This is a story I bet many of you can relate to. Have you ever had one of those "not-all-that-you-expected," "almost-lame," "less-epic-that-it-should’ve-been" kind of gig? This exact scenario happened to me recently, but the sleepy, less-than-epic night was redeemed by something unexpected at the very end of the show.

On a rainy, winter night in Georgia, I was playing a cover gig with three other musicians. We were playing for three hours at a nearby restaurant that’s often packed with a late dinner crowd (who are often generous with their tips for the band). The thought of a bustling crowd tossing twenties and fifties into the jar is always exciting. Unfortunately, someone had forgotten to bring the container we normally used for tips. That was a little discouraging, but we started playing anyways, hoping to maybe rig something before the second set.

We soon realized, however, that our lack of a tip jar didn’t matter anyway. There was hardly anyone in the...

In my 12 years of playing the drums, I’ve had to work on a lot of things. Whether it was technique, coordination, timing, or any of those essential basics, I’ve had to do lots of practicing.

But when I started to go beyond those things and ask questions like “what’s the key to recording well?” or “what’s the key to playing the right parts?”, simply practicing was no longer the answer. This is where some additional strategies had to come into play...

The thing that helped me grow the most musically as a drummer was hearing recordings of myself playing with a band. The first time I ever heard such a recording of myself, I instantly knew everything I was doing wrong. I was hearing sections in a song where I knew that groove wasn’t quite right, that fill wasn’t the best fill, and I shouldn’t have gone to open hats at that spot in the song yet. More importantly, I was hearing what I sounded like in...

A few years ago I played a gig that reminded me of the importance of listening.

This scenario really solidified for me the fact that you CAN survive a night of songs you’ve never heard…as long as you use your ears. Even if you haven’t had the chance to practice, rehearse, or even meet the guys you’re playing with, you CAN hang in there and nail the songs when you focus all your attention on listening.

I’d had this gig on my calendar for a month or so, and I knew ahead of time I was subbing for a drummer in a local blues band. The band leader attempted to schedule several rehearsals leading up to the gig, but nothing ever worked out with everyone’s schedule. I knew we’d be playing for 4 hours late Friday night, so there’d have to be at least 50 songs on the setlist. Most of them would probably be pretty typical 12-bar blues, but who knew if there might be breaks or key spots in the songs I’d have no idea...

We’ve all had those days where we sit down to play, and nothing feels right. The groove we practiced the other day just won’t come together, and the fills we practiced end up sloppy. Nothing FEELS right, and we’re not comfortable playing for some reason. Something’s clearly wrong…but what is it? Let’s dig into this a little more and see if we can find some possible solutions.

• #1: You may have just set up your kit weird. What I mean by this is that maybe your snare is too low, or your hats are too high. Maybe your kick drum is too close…or too far away. Maybe you’re having to lean in too far because the snare and hihat are too far away. Any number of weird little setup issues can cause enough discomfort to give you a bad day at the drums. Take the time to evaluate your setup, and video yourself playing if possible. Play around with adjusting different elements of your kit, because you might suddenly...