What are session drummers? How much do they cost? Where can you find session drummers in your community? These questions are answered in this article, and they are answered by Kip Allen, session drummer, songwriter, music producer, and Drum Workshop Artist, one of the most trusted names in the Nashville music industry. Call Kip the next time you need a session drummer with some serious chops.
What are session drummers?
Session drummers, like all session players, are usually not members of an established band. Instead, they hire out for individual recordings, gigs, and tours where and when needed. A very common example of this would be a band going out on tour, and somewhere on that tour the band’s drummer comes down with food poisoning, or an appendicitis attack, and cannot play in two or three shows. The band would then call a session drummer they have worked with before, and that session drummer would mee the band, on tour, and fill in for a time.
A session drummer would also be needed by a solo performer who does not have a regular backup band, or in most cases does not use a drummer, instead relying heavily on acoustic music. Perhaps there is one cut on that performers upcoming album which calls for a drummer. A session drummer would then work on that one cut.
How much will you pay for a good session drummer?
The key word in that question is “good.” For sure, in just about any city, you can find a session drummer, but you will pay according to their reputation and abilities. You can pay as little as a couple hundred; you can pay as much as five-or-ten thousand dollars for a tour gig.
How do you find session drummers?
If you are an active member of the music scene in your city, finding any session musician is fairly easy. Word spreads about the good ones. Reputations speak loudly in the music community. And, if you are not an active member in the music scene, it is still a simple matter of calling a local recording studio, or going to a few live gigs and asking the local performers who they would recommend. You will soon find that the same names keep coming up in those discussions.
What are the advantages of hiring session drummers?
The main advantage in hiring a seasoned session musician/drummer is the fact that you are hiring a pro who has been there, done that, and knows what is needed and how to achieve it. The really good ones are adaptable. Session gigs are what they do, and they do it well. The really, really good ones instinctively know what is needed and they know how to achieve it. Yes, they cost extra, but they are worth every penny.
So, the bottom line about session drummers is this: do you want professional quality, or do you want less than professional?
A final word about Kip Allen
Since 2008, Kip Allen, Drum Workshop Artist, has been a trusted name in Nashville, arguably the toughest market for aspiring and established musicians in the United States. If you want the best among Nashville session drummers, pick up the phone and call Kip Allen, the pro pros call when they want nothing short of excellence in a drummer percussionist.
