K&S:  Let me start by saying that I have really noticed how much you have grown musically since I dropped off the music scene years ago.   You manage to keep a full schedule behind the drums while holding down a job and being a husband and father.  Let’s talk about how you go about balancing your musician side of your life with regular life, working and family.  What kind of thoughts do you have on that?

DN:  Well for me my first responsibility is my family, so music aside and everything else, I have to make sure that’s number one.  I can’t put music before them or anything like that.  I think as far as scheduling and gigging, I always make sure that I’m home enough to where it doesn’t interfere too much with my family; you know what I’m saying? 

K&S:  Yeah.

DN:  So with the bands that I’m in right now, we never rehearse with the exception of this new band, The Mansuits.  We want to do things differently.  We don’t want to do the same old songs that everybody does.  We don’t want to have to do Superstitious because we don’t have another song to do.  We want to play songs that we actually do have to rehearse on, and that’s been tough.  That’s the toughest thing about this gig is having to rehearse because I’ve never had to rehearse except for with the band Open Eyes years and years ago.  With Keith Horton, everybody just shows up and knows the songs because we’ve heard them forever.  Not to take away from that art because I think what we do is great, but this band (The Mansuits), we have to rehearse because we are trying to pull off songs that we have never played together before.  So, not only do you have that Friday night gig, but you’ve got Monday rehearsal or Tuesday rehearsal and between there you have to say, “Alright, when am I going to be home.”  I have two kids and a wife, so I have to make sure that that’s the main thing because if my family life suffers, then my music is going to suffer.

K&S:  That’s right.  I was there at Sharppie’s the first time The Mansuits played and I remember you saying, “Welcome to our rehearsal.”  It sounded really good.  Let’s talk about this new sound of yours.  It’s new to me because what I know of your sound goes way back ten years go when your style was different and I think the sounds that you tried to emulate were different.  Now what I hear is this funkier, kind of fatter grooving thing that you’re doing with the deeper, looser snare and the 16 inch hats.  How did you evolve into the fatter, groovier vibe you are putting out today?

DN:  I started listening to more Led Zeppelin and that John Bonham sound.  I just fell in love with that old drum set sound.  It almost sounds like crap, you know, it’s like you hit a tom and that tom just does nothing.  But man, it just hit me where I thought to myself that’s great, you know, for some reason I totally flipped.  In high school, Dave Weckl and his sound was everything to me.  When one of my buddies like Coby Coco would learn a drum set lick from Dave Weckl I would say “Oh god I have to learn that.”  I had to be on top of my game.  We would try to get our drums to sound like his with the higher toms and tighter snare.  You know, things were crisper.  I went through that for a long time, and then about six years ago, I started listening to Led Zeppelin and I started listening to more Stevie Wonder stuff.  I love Stevie Wonder and those drum sounds.  You know, you hear Superstitious and there’s nothing, there’s no sustain, it’s just beautiful, beautiful deadness.  So, I wanted to find that sound and really, the only way I could find it was having bigger cymbals and more looseness in the snare drum.  My hats are really two 16 inch crashes. 

K&S:  That is a cool idea.  Big HHX Groove Hats.

DN:  Right, it’s two crashes.  So I did that and I loved it.  It sounded great but it is still not exactly what I want.  Sabian makes a 15 inch pair of HHX Groove Hats.  I heard them and I’d like to get into that.  I may buy a pair of those.  And then I got a dry ride, you know, that’s kind of dead but it still sounds great when you crash on it.  So my cymbals are bigger.  Also from that was some of the New Orleans’ sound.  I have picked up on that kind of sound as well.  Like, the Meters and Galactic, they had that kind of dead sound, all those old sounding cymbals and drums and stuff. 

K&S:  Well I knew there was something different because you did not sound like the Daniel Nelson I remembered from back then.

DN:  Abe Laboriel, Jr. really does that too, and I like his sound.  Now, he’s a little more polished, but it’s the bigger drums, the bigger cymbals that accomplish that feel.  You just lay into the groove more.  Just a fattier feel—I mean, you can’t play like Dave Weckl and it come off the same way with drums that sound like that. 

