Old Friends, New Drums

I recently commissioned Johnny Craviotto to build a new snare for me...something very warm but with enough projection to get over the volume our band plays at...and when he agreed to do it exactly as I asked, I let him be until the job was finished. He called a couple of weeks ago and said the drum was ready and that he was gonna deliver it to me in-person before my gig in Santa Cruz. He was true to his word and when he arrived at the theater, an old and mutual friend of both of ours was there to meet us...Dave Patrick. Johnny and I were elated."Big Dave" (as he's known) ran a drum shop in Memphis when I was just starting out and in addition to being a completely kind, loving soul, Dave may have also been one of the first to ever sell a pair of drumsticks to my dad (for me, of course). I remember visiting his shop when I was very young and listening to he and Dad converse about the trials of the music business and the feeling was most encouraging to my young ears. Anyhow, Dave left Memphis and bringing those loving vibes with him, came out to California many years ago to continue in the drumming community and has had much success. He'd worked alongside Johnny in his early days of drum building but they'd not seen one another for several years, so the three of us, along with Dave's lovely wife, had a nice chat before I had to go to sound check. It was a great time, full of memories, healing and laughter. These are some of the nicest folks on the planet and I'm one lucky dude.Oh, the drum?And in case you're unaware, Johnny Craviotto is one of the greatest drum builder's around.