Hello, all, my name is Sam Anderson and I’m an independent drummer and a proud Alabama native. I’ve toured with many different groups, including Meriwether, 10 Years, and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster, who I’m currently on tour with. I thought long and hard about what to say here—whether or not to go on about my musical history, talk about my gear, etc. I will tell you that my love for music began at an early age, and after high school, I played four seasons with DCI, performed on tiny stages and huge arenas, and have loved every moment of it. But I don’t want to get too much into that. I’ve decided instead to talk about who I am as a musician.

When I approach a new piece of music (new to me, at least), I can immediately hear an outline of where I want to take it percussively. I’ve never been one of those drummers that have to meticulously write out my parts. It always just flows out of me. My biggest musical influences are singers, though the legendary drumming greats have also given me inspiration from time to time, especially Steve Gadd.

I consider myself a fusion player who has had the good fortune of being consistently hired by rock bands. I play a bit busy at times, but it is usually on a trial-and-error basis; I try to see what will fit musically. While I play my parts, I find it really important and helpful to continuously hear the different instruments in the band (especially the vocals—I think that gets ignored a bit). I do some singing and guitar playing, which helps me analyze and synch parts with those respective sounds. To me, drumming is like the English language; the better grasp you have of the language, the more creative a linguist you can be. Advertisement

I wanted to take a moment to thank the companies that have supported me during my career: Zildjian, Vater, Evans, Crush Drums, and JH Audio. I’d like to especially thank Chad from Vater and Rick from Crush for sharing stories and laughs and being genuinely great people. With the nature of this business, it’s refreshing to work with people who are as excited about playing in general as you guys are.

My drumkit Crush Sublime Maple set that consists of 8×10, 14×14, and 16×16 toms and an 18×20 bass drum. My cymbals are 13″ K/Z hi-hats, an 18″ K Custom crash, a 19″ A Custom crash, a 21″ Sweet ride or 21″ K Custom Special Dry ride, a 6″ A Custom splash, and an 18″ Oriental China Trash cymbal. I play Vater XD5A and XD5B sticks and retractable brushes and practice pads. My heads are Evans EC2s on the tops of the toms and G1 resonants, a Power Center snare head, and an Emad bass drum head. I use JH7 triple driver IEMs.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to write more for you soon. Below are a few links from shows with Meriwether, 10 Years, and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster:

Meriwether: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFLIR3UDDvk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

10 Years (Carnival of Madness Tour): www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL46MGPpa0c&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Maylene & the Sons of Disaster:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ3t7Q_ZB6M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Follow Sam at www.twitter.com/thesamunit.