067 – Eddie Bayers: Studio Legend, Drumming on Over 300 Gold & Platinum Records, ACM Drummer of the Year 14 Times

Establishing himself in Nashville as one of the top studio drummers, Eddie Bayers has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Vince Gill, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Bob Seger, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Uncle Kracker and the list goes on and on. Playing on hundreds of gold and platinum albums and numerous movie soundtracks, Eddie has received the Academy of Country Music Drummer of the Year Award 14 times (11 times in a row). He was put into the Honor Roll for Modern Drummer Magazine for winning the readers poll 5 years consecutively. DRUM Magazine named Eddie one of the Top Ten Session Drummers Of All Time.

Trained as a classical pianist, it was during his college years in California that his musical interests took a turn. Eddie began jamming with local musicians, including Jerry Garcia and Tom and John Fogerty (of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame) and through Tom he became involved with studio work. Soon, he began hearing good reports about the Nashville music community.

After moving to Nashville, he auditioned at a club as a piano player in 1973, and the drummer for the quartet was none other than the infamous Larrie Londin. Larrie inspired Eddie to play drums professionally.

Eddie is Nashville’s first-call session drummer and certainly one of the busiest musicians in the world. His calendar is booked months in advance to provide the beat behind country music’s biggest stars, as well as pop icons like Mark Knopfler, Lyle Lovett and Sting.

Eddie endorses these companies: Zildjian, Sakae drums, Remo, Peavey, Sure and Metro phones

In this Podcast, Eddie talks about:

Being on the “list”

Knowing your musical history, genres

Keying in to different instruments, not the click to determine feel

How songs get on the radio

Eddie transitioning from piano to drums

His many accolades and awards

Why he plays open handed

Recording in the age of triggering

Recording with John Fogerty

The power of major labels

Recording 6 songs in a 3 hour session