
radar, and then before you know
it, you're on their sub list,
which is always a great thing.
You know what? I mean, exactly?
Yeah, totally, totally. And then
what'd you get from DOM? Was
Dom's thing more mental, like,
how to construct clinics and how
to approach your career and
stuff, because you really are. I
mean, the book is definitely
worth picking up, folks right
there. It's an easy to remember
an acronym, but it's like, this
is definitely not rocket
science, but some of the stuff,
none of my books, are rocket
science, either. It's just a
friendly reminder of the things
that that maybe not You're not
really thinking about. Of course
you have to be an expert at your
craft. Of course you have to be
good at your instrument. But
it's all these other things,
like the admin, running your
career, staying in the public
eye, creating relevant content,
joining professional
organizations, going to the
conventions, being seen, all
very
important stuff. All very
important, and that is what I
got from DOM. I took a couple of
lesson Dom and I did a master
class together one time when.
Covid hit. And I had taken a
few, you know, playing things
with him, but it was definitely
more like you say, the mental
game, how to get things going.
And the reason I say we did the
master class together, and throw
that in there, was because that
was probably the biggest lesson
I took with him, like on hand
technique, as I was giving the
lesson, right? And but DOM was,
again, such a positive ball of
energy. And he really kind of
helped you wrap your brain
around the fact that, hey, man,
you can do this. And I remember
when I first threw my hat into
the ring, okay, I'm going to do
clinics. My thinking on it was
totally backwards. I was
thinking, oh my god, I'm going
to do a drum clinic in a room
full of drummers. What the hell
you know? I'm going to be
bleeding out in a shark tank.
But it wasn't that way, and he
helped me get my brain around. I
was like, No. Nobody wants to
see you fail. Everybody wants to
see you succeed. And for some
reason, I said this on a podcast
the other day. I don't know why
it was this way, but for some
reason I had this thing in my
head that Dave weckel is going
to show up at my clinic, right?
I don't know why, but I'm like,
I like, what if Dave weckel
shows up on my clinic? Dom, I
don't know what to do. He goes,
Well, what are you gonna do?
You're gonna out drum weckle.
Nobody can do that. Come on. You
just gotta stay on your he
really helped me get my brain
around. Stay in your lane. Stay
on stay on target. And then, and
then have some wonderful
takeaways. You know, the way,
the way I, and I'm sure you
agree, the way I approach the
drum clinic or the master class,
is it is a special event that
brings the community of like
minded people together. I'm not
a genius, but I've been
fortunate enough to experience
all these great things in life
and give me a perspective, and
I'm going to share those things,
and we're going to laugh, and
we're going to learn, and we're
going to love and we're going to
be entertained. And it's almost
more of like a it's like a one
man show. It's like a small one
man show, if you're an actor and
you're in a black box theater,
and people come out and it's
like, what is this? Oh, my God,
this person just played 15
characters and told me their
life story. So I it's like that.
Yeah, it totally is. It's that's
a great analogy, and that's a
great way to kind of describe
it. It really is. And I, I think
the clinic thing and the master
class thing is, is you're taking
what you do and say, Now, here's
what I do. Take what you do and
pull from it just like any drum
lesson would be. I mean, a one
on one coaching thing or drum
lesson is going to be more, hey,
you know, pull your hand up this
way, turn your hand over, finger
technique, do this that. This is
more of like you say, a one man
show. This is what I've been
able to do. This is what I've
been able to create. And you can
do it too. A matter of fact, one
of my clinics, I have a I'm
sure, like you. I have different
areas that I touch on, yeah, the
master class today to Adams
place, Adams drum room, the
madam drummer. What's up? Adam
Adam, we love you. He's over.
Matter of fact, he's in Europe,
with Europe. Oh, wow. Yeah,
he's, he's our manager. Anyway,
you're kidding me. No, he's
dude. He manages Europe, thin,
Lizzy, Lita
Ford, oh, so, so, like, so
that's his niche. Is the 80s
bands, keeping them, keeping
them working. Like, hey guys, I
got you, I got you a birthday
party. Jeff Bezos, his kid,
they're having a birthday party
and but
the clown goes on before you
guys,
are you cool following the
puppet show? But no, I mean,
that's amazing. That's cool. So
that means, that means he
brushes shoulders with our
friend Bobby rock, who I love.
