“Not only did we get a very talented drummer, we also retained the free services of a soothsayer.”

My son Nathan is in a new band and I must admit they’re pretty talented.  This is a story about their recent experience in hiring a drummer.

The drummer they had previously was very talented but he was forced to leave the band before their first gig when his parents pressured him into returning to college to finish his degree.

They had auditioned several people before Harland walked into the room.  The studio where they practiced was actually a converted garage beneath their rented home on the outskirts here in Cincinnati.

Here’s what Nathan told me:  “One afternoon while the guys and I were rehearsing, we heard a knock on the door, and in walks Harland, about six feet four, very thin, with rumpled clothes and flip-flops.

“Without saying much except to tell us his name, he casually walked over to the drum set, picked up the sticks and said ‘OK, you play, I’ll follow.’  We kind of looked at each other and then said to him, look, we’d like to talk to you, get to know you a bit, tell you what kind of music we like to play and what we’re looking for in a drummer.

“He just shook his head and said, ‘Hey, man, just play something, I’ll figure it out.’  Well, we started to play and he fit in like a glove from the first note.  He knew more about our style than we knew about our style.  We couldn’t believe it.

“He said he could tell the moment we opened the door exactly who we were, what we liked, and how we played.  There was no way he could have heard us before because we were a brand new band.

“Harland then told us things about our parents, prior experiences, etc. that were right on the money.  We were flabbergasted.  There was no way he could have learned these facts beforehand.  So not only did we get a very talented drummer, we also retained the free services of a soothsayer.”

B. Hamilton
Cincinnati, OH