K&S:  What things do you think you have made the most progress on over the past few years?

DN:  I would say my time’s better.  I would hope my pocket’s a little better.  A lot of that is because I’ve played with a click more in the last ten years.  There were gigs I would do, and just out of habit, I would bring a click and set it just for my sake, almost like a practice.  So playing with a click really helped my time.  And playing with Geoff Moore helped that because I had to play with canned keyboard.  Jeff Barkley wasn’t on the road with us, so we always had to have his keyboard parts made in a little loop that I would have to play to, and so that pushed me to play more on time with a loop.  I had a couple of train wrecks there at first.  Singing also helped me.  Chip Mackey said something interesting the other night.  I never really thought about it.  But, I think when I sing I’m more into my time than into fills, and so I stay a little more solid.  So, I think singing helped my time as well. 

K&S:  That might have been because of a comment that I made to Jeremy Gibson.

DN:  Really.

K&S:  I asked Jeremy, “Have you noticed Daniel’s pocket is a little deeper when he’s behind the mike?” 

DN:  Yeah.  You know, it’s funny.  I never noticed that, but when I think about the songs that I sing on, it’s true.  I think it’s because I don’t think about doing a dittle here or there, you know, something a little fancier because it’s harder to sing and think about playing a lick. 

K&S:  When was it that you first started singing and playing?

DN:  Really, as far back as when I was in All Access.  I sang a little bit there toward the end. But when I got with Open Eyes, Alan Smith sang harmony and I did too.  I did a lot of singing back then.  That was ten years ago.  But then I started leading worship in churches and doing that, so that gave me more confidence.  When I was in high school, I loved singing, but I never had much confidence.  My music minister at that time, Steve Sharp at Springs of Grace said, “Well, man, pray about it.”  I prayed about it and seriously, my confidence got better and I just asked God to give me a more confident voice, to be able to sing better.  It happened.  A lot of that is just because you do it, repetition, and the more you sing and play, the better you’re going to get.

K&S:  I would imagine so.  I really admire that you can do that.

DN:  Well, sometimes it gets in the way.  Sometimes, I think I really don’t want to sing this song because I love the drum part and I’d like to focus on it. 

K&S:  It was great when you guys played Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World, the other night.  As soon as that song started I knew what it was and my eyes and ears opened, waiting for that groove, with the accent on the high hat.  That’s what makes that groove—otherwise; it sounds like a lot of other grooves.  You really pulled that off very well. 

DN:  Thank you.  Man, that’s one that I can’t sing.  There’s no way I’m singing backup on this song.  I really have to focus on that groove.  Siging on that would take me a lot of practicing, and I don’t practice enough to do that. 

K&S:  It sounded great.  That makes me want to add that groove to my own arsenal.   

DN:  It’s not easy.  I’ve seen the guy do it live.  Man, it’s note for note.  I think on the CD, there’s some looping going on.  I think there’s a little bit of somebody playing the high hat or a shaker over.  But live, the dude nails it.  It’s great. 

K&S:  You claim that you would give up every bit of your drumming talent for equivalent talent on the piano.  Tell me about that. 

DN:  One of the reasons would be because you can sit at a piano and sing.  You can’t sit at a drum set and sing a song and carry melody and chords and all that stuff.  Jimmy Wallace has that thing and he is one of my favorite musicians in the world.  I got the privilege of playing with him for a few years.  He can sit down and learn the chords enough on anything and he can sing over it.  That’s what I’d love to be able to do.  Part of me loves to entertain, but I love music, too, and I’d love to be able to just sit home and write and do those things.  On the drums, you can do that, but man, it’s almost impossible to write a whole song just sitting behind the drums thinking about chords and stuff.  Whereas a piano, you know, you sit down; you learn the bass part if you want to, you can do whatever.  All the melody is there.  I love melody.  The one thing that I wish I would have focused more on as far as in college or in high school is getting my keyboard stuff up.  I just wanted to be Dave Weckl and the best drummer in the world, and threw that out the door.  You know, how we tend to do that. 

K&S:  Well, when you do find that mathematical formula to strike that perfect balance, maybe you can squeeze in some piano lessons. 

