| When did you
first start on SNL?
That must have been ‘92. I’ve been trying to figure that out myself.
(Laughing.) This is my seventh year.
Who else were
you playing with back then?
I was also playing with Joan Osborne at the time ... but I was doing ten or
twenty different gigs just to pay the rent. And Southside Johnny, as well.
I’d just done about six weeks with Southside and then I went to Europe
with Joan and the SNL audition happened at the end of August.
Did you expect
to stay with SNL for seven years?
No, I didn’t. I was so thankful to have a gig that was in town and that
was steady and was financially secure was great!
I remember thinking that I’d be thrilled if it lasted just three years. So
seven years later, I’m still thankful.
So do you have
to spend a lot of time rehearsing with the SNL band during the week?
No, it’s a pretty mellow gig. It’s really only 20 days out of the
year. We do about 20 shows a year with five weeks off at Christmas and the
entire Summer off. Plus SNL’s schedule is to tape a couple of weeks, then
take a couple of weeks off during the season, anyway.
And how does
that work out for you?
Well, people know you’re in town and I‘ve been able to set roots into
the session scene here. But it’s always good to still have a steady thing
going on.
So getting back
to the actual prep time for SNL...
The band goes in on the Saturday morning of the broadcast day and we start to
rehearse about 11:00 AM until about 1:00 PM and then we’ll come back kinda
around 5:00 PM and stay all the way through until about 1:30 AM, the next
morning.
And, unlike
Letterman’s band, the SNL band doesn’t have to back-up the
show’s musical guests, right?
Rarely, but there have been times when we’ve been called upon to help out
a guest.
I remember when Edie Brickel came on I played drums for her, since I did work
on her album. I also played percussion (including Rhythm Tech Shakers)
when folks like Mick Jagger, Willie Nelson, and Paul Simon came on.
Just last Fall this group called All Saints, kinda like the Spice Girls, they
were on and the rhythm section from the show played with them. So there have
been examples, but for the most part the guests come in with their own band.
So, what kind of
session work have you been doing lately?
Playing on Bruce Springsteen’s “Box Set” collection that was
released last November was a thrill. So was playing on Shawn Colvin’s A
Few Small Repairs. That was a real highlight. She, and the record itself,
won a couple of Grammies last year.
But lately I’ve been in with Roseanne Cash. And another singer /
songwriter that Hugh Padgham’s been producing named Kim Richey.
I’ve also been in and out with Joan Osborne a couple of times on her new,
self-produced, album.
Though you
don’t do much touring, you have been doing some traveling, haven’t
you?
I was just in Argentina working on a project that Phil Ramone was producing for
an artist named Cito Paez.
How did that
come about?
Actually I had just done a couple of tracks on Elton John’s Aida
record and Phil Ramone had produced that. So from working with Phil on
Elton’s record, he invited me down to South America.
So
it sounds like the New York City session thing has opened a lot of doors for
you.
Oh yeah, it’s
been going good.
I’m really thrilled to have been asked to work with such performers as
wide ranging as: The Brecker Brothers, Peter Wolf (of J. Geils fame), Celine
Dion, and Bruce Hornsby.
Trips to
Argentina aside, do you ever tour?
I do go out on little hits, here and there ... like when Shawn (Colvin) was
promoting her A Few Small Repairs release I did some dates, including
some on the Lilith Faire with her.
What’s great about the Saturday Night Live gig is that you do have the
Summer off and weeks off during the years, so you can do road work and stuff.
I bumped into you in NYC’s Washington Square Park a week or
two ago and I noticed that you were playing Rhythm Tech’s new portable
snare called The Laptop...
 The Laptop is really a great invention, because things
have really opened up in terms of studio use. And I’m always anxious to
have something that’s new and different. It’s great for having
another slant.
And it really goes well with this whole MTV “Unplugged” renaissance
where drummers are looking to incorporate more acoustic and lighter sounds into
their playing.
It’s great as part of a more compact set-up and even as part of a more
informal coffee house type of situation.
So The Laptop is really unbeatable when it comes to walking into a gig with
something that’s so musical, compact and affable to acoustic oriented
music.
|
Live From New York ...