No Fightin': The Red Devils, Lester Butler & California blues, rock and roots music

Bill Bateman is featured in the May/June 2010 issue of Drumhead magazine, mostly talking about the craft of drum building. Bateman began building kits for his own Bateman Drum Company a few years ago, and he talks, in detail, with Drumhead about the why and how:

“I noticed that some of the drum companies have made choices in their production that aren’t geared towards a better instrument, but rather are a by-product of mass production. Some companies are good. Gretsch still does it the old 1940s way, which is great. Ludwig is kind of imitating what they used to do, but they have all butt joints. They didn’t have butt joints in the old days.”

Bateman is revealed as a true drum gearhead, with an astounding knowledge of styles and companies. He even talks at length about studying Civil War-era snare drums, eventually building two rope-tension snares in the 19th-century style, according to Drumhead. Much of the article is about how he and his brother-in-law experimented with making wood shells. But Bateman always keeps the player in mind, even when selecting hardware (which he gets from old drums): “All of that double-braced hardware isn’t going to fit into the back of your Toyota,” Bateman told the magazine. “Even if it did, your back would be pissed at you the next day.”

What are the odds of you getting a Bateman Drum Company set? Not so great, according to an interview in the August 2008 Blasters newsletter American Music:

AM: Are you still making drums for sale through the Bateman drum company?
BB: Yes, I’ve made 8 sets, but I just can’t part with them. I have a customer in Finland who has to have a Bateman drum set at whatever cost. The drums are worth more than money to me. I don’t really like to let them out of my possession.

The article wraps up with three Bateman gig anecdotes; nothing about The Red Devils, but certainly some good road stories about The Blasters dodging beer bottles thrown by angry Queen fans, bleeding all over his white marine pearl 1951 Slingerlands, and hopping on stage behind Eric Clapton when God’s drummer bonked his head.

Rare to read magazine articles on any of these guys, so be sure to run out and check out Drumhead, on stands now.

This entry was posted on June 6, 2010 at 7:33 pm and is filed under bill bateman with tags blasters, blues, drums, red devils. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.