DN:  Exactly. 

K&S:  Let’s go back and talk about bands a little bit.  Now, we’re going to start from where we’re at now and go backwards, and I want to get a few comments from you on the various projects that I know you’ve been in.  Starting with The Mansuits. 

DN:  Well, I’m playing with two of my closest friends.  That makes it great, first of all.  Shawn Stroope on bass, who not only is one of my closest friends but he’s just a great musician.  Throwing the bass aside, he’s just a great musician.  He can play keyboard, guitar, and a little bit of drums.  But he’s so great at picking the right notes.  That’s what I love about Shawn.  He’s not just a bass player.  He can pick the right feel, the right everything for any particular song; The same with Gregg Scott.  He’s just one of those guys, he may not be this Jimmy Wooten type of guitarist—just all over the fret board real fast and stuff, but he knows how to find that right note, that right chord and the right tone, and just make you melt.  It makes you a better player.  As far as singers, we’ve been playing with Josh Hollis, but he’s moving away to LSU so we won’t get to play with him much.  But Jason Sepulvado is going to be in the group, too, and man, I love Jason.  He can play everything, and then he can play freaking violin like he’s a Nashville star; so it will be great to have his influence.  You can’t help but get better in a band like that, because they’re going to push you in the right direction.  We don't necessarily want to do the funk thing like in other projects.  I’m trying to get away from that with The Mansuits.  I don’t necessarily want to be funky.  I want to have a different thing.  I’m hoping that this band will not only do covers but write material too.  Not so we can make a CD or necessarily try to find a record deal, but just for the sake of the art. 

K&S:  Let your signature flow out.

DN:  Exactly.  I miss being creative.  The Man Suits is me, Shawn and Gregg Scott, and we used to be in a band called The Critics with Myles Roberts.  That was one thing about that band that I loved so much.  We did our own stuff.  Myles Roberts is an incredible songwriter, and he would just kind of put our ideas on his skeleton of the song.  Musically, those were some of the best times of my life because we could just make this great music together.  We had great friendships.  You know, it was just a good thing.  It was a really good thing.  The Critics are starting to write some new original material. 

K&S:  Yeah, I love original stuff. 

DN:  And man, in Shreveport, it’s so hard to find a place where you can do that.  People don’t really want to come and hear your own creative work.  They want to hear what everybody else plays or what they hear on the radio, which is sad. 

K&S:  Losing Anna has got a pretty good following and they’ve done a good job of squeezing their originals into their cover set and establishing that following.  I personally want to hear their original work because there are some really good songs on the new CD coming out. 

DN:  You’re right.  When I saw them Thursday night, I went over there, and man, those people knew every word to their originals.  But then right after that, they’d do a cool cover.  But they’d still do an original and people got into it just as much, because they’re good songs and good musicians. 

K&S:  Let’s talk about The Keith Horton Project with Keith Horton, Keith Free, and Shawn Stroope.  Horton has got to be one of the funkiest white guys I’ve ever met.  You’ve got a pretty good history, you and Shawn both.

DN:  Yeah.  What I love about playing with Horton is that we’ll always have a song that he takes into a jam.  You know, whatever song it is, I mean, we’ll go from funk to country to a samba, because he can follow it.  He can just laugh, and Shawn and I will just go somewhere crazy, and he can go right there with us.  I really love his voice too.  Although we can play various styles together, that funk aspect is still a big part of that group’s ID.  Then you’ve got Keith Free.  When we do the project stuff together...  You talk about funky.  That dude is a machine.  He’d be a great drummer because he’s just solid.  If I’m ever off, I can look at Keith Free and know where I’m at.  Man, he’s a metronome.  We are planning to record some of Keith Horton's original material later this year or early next year.

K&S:  You played with Darrell Evans?

DN:  Yes.

K&S:  You’ve done some touring.  You got to be a little international with that group.  Tell me, how was that?

