bobbalou drum demo.mp3
History
My earliest memory ever is seeing my first drum kit on Christmas morning as a child at the age of 11. It was a pretty blue sparkle finish made by Whirlpool. They were the makers of washing machines so as you can imagine the drums were "at best" a toy. I sat next to our console stereo and listened carefully to the drums in the song "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones on my 45 record. I'd scrape the needle over and over back to the start of the song until I figured it out then gathered mom and dad to listen to me play to the recording. I think I hit the snare drum on 2 and 4 and not much else.
My love for drumming continued into high school. I'd sit in class and tap my feet under my desk
(quietly) until the muscles just above the front side of my ankles began to burn. I'd try to make it burn for the
entire hour. My weekends as a high school kid were spent
traveling to high schools around Michigan playing their dance night with my rock band called Five Star. We had a management agency out of Lansing, Michigan called Sid Aurtha that booked us. If i wasn't doing that I'd be performing with the High school Jazz Band at a local charity, pep rally or for other schools. I'd stay up late to watch Don Kershner's TV show called "In
Concert". My eyes would be glued to bands such as Grand Funk or some other cool bands like
Foghat. I wouldn't miss a thing. We couldn't record shows at
that time so I had to watch very intently to learn as much as I could.
Shortly
after high school my drumming took me to several states before I
returned to Boston to study at Berklee College of music. I'd
set up my practice kit in one of those little glassed in
practice booths on the 7th floor and play so long I'd find myself sleeping on the
floor...I'd wake up and play some more. I love the Berklee experience
and the city of Boston. There was an old German professor that would take me up to his office
after our 9am class and we'd talk about how to make my playing unique. He'd pour shots of whiskey and try to get me to share in the drink. He
said he saw something special in me but made it clear that natural
ability is good but it takes lots of practice and dedication to take my
playing to the next level.
Back in Detroit, Jim Barry, one of my favorite locaI song writing/guitar player/singer's band (Tantrum) broke up. The singer Dave went on to play with a band called "The Look" and Jim and I started on some original songs. Under aged, I used to sneak into the 300 Bowl to see Jim play and I'd tell my friend Brian "someday I'm going to be in a band with that guy." Punch Andrews (Bob Segar management) and his partner Bill Blackwell gave us tons of support so we went into his studio and recorded a set of original songs. We then brought in Steve Karl and Jim Slater to round out the rest of the band and we called ourselves "The Exceptions". Sadly, Steve and Jim lost their lives to the partying lifestyle. Because of our originals and Punch's support we were fortunate to play a lot of concerts
as a warm up band for national acts such as Billy Idol, Gary Newman, Rory Gallagher and various other artists. He got us a little radio play. It's a great feeling to hear your stuff on the radio for the first time. I'll always be thankful to Punch, Bill Blackwell and Jim.
You'll find me playing concerts with Mandi Layne and The Lost Highway. The band has released it's second album and we've been playing shows anywhere from Cincinnati to Chicago. .….. Ciao
Meet Bob Lewis aka (Bobbalou)
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Bob's goal and his passion has been to work hard, entertain fans, and just plain have fun. He is excited to be performing weekly and hopes to see you soon at a show – take a look at his calendar, or just drop a line and say hello.