I can still play, so it's all good.

Dear readers: You may have noticed things going a little quiet here of late, so here's a little update, in fits and starts:

1. I was diagnosed, after a few months of difficulty, with Long Covid. I'll spare you the details, except to say that right now I am unable to work. I have a referral coming to get me into Portland's only Long Covid Clinic, and hope I will get some relief there. PSA: If you had Covid and your symptoms are lingering or reappearing, talk to your doctor asap.

2. I can still play drums, as long as I sit in one place. So every day I spend some good, productive and healing time chopping on a practice pad. Right now, it's more meditative than goal-oriented, and that's okay. I will share some of my Pad Music on Facebook from time to time. Here's my most recent.

3. I am preparing for another Industry Interview, this one with Brian Keithly of Ingrained Instruments, a custom and semi-custom stick maker creating some really beautiful drumsticks from ordinary and exotic hardwoods. He's been expanding his workshop and also creating a new web site, which is still in process. But you can check out his Facebook page and get a sense of why I wanted to interview him. Hopefully gonna happen in the next 2-3 weeks or so.

4. Because of the whole Long Covid thing, a great many of my warmer-weather goals have been put on hold for the time being, including rejoining the Unpresidented Brass Band. Rehearsals would be too much for me right now, and they understand that. Still, I have a little marching snare drum all set to go (that sweet little 13 x 11 tom that Kaleb at WestCraft Drums converted for me), and chopping daily on my pad has definitely brought some improvement.
Kaleb has also created a floor tom (from another 13 x 9 rack tom) to complete my drum kit. I'll show that off in a future post when I can set it up here in my studio.

5. I continue to research and study old, vintage practice pads. Here's one I recently acquired:

This pad which dates from probably the late 40s or early 50s is branded "Down-Beat". I don't think there's any connection to Ludwig's "Downbeat" drum kits, but I'm investigating that anyway. It's gorgeous and the rubber is still in good shape.

 

This may be a hard one to research but stay tuned. I think it's gorgeous and I'm glad to have it.

6. In order to make space for the things that matter in my studio, I have slowly been letting go of most of my more modern, marching-specific pads. They don't hold my interest as much and they take up a fair amount of shelf space. If you have a modern pad you're looking for, I may have it here, so feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading.
Happy chopping.