I guess I first started playing drums in my parents living room and in the junior high school "dance band" around 1957. The first rock group I played with was in my senior year of high school, 1960.

1963 to present (with a three year lay-off back in the 70's.)

51 years! Whodathunkit!

John

I feel like I have no business even posting here, as you guys have been playing longer than I've been alive.

I started at 6, I'm 41 now...so I've only been playing for 35 years. I'm just a newbie...and STILL have the world's worst double stroke roll!

Started off fairly young with a plastic Majestic snare drum and an old metal lamp shade playing to Surfer girl, so it must have been '62 or '63 and I would have been 10 or 11 years old. First full drum set in the summer of '67 (MIJ). Played in a three man rock band through high school - dances and the like, then college and marriage and kids and houses and house restorations trying to get a leg up. Started back in slowly at 38 years of age. Went through a couple of rough bands, an original tunes band, some more cover bands and then bands on overseas jobs in Egypt and now KSA. Hadn't played for 10 years until I got back in again in February this year. Off and on for a fairly long time, but 99 and 44/100th% recreational. Probably haven't earned more than a couple thou in all those years, but have had a tremendous amount of fun and camaraderie.

I have learned over the years to truly appreciate good drumming, having always appreciated music, and I've been fortunate enough to see some of the renowned ones and some that nobody knows to this day. Even in the latter catagory, there are some fine drummers out there. One guy I knew when he was playing clubs for $25 a night in northern MA is Tom Hambridge. Of late he is a Grammy award winning producer for Buddy Guys' work. Tremendous drummer too and a rock on timing as good as I've ever witnessed.

Started playing at age 11 in 1965. Just turned 60 last month. Wow, 49 years! My first snare drum was a Slingerland that my parents rented from Wallach's Music City in West Covina. After the 3 month rental, they bought me a MIJ snare drum from Sears, complete with a 10" brass cymbal. At 11 years old, I couldn't tell the difference between the Slingerland and MIJ! LOL!! I would play the MIJ in the living room, with a white hassock turned over to replicate a bass drum... even though I couldn't play it! Put on Beach Boys albums on the stereo console and learned the "surfer beat"! Too much fun!

Mark

ID4F - Talk about similar beginnings! Good grief, I love the hassock tale. I thought you guys in CA were all on the waves back then and wouldn't have had time for anything else. (Now I'm LOL). I recall having a 16" cymbal from Sears, and guess what, it had a good sound.

I started playing at the age of 7 playing drums in 1959. By the time I was 13 was doing gigs with what we called bands of young kids of that era. I thank Henry Adler That took me under his wing and thought me the art of drumming in his small shop on 46th st in New York. There I learn quite a lot of technical drumming. Later I when into the Latin field and remained there for most of my career. haha Today I am 61 and retire from the business do due injury's suffered. But I can't complain I had a great run and traveled all over. Here is a photo taken 20 years ago with the Joe Quijano Band one of the 60-80 top Latin Bands. I am 4th from Left to Right.

cuquito717, that is a GOOD LOOKING GROUP! Would have loved to hear your music.

Fifty years come this summer! The amazing thing though is the original guitar player that I started with is still with me. We've both been through a lot of different line-ups but, somehow we stuck together through half a century! Jeez, the guy even married my ex-wife!

Brian