I wrote this five years ago as a part of my “Life’s Little Drumming Lessons” book.
I was hesitant to write this article for several years because I was still betwixt and between “growing older” and “old”. It is a subject that most drummers want to put off thinking about until later, sometimes until it’s too late. I didn’t want to talk about it publicly because I thought it would deter people from hiring this “old guy”. I have always had a young appearance and people still guess my age as being ten to twenty years younger than I am. There is the issue of “agism” that affects our ability to work as older drummers. But I am no longer in what I call “hustle” mode. I decided within the last year to “own my age” and be pro-active about how to live life as an aging drummer. My mission has always been to help other drummers and this fits the mission. I hope this article help drummers deal with some of the inherent problems that older drummers experience.
I am 10 months into the age of 66 at this writing. I decided to take my social security check early at age 62. But I don’t consider myself retired now, other than that I don’t do long travel gigs anymore. Forty years on the road was enough and it took its toll on my health and my marriages. I still play a minimum of five gigs a weekend, and work at my Not So Modern Drummer and DrumSellers.com businesses. I also teach at Memphis Drum Shop. I have always wanted to finish this saying for a t shirt –“Old drummers never retire, they just ________”
Drumming is such a strenuous physical activity. It will take its toll on our bodies and our health if we don’t stay in shape and eat right, especially in our sixties. No wonder so many famous older rock bands trade their original drummer for a younger guy. We tend to get worn out earlier than other musicians. I have found lately that my endurance is not what it used to be and those drum cases get heavier every day. I feel extremely fortunate that I have not had arthritis or major joint issues yet. (update; I now have debilitating arthritis in my ankles. I take steroid shots. They hurt like hell for ten seconds, then three months of relief). I also have a handicap car placard for those days when it hurts to walk). I do have ongoing health issues that have affected my ability to work. I have to steer clear of very long and exhausting gigs, because if I overdo it and become exhausted, I get sick usually from chronic bronchitis which has put me on the couch for two weeks to three months at a time. I also have had bad feet all my life. I was born with club feet. I had multiple surgeries to correct them when I was a young child in the fifties. I had to wear corrective shoes until I was ten years old. No tennis shoes allowed. It has limited my ability to exercise and to even walk at times. Right now I have to deal with plantar fasciitis a lot. I’m still surprised that I’ve had a fast bass drum foot all my life.
Age-ism. There is a form of bigotry and bias that is too common in the music business. I have literally had people not hire me because they considered me too old, even if I could play rings around the guy they hired. Also, musicians sometimes get hired for their “look” as well as their ability. It’s part of the entertainment side of the business (If I had wanted to be an “entertainer” I would have gone to clown school not music school). You might not get chosen at audition because of your lack of hair and tattoos or your obvious wrinkles and other senior physical attributes. It’s very easy to sit back and complain and blame, though. To be pro-active we seniors must be more selective about what kind of gigs and music we go for in the first place. It’s probably going to make more sense for a drummer in his sixties or even seventies to look for a classic rock or tribute band, or a piano jazz trio in a club instead of trying to land a touring gig with a young country or rock artist. Another aspect of owning your age is your appearance. If you try to dress too young or color your gray hair jet black to “fit in”, I’m sorry, but you’re going to come off looking like Gene Simmons from Kiss. Don’t think you are fooling anyone. Own your age. Don’t try to hide it. Balding? Either own it or cut it off and be a beautiful baldy. Right now I’m sporting a grey goatee and a nearly full head of brown hair (good genes).
(Update; now, at 71 I have cut back to two or three gigs a month. It usually takes me a day or two to recover physically from the hauling of drum cases, the travel, the late hours of the gigs, and just the physical exertion of playing. I still enjoy playing but, like Bill Bruford said, “I’ve lost some of my fluidity”. Fortunately I was recently hired by a band that plays only two to three dates a month on average, and they help me load in and load out. After five rotator cuff tears, that is a blessing. They play classic rock/modern country/pop and the music is not physically demanding drum wise. I still teach about 10 to fifteen students a week at Memphis Drum Shop and, obviously, still write/edit/publish Not So Modern Magazine. I sold DrumSellers.com recently. So, I’m trying to grow older gracefully. I believe that doing what I love for a living, playing drums, has kept me young physically and mentally).