Bobby rock, dude. I want to have
him on the show, man, dude.
Bobby rock, okay, so yeah, he, I
got invited to Adams birthday
party few months back. And yeah,
everybody was our leader,
forward and windy. Do is great,
man. It was a fantastic Well,
Bobby rock was, he was kind of
the guy that I look to to not
only is he a killer drummer, but
he's a great writer. He's a
columnist. He's written many
books on a lot of different
subjects, yeah. And yeah, just a
great dude,
man. What I got from him was the
Hey, pay attention to what
you're putting in your mouth.
Yep. And maybe also, um, get
some exercise. Kid, you know
what? I mean? Yeah,
yeah. Lift some weights. Lift
some weights. But, yeah, so, um,
so Adam, the clinic that I did,
Adam's thing was, uh, it was a
molar thing, right? It was a
master class on molar. Well,
I've put a whole clinic together
around the Bob. Bigger
recordings, all the RE records
that we did, that's a whole
nother story with the SAM
Morrison come back to that. Come
back. That's what we're talking
about next. That's okay, how we
did those recordings. Because,
man, ever and I'll throw this
out there as the hook, and then
I'll tell how I did it. Every
one of those records that we did
and we've had, matter of fact, I
asked Sam to text me the
numbers, like, in the millions
of streams. Over 40 million
streams on on the Bob Seger
stuff.
Oh, right, dude, that means that
40 million people have heard
your drumming. Bart, right,
right? About that, that's pretty
I know it's really cool. Who are
these people? What countries are
they in? Do they speak the
language, right?
It's incredible. It's totally
cool. And when we did those
recordings, they were well from
the second album through all
these other recordings that I
did with him, and I got those
because I did my job well to
anybody listening, who's a young
drummer, they were cut to click
recordings or cut to click
sessions. Meaning, of course,
you're going to cut to click but
it was me, my transcriptions, a
drum set, and that's it. No
musicians.
You're going for the for the
feel and a tight track that they
could build everything around
100%
there, matter of fact, there
was, I cut. One of my favorite
recordings was a song that was,
wasn't even a big hit for
Seager. We re recorded a song
called Ain't got no money. And
then we did another song called
back in 72 those are my two
favorite recordings that we did
of his, and I recorded those on
Christmas Eve. It was me and me
and Michael, and we're sitting
in up in Sherman Oaks, just
cutting tracks. Man, nobody else
in the studio. This is two of
us.
Was your was your bride upset
that you were working on
Christmas Eve a little bit.
It was the only day that the
studio was available, or was
a crunch? Yeah, that was the
thing. It was one of those
things where he wanted to get it
done, and he goes, Hey, can you
come in? I said, Yes, I can. So
I was there. Always say yes,
always say yes, no matter.
Always say yes, unless it's
someone's life's on the line or
something. Yeah,
right, exactly. Sounds like your
life was on the line, but, but
you guys got past it. You're
still married. That's good. So,
so you know, you're an author,
you're an educator. You're
teaching all the time. These are
great stories, but tell us about
the SAM Morrison band, 25 years.
That's a long run. That's
hallowed ground. Same members.
How did the relationship start?
How'd you get the gig?
Okay, well, I was at the time, I
worked at this place called
Orange County speaker. It was
before I could make a living as
a musician, and I was working
there during the day. I was
playing gigs at night, and I was
teaching. So if I didn't have a
gig or rehearsal, then I was
given lessons. It's always and
in writing, doing my thing, and
Sam came in to get some speakers
repaired. We did like big pa big
PA systems that had just gotten
off to her. We rebuilt them, you
know, and so anyway, Sam brought
some speakers in, and we'd fix
some speakers for him, and we
made fast friends, and he was in
at the time. It was always a SAM
Morrison band, which it still
is. And they were doing country.
They were doing the, like the
90s era country. Lot of Travis
trip, Garth Brooks Clint Black,
yeah, Tracy Lawrence Clint
Black, just came to our show the
other night in Canada. Was
awesome to see him, man, really,
yeah, you know Jack Gavin, yes,
I haven't seen him in a very,
very long time, but he was a,
one of the longest running
drummers for Charlie Daniels,
yeah, and that's Sam's, like,
due north, right? Is Charlie
Daniels band? That's, that's
Sam's thing. Okay? And so
anyway, he, he, he asked me to
sub for him on a couple of gigs.
