Days Like Today

Sometimes they just catch you off-guard. The days, that is. Sometimes I find myself blown away by just how much can be accomplished in one day, how much you can get done in the 16 or 17 hours you're awake. Other times, I can't help but be stopped in my tracks thinking about the cumulative effects of all the previous days that led up to this one.

Like today, for example.

I've been listening to Gregg Bissonette's drumming for almost as long as I've been in love with music. It was sometime in high school that I began to notice his name listed on the linear notes of artists I loved - names like Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani, Larry Carlton, and Richard Marx. He showed up on the Burning for Buddy sessions with almost every other drummer a kid like me wanted to know about and even recorded for a first-time musical artist by the name of Robert Downey, Jr. To this day, he stands as one of my all-time favorite cats to both listen to and emulate; he's definitely one of those guys who's playing and musical philosophy goes through my mind whenever I'm constructing ideas for a song or contemplating how to build the perfect groove.

He's one of those guys.

One of my favorite Bissonette recordings.

So, imagine my surprise when a random check of my Instagram feed today featured none other than Alex G mentioning that he was currently tracking drums for her new record. As I'm sure you can imagine, I gave my friend a little ring on the tele... forthwith.

After explaining to Alex my personal elation at having Gregg be a part of her music and just how incredible it was that she had the opportunity to have one of the world's very best drummers play her stuff - I believe I said (only half-joking... wink wink) something like, "Well, G, if it can't be me..." - I began to marvel at the series of events that had to take place for all of this to happen.

Namely....

- T-Ward had to begin his journey toward musical notoriety via YouTube (and all that entailed... a much longer post in and of itself), 

- Alex's family needed to move to a house practically within walking distance of Tyler's,

- Alex had to summon up the courage to submit a video of herself singing a cover to one of Tyler's talent search competitions (ask her about it sometime... by no means a small feat for her at that point in her life),

- Alex & Tyler had to connect on a level that gave T the impetus to take G under his wing as a pupil of sorts,

- Alex had to put in the work on her own with regards to video production, recording, singing, playing guitar and writing in order to build her own remarkable YouTube presence, 

- The years of dedication had to both be invested and then payoff for her to wind up at a level where making a full-length original album with producer Mikal Blue was a feasible option...

...and then the phone rang. In the middle of my workout, no less.

And there was G, calling me back with Gregg Bissonette on the line. In-between tracking songs, he agreed to call and drop me a line, having been informed, I'm sure, by Alex that I was a huge fan and ecstatic at the idea of getting to play his parts on tour this summer.

And, in-between some heavy breathing (seriously, I was in the middle of some suicide sprints), I got to tell him as much. I got to talk to one of my biggest heroes for about 5 minutes today, explaining (amongst a few other things) that I grew up listening to his drumming and attempting to learn from it, that I am going to feel both thrilled and honored to recreate his parts for G's tour, and that it meant the world to me that he thought enough of my appreciation to talk to me.

Days like today. And all that it took to get here.

If talking to a hero of yours on the phone for 5 minutes doesn't seem like all that big of a deal to you, you're probably right. In the grand scheme of things, it's not. But, it can be a pretty remarkable indicator of how far you've come, how things are going, and where it's all headed.

Sometime today - after I learned Gregg was recording for Alex but before our phone conversation - I shot off an e-mail to my buddy Cobus, explaining how cool it was that he was getting to do a live stream with Gregg Bisonnette tomorrow on DrumChannel. I remarked about how random it was that today, Wednesday, he was tracking with Alex and then tomorrow, Thursday, hanging out with Cobus. This led me to comment something about how wild the journey of coming up in the music world can be. Getting to meet our heroes. Getting to work with incredibly talented people like Alex G. Getting to know other incredibly talented and inspirational people who do what you do, like Cobus.

That's what a 5-mintue phone conversation can bring to mind.

That's what a day like today can mean to  you.

Days like today...