This is my friend Brian.
He runs a drumline program for kids in his town.
As long as they show up and practice, being in the drumline is free.
Brian is cool.
The end.
Brian and I found each other on Facebook a few years back, when he grabbed a video of mine (an early rendition of my song “Count To Four”) and shared it with his drum students. He explained that he didn’t know who this was, but that the combination of singing and Rudimental chopping was proof that rudimental drumming could be an art form. I was flattered, and reached out. We became friends and ever since I’ve followed his adventures as an independent drumline instructor.
Brian founded Bay Ratz in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi about nine years ago, and the group became a fixture in the town. An introductory group called the Mice gives younger players their start in drumming. And as long as the kids practice and show up regularly, they can be in the Bay Ratz for free, with all instruments and instruction provided by Brian and his tiny nonprofit. It fit my vision of a totally grassroots program that heartened back to my time in drum corps, and I became a supporter of Brian and his vision.
Periodically, I gather up a stack of used drum pads found for free or cheap, and ship them to Brian so that new incoming members have something to practice on. I’ve been doing this for about four years now, and he’s taken to calling me the Drum Pad Fairy Godmother of the Bay Ratz. One year, he and his wife sent me a Mardi Gras gift box filled with beads and a Bay Ratz t-shirt.
There was a hiatus during the pandemic but now the group is back at it, rehearsing and performing around town. And I am gathering more pads and sticks for their kids, many of whom cannot afford to buy their own.
A group like this would have a tough time getting off the ground in Portland; it’s too liberal and independent a city and most inner city drummers here would rather just bang on a drum kit than take time to learn rudiments and march in parades. And I’m getting too creaky to create something like that here anyway. So I’m happy to support Brian and the Bay Ratz from afar.
If you have an old drum practice you don’t use anymore, please consider donating it to a youth music group where you live. Pads and sticks cost money, and a lot of these smaller groups literally run on a shoestring. Any help they can get helps a kid who wants to learn to make music, and that’s a very good thing.
Or, if you prefer, send it to Brian for his growing drumline. Reach out to him at the Bay Ratz FB Page.
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