His drummer couldn't make it, so
I went in and subbed for him.
And I was at the time, I had
been playing hard rock and stuff
forever, so it was a, it was a
big, you know, square peg, round
hole, a big learning curve, and
I just went to work. Fast
forward about a year of that
relationship going on. He calls
me up, and he goes, Hey, man, my
drummer quit, and my guitar
player quit, and I've got a two
week tour of Europe coming up,
and the gigs yours, if you
wanted it. And I was like, let's
go. So I had my passport, I had
everything, and we went off to
Europe, and we played in war
zones. We played during the
Bosnia Croatian war. We played
in Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo,
Dona, Syria, yeah, Sarajevo,
that was the capital of Bosnia,
and we played there,
all right, yeah, it was the
capital of Bosnia, and it
was so risky. It was. Risky. So
this would have been because I
hit those same countries in
those same cities, well, for the
US military, 1998
Yeah, so it was a little bit
after that, because this was
when we were 20 miles from
Parliament, the night that the
military stormed it to get
Milosevic out. And this is no
joke, dude, we were, we were
playing, and you would be,
oh, my god, yeah. It
was nuts. And at one point when
we were in Kosovo, it was really
surreal. We're up on this hill,
and it was dusk, and we you're
staying in the military barracks
and everything, and there was
all these black birds. They
weren't crows or ravens, They
were just these ominous looking
black birds. 1000s of them were
up on a hill. There's a city way
down below, and you could hear
them down there shooting, and I
and and they were like, oh, it's
all small, small arms fire won't
make it up, you know, right.
Anyway, so we played there and
did that whole thing, and did
the whole military were over
there, and then years later,
like that, all those, like those
Toby Keith videos and stuff that
he did for that, where he played
for the military, dude, that's
where we played. That was the
same it was the same place. It
was Eagle base and Bosnia camp,
Bond steel, and Kosovo, all
those places. Wow.
Well, that's a good thing to do,
because those that the soldiers
really appreciated their star
for the for a slice of
Americana, you know, they're
over there, you know, defending
everything, and it's just
totally crazy. Sorry, I'm
somewhat distracted right now.
I'm going to make that not look
so but this is real life stuff,
like waiting for the plumber to
come because, you know, your
bathroom is smelling for some
reason, and you're trying to
figure it out. And the Wi Fi has
given us fits a little bit right
now. It seems like it's slowing
well,
just bathrooms about up, it's
good. And just as a point of
reference, bathrooms, they do
stink from time to time. Just
yeah, this is like some sort of
a that's not human. What is
that, but hopefully we'll, you
know, we'll get to the we'll get
to the bottom of these things.
So, so you're playing, you know?
So what? You know, subbing for
someone, you know, a last minute
job leads to a 25 year
relationship, yeah? Like, so,
like, I'm seeing like, wives and
girlfriends have come and gone.
People have had children,
they're grown. They're out of
the house. Is it the same? Has
it been the same personnel?
No. What happened was, if for
the last, last, like, 10 years,
it's been the same, it's a real
solid unit. Now, the bass
player, and myself and Sam, it's
been, I've been coming up in
September. It'll be 26 years
bass players like 2223 amazing,
you
know. So you finish each other's
sentences, Oh, dude, you're very
comfortable personally and
professionally. Um, you know,
you know what you're getting
into and then. But the thing
that I also like about how you,
you know, you live your life, is
you approach things the same way
that I do, which is like, you're
out on the road. There's 24 hour
day. You're not playing the
entire time. You make good use
of your time. You're writing
your books, you're teaching
lessons. Yep, you know, you're
hitting the gym because, you
know, idle time is the devil's
playground.
