Lots of drummers sing… backup. Not many sing lead. Maybe. A song or two (I would be one of those, currently) but not lead the band.
There are the exceptions. Gil Moore of Triumph, Phil Collins, Sheila E, Leon Helm of The Band, even Karen Carpenter (it’s true look it up) come to mind. But is that because there are only a few drummers that can sing (and play), or is there something about the audience that needs the drummer in the back and the vocalist out front?
Who set up that format of a modern ‘band’? Who made the rule that the drummer has to be all the way in the back? I get it, the most visually physical player, who can’t jump up and move around… Put them in the back…
Was it a volume thing? Back from the big band era with guys like Gene Krupa? Nope, if the drummer was the leader of the band, their kit would be front and center. Sometimes directly in front of a horn section. I think of Sonny Greer, Buddy Rich, Chick Webb, Kenny Clark. All of those guys were about as “out in front” as you could get, with another dozen or more players on the stage. But they didn’t sing.
When the singer came out, even for those big bands, they separated themselves from the group. They we’re out in front. Closer to the audience. Not part of the band. The band was backing them.
Is that where our current ‘modern band’ format came from? I think mainly of a rock group, drums in the back, guitar on one side, bass player on the other, and vocalist out front. Even in a power trio, the drummer is normally in the back so that the other players could walk in front, keeping the drummer in their place… as a back up to the rest of the band.
Do I know every band? Every format? Nope. Agreed, I come from a limited scope and experience. But I can’t think of where the drummer was front and center, the singer, the leader of the band. At least not in recent times.
Do I have some angst? Nope. Except for having to be the first person at the gig so that everyone can set up after and in front of me… But I don’t have a problem with it. I am only asking the question, why aren’t there more bands where the drummer is that ‘Lead’ vocalist? Why isn’t there more popular groups where the drummer is the ‘leader’ of the band?
I am sure that it is not because there aren’t drummers who aren’t capable. I have always heard it is a perception thing. Promoters and managers would tell me that people have a hard time connecting to the drummer because there is already a barrier between the drummer and the audience.
There is some validity to that. We need to connect. We need to communicate. Hopefully, the lead vocalist does that. If not, I don’t really want to see that band! But maybe we, as drummers, need to step up our game. We need to connect more with the audience, communicate more. Maybe we should set up our kits to be more available, more open. Invite people into the song, make the eye contact, work at connecting like a true leader of a group should. Then maybe you might see more drummers leading the band, leading the song, out in front (where we belong).
Just a thought. Let me know what you think. Please like or share. Thanks!!
Play with passion, sing with heart
