Rhythm Makers: The Drumming Legends of Nashville in Their Own Words

Drummer Artimisi's (music, Winston Salem State Univ.) interviews with some top timekeepers of country music will please a select audience. The author's interview skills are fine, allowing a conversational style that imparts personal information, playing techniques, and a little industry gossip. There might be too much discussion of drum size and rhythm signatures here, but Artimisi also heaps much-deserved praise on musicians who rarely taste the glory. Jerry Kroon got his start playing in South Dakota cover bands and has provided the backbeat for George Jones, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and dozens of others; Kenny Malone mastered a form of hand drumming that's played so well over the years; Eddie Bayers has been voted drummer of the year 13 times by the Academy of Country Music. These guys are legends, even if most people singing along to Jason Aldean's singles couldn't pick them out of a line at McDonald's. While this book probably won't change its subjects' profiles, it at least honors them with the respect they deserve while sharing some of what makes these drummers so darn good.