Totally. Man, been there, done
that. Man. Don't want to do
that. So I yeah, I teach from
the road, I write from the road
and and, well, like when we were
doing the Bob Seager stuff, I
transcribed all that stuff, you
know, so takes time, yeah, yeah,
but yeah, so well. And then
after we got back from Europe,
when really a lot of personnel
stuff changed, and we went into
just doing, like, our originals
and more southern rock. We still
did some, like, more of the
outlaw country stuff, some of
the Travis tritt, the old
Wayland stuff, you know, stuff
like that, you know, just great
stuff. And then started doing a
lot of almond brothers, lot of
lot of Leonard Skinner 38
special, all that stuff. Yeah,
and we're working out in Vegas,
and we happen to have four or
five Bob Seeger tunes in the
set. And it was one of those
things where Sam, he doesn't try
to sound like Seeger. He just
does that's just, that's what
his voice sounds like, right?
When, when, matter of fact, on
the recordings, when we on the
song, roll me away to me. Still
to this day I listen to it, I'm
like, Oh my God, you sound like
John, Dude, you just nailed it.
It just, it's perfect. So
anyway, we're working out in
Vegas, and we're playing with
this band called Yellow Brick
Road, and they were not a they.
They just did everything. They
it wasn't an Elton John tribute.
That was just the name of the
band. Interesting, yeah, and
like, what? And they were great.
They would, one night, they
would do like, a tribute to
rush, and they would nail it,
and then the next night, we're
doing a tribute to the Beatles,
and they'd nail it, dude. That's
very smart. And it kept, keep
everybody sharp. Totally,
totally. And so Sam, because,
you know, man, we always get, we
get more requests for Seager.
People say, I sound like him.
Why don't we try a tribute
thing? Okay, why not? Let's see
if it sticks to the wall. And we
did, and, man, it stuck. So
there's really, like two bands.
It's two bands, but so and what
we did to kind of keep the
branding is that it's the SAM
Morrison band presents turn the
page. So we get hired either to
do our original stuff, we get
hired to do the Southern rock
stuff, and we get hired to do
the Bob Seger stuff. And the
smart thing about it is, like,
we don't dress up like we don't.
We're not a Beatles man. We
don't need to wear Sergeant
peppers. We just go out there
looking like a rock band, right?
I mean, that's what we do. And
so we'll get hired, we'll go out
and play, and Sam makes this
thing at the end of the show.
He's like, I don't know if you
you know we don't look like
other tribute bands. You've
seen, blah, blah, blah, blah.
We've had movie songs of our own
in movies and TV shows, and
tells the whole story. Well, as
soon as he does that, we get
hired back next time around to
do both shows. Happens all the
time. And so, yeah, we work a
lot, and we're on the road a
lot, and that's
amazing, and it's a really
brilliant business plan. And
does he have an agent, or does
he handle everything himself?
We have both. He handles stuff
himself. And then we have, like,
we have one agency that we work
with out of Arizona, that they
handle everything in Arizona for
us. I mean, we have, we work in
Arizona so much that I seriously
thinking about buying a house.
It's a dry heat. It's a dry
heat. Oh, dude, my sister lives
there. Forget it. No way. I
mean, that's, that's what keeps
me from buying a house. Well,
that's what's really
interesting, is I do like the
desert. I mean, obviously it's
not enjoyable in July and
August, you got to, kind of got
to stay in but you know, if you
lived in Southern California for
36 years. Is it even possible to
think about leaving the palm
trees and this blue skies?
You know? I, there's times I,
you know, you hear all these
people the California Exodus.
Everybody's leaving California
because of politics and this and
that. Well, now you're starting
to hear about how everybody's
like, coming back to California,
you know? Because really, oh
yeah, people are starting to
come back and and, yeah, it's,
it would be tough to move away.
I mean, it's definitely home,
you know? It's definitely, well,
it's
just one of those beautiful
energy points in the universe
where I tell everybody, you
know, you go to a strip mall and
you can, you can get vegan
health food. There's a smoothie
shop, there's a boba tea thing,
there's Indian, there's Mexican,
there's Vietnamese food, all in
the same strip mall. Trip around
the world, you know what I mean?
And it's just this melting pot
of cultures, which really, you
know, lights my fire. I really
enjoy that. So we're kind of
like hitting a little bit
everything, just to show that
the the complete dedication and
versatility you have in your
life. Tell us about the
drummer's Education Connection
deck, yeah, so that was a covid
project. Um, thank you for being
on it, by the way. Thanks for
asking, yeah. Um, drummer's
Education Connection, I was out
for a hike, uh, when covid first
started. I'm like, What are we
gonna do now, you know, and I
got a phone call from chip,
chip, Ritter.
