Little Wasatch plays Orem Summerfest

Some of you may know I am the distinguished drummer for the band Little Wasatch which is a vocal group consisting of 4 sisters and their Mom. I've been working with the guitarist and lead vocalist for a while now on some other projects as well.

Last Friday we played a quick show at the Orem Summerfest in Orem Utah. We played just a few songs since we only had 30 minutes to setup, play and tear down. We play almost all original material which is written by our lead vocalist Amber and guitarist John.

We've played a total of two shows so far. The first being at the Showtime Theater in Pleasant Grove. We'll be playing there again this weekend. Check the myspace link for Little Wasatch above to get details.

I played a bit too loud I think as indicated by a few people in the videos plugging their ears. I noticed a few plugging their ears as I looked into the crown as I played. I couldn't help myself though. I've spent a lot of time and money trying to get a good sound from my drums. On this day I thought my toms were tuned too low, the bass drum was inaudible, but I was absolutely infatuated with the sound of my Ludwig Supra 400 snare drum. The audio on these video's certainly doesn't not do it justice, but I'm sure Jon Bonham would have been proud of that sound! =:)

I get a bit spacy when I play for an audience. Many of the songs sound so much the same as far as the drums go. I'm a bit disappointed with the creativity of my fills especially, but for this show it seems especially bad. I think I played just 3 or 4 unique fills! I also got a bit carried away with the bell on the ride cymbal. When we rehearse I play my Roland electronic set since it has a very popular feature with the rest of the band and the neighbors... a volume button. Even though I have it configured the same as my acoustic set, I still feel a bit timid and lost playing on drums where I can hear myself play. Perhaps I should plug my ears too. All these things I can work on to be more "distinguished" =:)

For this show we played 6 songs. Check out the videos...

Earl Rogers Cow
This is a bit of a country song and I can't ever git the pauses right. You'd think after so many rehearsals I'd get it right, but noooo. Also, notice my two youngest girls entering the venue near the beginning of the song. They were sposed to be my videographers and my biggest fans, but what actually happened is a whole nother story, as they say.

Enjoy Earl Rogers Cow
Earl Rogers Cow



The next song in the set is one of my favorites, though I always start out too fast. That's what you get I guess when you let the drummer set the tempo. I think I need to get a metronome. Notice the guitarist John Beck telling me to slow down a bit at the start of the song. I think I'd like to try stealing the intro to 'Animate' from Rush for this song. It fits really well. I thought about trying it for this show, but thought better after considering how well I do with the stuff I actually rehearse!

Enjoy 'Each and Every Time'
Each and Every Time


The next song is called 'Strength' and we call it the 'Hootie' song. See if you can figure out why...
Strength


Next is 'Sunny Day' There's a spot in here where I'm supost to do a big Neal Peart fill. I think I did fill #3. I'm not sure I even know what a big Nearl Peart fill is suposed to be?!? I like this song though. If I ever figure out how to 'cut lose' on the drums, this will be the song to do it in.
Sunny Day


This is another of my favorites. It's called BOI or Boy, or Boooooiiiieee. Not sure what the official title is. Are you sick of the bell on the ride yet?
BOI



Finally... well ... yeah finally. We were sposed to play 3 more songs but a big hook came from stage right and yanked us off the stage. Everthing was running behind and we had to yield to the Utah Valley Regional Ballet. That's show biz I guess.

This is Jordan. Can't get the pauses right in this song either.
Jordan


That's it for now. We have more shows to do and there are, of course, many other things going on in the life a times of... Stay tuned.