DRUMANDSTAGE FORUM

Great drummer! Loved him with Joe B in some of those gigs...

tcbetka wrote: Sat Sep 20, 2025 6:04 pm

Great drummer! Loved him with Joe B in some of those gigs...

Did you see my interview with him? One of my favorites.

I think I watched part of it, yeah. I'm sure I will have more time to do that sort of stuff next week though, sitting around recovering from surgery and all...

I did watch the interview with Jost Nickel and Steve Smith though. I commented on the SS one, although my username on YouTube isn't my real name. I've been listening to Steve Smith play Sonor drums since he started with Journey in the late 70s, and he and Bill Gibson (in his early days with Huey Lewis) are really the reason I'm playing Sonor. More so Steve Smith--but I stood at the edge of the stage like 7-8 feet away from BG's Sonor kit back in the early 80s, during sound check, and was BLOWN AWAY by the sound of his kit. I believe they were Signatures back then, but I can't recall. I've seen Steve Smith play in concert a couple of time in my life, but never from less than 10 feet away...lol.

Here's Bill will his black Phonics:

Ah, there you go...they were Phonics. In addition to being an incredible drummer, he's a great guy as well. My friend's band was opening for Huey Lewis and I went along to help move stuff quickly. So my friend and I were hanging around after sound check, just outside the back door of the place right next to the stage door. Neither of us had really seen Sonor drums at all, as this was in the early 80s. So we were both very interested in hearing the drums and talking about them. So we stood outside talking to him for like 20-30 minutes, just talking drums with the guy. Then we were right against the side of the stage when the band played its show. Blew us away!

Man, those were the days...