Chip, Ritter now, Chip, now, you
could sum him up as, there's so
many. Obviously, this is not the
only thing he does. But he was
world famous for appearing on
David Letterman, stupid human
tricks as the juggling drummer.
Yep. And I tell you, the thing
is, and he, he'll tell you this
too, like he doesn't teach
juggling to his students. He's
He's a dude. He's a kick ass
drummer. He is a great drummer.
But matter of fact, we used to
do this thing every year at Nam
time, right down the street from
the Anaheim Convention Center.
There was this club and, and we
would have a Nam jam, and we
called it the SAM jam, right?
Sam Morrison fans and everybody
would come and play. We had
everybody come and play and Chip
came down one night. I always
invite all my drummer buddies,
come play, come play, come play,
come play. And, and if we do it
again, I'm going to call you
come play. Yeah, and and so chip
gets there, and, dude, there's
like, rock stars getting up and
playing, right? And they're Oh,
yeah, that's great. That's
great. Chip gets up there,
starts juggling house down, man.
He's just great. He's so good.
So anyway, Chip calls. He says
he wants to do something. He
doesn't know what he wants to
do. And and I go, Okay, well,
let's have a meeting. So we get
on Zoom, much like you and I are
now, and he goes, Hey, you know
Rick stojack down in San Diego?
I'm like, I know Rick. Yeah,
everybody knows Rick. I love
Rick. So we have a meeting. And
he knew Jeremy up in the bay
area, so we had like a weekly
meeting for a month, kind of
brainstorming of what we wanted
to do, what we wanted to call
it, how we wanted to do it. And
then it got to a point where
it's like, well, we can keep
meeting on Zoom every week and
talking about doing it, or we
can just do it. So we started
going live on Facebook, and then
got stream yard and go live to
Facebook and YouTube, and we've
had everybody on we've had Billy
Cobham, we've had David
garibaldi, we've had
Bissonnette, we've had you and,
and then and and, and we've had
people that own a company that,
you know, make drumstick tips,
you know, I mean, just
everything. And we just kind of
geek out on drums.
It's fun. Yeah, yeah. Who
doesn't, who doesn't love that?
And then say, then you turn it
into a audio podcast as well on
Apple podcasts,
yeah, we do an apple podcast,
and it's pretty much everywhere
we do it. We turn it into a an
audio podcast. And then I take,
and I just started doing your
video, I take a do shorts of it,
and put shorts all over YouTube
and Facebook and social media.
Yeah, you know, just do the
normal drummer thing. Hey, look
at me. Look at me. Look at me.
Well,
it's a great thing. I mean, so
Dude, you're checking all the
boxes, man. You're a touring
drummer, you're a recording
drummer, you're an educator,
you're an author, you're a
podcaster. Now, you know, you're
an original band, you're in
tribute bands, you're doing all
of the stuff to keep the lights
on. What's your
favorite drink? My favorite
drink is, is coconut flavored
water? I quit drinking coconut
water seven years ago. Yeah,
yeah. Lacroix, coconut water. I
love
it. Lacroix, Lacroix. I love
that. Coconuts my favorite.
That's, that's the good that's a
good one. That's really good
because it makes you feel like
you're on a tropical vacation.
Totally. Dude. Coconut pie,
Coconut, coconut anything. Dude.
Me too. Coconut milk, coconut
cream pie, real coconut. You
know, you chill it in the, in
the in the refrigerator. It's
like, you're in that Tom Hanks
movie. It's crazy.
Exactly, exactly. No, I actually
quit drinking. I quit drinking.
It's kind of, you know, if you
would ask me what I drink six
years ago, I'd have said, I just
take the top off a bottle of
Jack Daniels. But,
oh, yeah. Like, like Tommy and
and Nikki, yeah, just pass a
bottle of Jack back to each
other. But they were 19 years
old,
right? No, I quit drinking
coming up on seven years ago
now, all right, bro, yeah, and
it was, that was a that was a
journey, and I even wrote a book
about that. Yeah, that's a whole
other So, yeah, that's another
whole published book. That is a
published book, and that is self
that one is self published. That
one, that one is on Amazon, and
that one is called, don't hit
the reset button.
Don't hit the F and reset
button, yeah, okay, that's,
that's an interesting story
there. Well, maybe I'll check
that out. Everyone check that
out. And then, if you had to
choose a pizza, what is it? What
is it?
Okay? You know what? Everybody
asked that question. That's a,
that's a drummer podcast
question. I Oh, I
don't want to be normal, right?
No, no, no, no, no, it really
is. We have to know about this.
So I there's a place in Chicago,
and you probably know the name
of it. What is it? Luminaries.
Luminaries. Okay, everybody in
the band we're playing in
Chicago, everybody in the band's
like, Oh, we got to go to
Illuminati. We got to go. And
I'm like, okay, whatever. Dude,
that's damn good pizza. I love
to cook. Now, if I have a hobby,
my hobby is cooking. I love to
cook. So when we're on the road,
I'm like, we stay in an Airbnb.
I go get food. I cook. I love to
do it
as you're an asset to the
organization,
dude. I love cooking. Love doing
it right and but these guys are
all the way. I want to go here.
They want to go there. Okay,
cool, whatever they and they're
talking about this pizza place.
And everybody loves pizza, but
luminaries in Chicago kicks ass.
And when Todd Zuckerman was on
the deck show, you can go watch
it. The question we always ask
at the end, what's the best
pizza? He said, luminaries. And
watch Dom familiaros episode
too, because he gets crazy about
the pizza I
really love. Would you ever go
as far as putting pineapple on a
pizza or not?
No, see, that's the thing. I
think there's a religion about
that, like, either you have
pineapple or you don't. And
like, the it's like people go to
it's kind of okay. Remember when
you're a kid, there was two
camps. Dollars, either kiss
ruled the world or kiss sucked
and you'd go to blows over it.
Okay? I think it's the same
thing with pineapple on pizza.
It's like, you would know, they,
they people fight over
because you get the acidity, you
know. And it's like a
combination thing, like, I'm not
opposed to it, but as a general
rule, you know, just give me a
beautiful slice of, you know,
New York New Jersey cheese
pizza.
There you go. There you go.
Yeah, and see, that's another
thing, right? New York Pizza
versus Chicago pizza, right?
Yeah, it's a thing.
I like them. I like to fold it.
I want to fold it on the streets
of Manhattan, drip the grease
off there a little bit, you
know. See,
I'm I kind of like that too.
That's the one thing I don't
like about the thick Chicago
stuff. It's like you got to have
a fork, and
you can only have one, one
piece, because it is a mouthful.
Yeah,
it is, it is, it's good. But you
know, you know Fred Fisher? You
ever met him? Not yet. No, okay.
Fred is a guy. He's a drum
teacher, drummer, great dude in
Boise, Idaho. He's been on deck
a few times as a guest host, and
this is a little weird, but I
gotta try it. He said there's a
pizza in Idaho that's covered in
pickles.
Oh, my God, right, yeah. Put it
on the lower part of the to do
list. It's I got it No, though.
Okay, here's one for you. I'm a
peanut butter freak, and
somebody was telling me about a
pizza that they put peanut
butter on it, then red sauce,
and then made the pizza. And I'm
like, uh, but I tried it and it
like I had one piece, yeah, and
it
was, I'll put it on the lower
part of the to do list. Now,
listen, if you had to pick a
favorite dinosaur, oh, yeah,
what would it be Stegosaurus,
triceratops, Diplodocus,
the bartosaurus Rex, dude, the
bartosaurus Rex, yeah. Man, he
has, he holds his drumsticks
like this,
yeah, the bartosaurus Rex.
T Rex's are just very mad at all
times because they have slow
sets little arms. They can't
scratch an itch.
They're pretty pissed. Yeah,
yeah, they're pretty pissed. I'm
pretty pissed. Yeah, I Yeah,
bartosaurus Rex. I got a
bartosaurus Rex. I love that.
Um, now the funny thing is, is
this has been a great
conversation. We We do have some
editing to do on it to make it
cohesive, because there's so
many things going on
here. Your producers gonna hate
me.
I just appreciate you making the
time in your busy schedule,
because you're always playing,
you're always traveling, you're
always teaching, you're always
recording. Everyone can check
out Bart robley.com, it's R, O,
B, L, E, y.com. They want to
check out all your books the
latest, which is drum up your
business, determination,
relationships, understanding
mentorship a practical blueprint
to not surviving but thriving in
the music business. And best way
for people to get this is it an
Amazon
you can get it on Amazon. You
can order direct from my
website. If you want the digital
version, you can go to Hudson
Musik and you can type in Bart
Robley. And both of those are on
Hudson music with our friend Rob
Wallace and Joe Bergamini.
We love Rob. We love Joe and Joe
and and Rob have my Crash Course
success digital offering at
Hudson as well, and it is
selling like cardboard. So
please go check it out, folks,
my you know what? Dude, my book
shipped cardboard. Oh, you know
what I think you and I see. You
know what I can see in the near
future? I see between Crash
Course and drum up your
business. I see a BART Roby rich
Redmond master class thing,
business sponsored by Sabian,
sponsored by Sabian and Adam
Parsons drum room and deck
drummers. Education, connect
drummers. Education Connection
and yeah, all of the above.
Bart,
congratulations on the success
in the music business. Having a
goal, having a dream, realizing
your dreams, having enough
patience and persistent to see
it through. And thanks for
taking all of your wisdom and
things you've learned along the
way and putting it in easily
digestible formats for the
future generation. And I
appreciate your time, man,
dude. I appreciate you and and
seriously, anybody in the
drumming world if you don't, if
you're not aware of rich, well,
then you live under a rock. Rich
is what I say about I said to
this in my live video a minute
ago. I always say that Rick
stojack is a positive energy
hand grenade. He's great to be
around. And if he's a positive
energy hand grenade, then rich.
Redmond is a positive energy
nuclear bomb. I love being
around this guy. Watch the
fallout right when he calls and
my phone rings, I pick it up no
matter what. I'm looking forward
to seeing you in in Indiana at
basic we're gonna have a great
time.
50th anniversary, folks, 50 Oh,
way, really, it's the 50th year.
So if it's a perfect year to
join the percussive Arts
Society, if you haven't joined,
yep,
and we will. Find a we are going
to find a practice pad, and I'm
going to teach you rich Redmond
how to play a flamma, BARDA
diddle, diddle,
flamma, BARDA diddle, flamma,
BARDA diddle, flamma, BARDA
diddle, flam about a diddle fan.
I'm about to you can put it in
odd times.
You can, you can put it in odd
times. But if you get, if you do
the flamma, BARDA diddle,
diddle, it'll stay, it'll stay
in four.
Oh yeah, it cycles over the bar
line. Yeah, it does. I love
that, dude. I appreciate your
value, your friendship. And
everyone check out Bart
robley.com and buy his brand new
book. Drum up your business.
Awesome, man. You are the best.
Thanks, brother. I appreciate
this will come out in about
four Fridays from now, and I'll
let you four Fridays from now. I
love that. This is perfect.
Isn't that
amazing? Thanks for your time,
buddy. I appreciate it, man,
okay, but I'll talk to you. And
yeah, you bet. And to all the
listeners out there, please give
yourself a hand. We appreciate
you. Be sure to subscribe,
share, rate and review. It helps
people find the show. Leave us a
nice, you know, five star rating
and a sweet review. We
appreciate it. And Bart we have
merch now, man, this is really
exciting. If you go to the rich
Redmond show.com you enter the
code, fall 25 for 25% off hats
and koozies and baseball jerseys
and hoodies and beanies and the
iconic coffee
mug. Oh, dude, I need a rich
Redmond coffee mug. I need to
send you one. Yeah, you said
something about what's my
favorite drink, other than
coconut? What caught dude, I
love Starbucks. I don't know
what the hell they do to their
coffee.
They burn it. And we love it. I
did.
Yeah, we love it. It's part of
my you know what? It's great for
travelers, because you and I,
everything changes every day,
but the one thing that is
consistent is the
bucks. Yes, baby, I love it,
buddy. Thanks again,
man. Have a great day. I
appreciate your time.
Thank you, brother. I'll talk to
you.
This has been the rich Redmond
show. Subscribe, rate and follow
along at rich redmond.com,
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