DN:  That was a blessing, man.  First of all, Darrell is a great guy.  He loves God, and that’s his number one thing.  He’s ministry minded.  I got the privilege of going all over the US and then we went to Canada for a little stint, and then we did the Philippines for two weeks.  That was a great two weeks.  It was the same week as the hurricane so it was weird being over there, seeing all this poverty and stuff; people had nothing.  The average income over there for a male is $200 a month so there’s just so much poverty over there.  We’re over there trying to minister to these people and loving on these people, and then all of a sudden, you turn on the TV and there’s New Orleans, back in your own backyard, and all these people are going through hell, you know.  So it was a weird two weeks because we were doing some great things and ministering to people and playing in front of thousands and thousands of people.  You talk about excitement.  You walk out and there’s 10,000 plus people in this auditorium.  You just want to worship God and you just play a chord and they’re just ready.  So that was great.  But just knowing what was happening here, you know, I had mixed emotions, so it was a weird thing.  Touring with Darrell was great; got to see lots of things.  Of course, Shawn and I were with that band.  Gregg Scott got to come for some gigs, too, so musically it was great.  It was a challenge.  Darrell was cool because we would do his trademark songs, but we could go off into other stuff, and Darrell didn’t care.  He’d just keep jamming with us.  I love that.  It was always something different every night.  We never played the same notes, you know, same sections.  It was cool; which is different in worship.  You can’t always do that and get away with it.  So it was quite enjoyable. 

K&S:  Geoff Moore and the Distance.  I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I heard you were doing this gig.  I had obviously not heard you play in a while and I was very familiar with Greg Harrington who was the original drummer with Geoff.  Greg Harrington was a monster player so I was very impressed to hear you were going to fill those shoes.

DN:  It was really odd.  It was nothing I really tried out for per se.  I kind of did, but Shawn knew Roscoe Meek who played guitar with Geoff.  I did not know Roscoe, and Roscoe was living in Nashville at the time.  Shawn moved back here because of his illness and all that, and he got a call from Roscoe who was looking to put something together in Shreveport.  He asked about Jeff Sigmond.  Jeff was a huge idol of mine coming up.  I wanted to be Jeff Sigmond.  They couldn’t find Jeff thank goodness, and so Shawn recommended me for the gig.  Roscoe had no idea if I could play or what, so one night Roscoe met us up at First Baptist Church in Bossier.  He gave us some tunes to learn, I think it was four or five Geoff Moore songs.  I can remember getting the call from Shawn.  I was working for Cingular Wireless, and he said, “Hey dude, you want to play for Geoff Moore?”  I thought it was a joke.  So he said here, learn these songs.  Roscoe’s coming in and he’s going to see how good you are and see if we can pull it off.  So we showed up at First Bossier, and man, I had racked those songs in my brain, just concrete, just over and over and over.  I had a little practice drum set at my house that Lee Baker had just given me at the time for a CD I’d recorded for him.  And man, I just learned those songs until I nailed them.  So when the time came, it was great, everything felt good, and everything was natural.  Of course, playing with Roscoe Meek, I mean, everybody’s heard of Roscoe and how good he is, and he’s just, again, like that Keith Free thing, he’s just solid.  There were times when I wouldn’t play with a click or I wouldn’t use a click on a particular song, and during the show, he’d turn around and say man, were you not using a click on that.  He knew what the timing was supposed to be, and I’m like crap, you can’t hide anything from this dude.  It’s crazy. 

K&S:  The first time I ever jammed with him was when he was in 20/20.  That was when I was in high school, and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing or who this person really was. 

DN:  Yeah, he’s great.  We had a lot of good times with Geoff.  It was two and a half years ago when I got to do that; a lot of great venues and good people and stuff. 

K&S:  Open Eyes.  You guys didn’t decide to reform that band right away did you?

DN:  We were actually called Jiminy & The Crickets at first, which is awful.  God, it’s awful.  But, that gig helped me with Geoff Moore, because we did Geoff Moore songs, so all I had to do was remember what we did.  We tried to do it lick for lick, and of course with Justin Haigler, Alan Smith and Greg Walker, you can’t have a better time than with those dudes. 

K&S:  Yeah… they were the same when I played with them except Ronnie Jordan was on bass rather than Greg Walker.  I actually got to know Greg Walker because I filled in the drum chair for his band All Access for a while after their first drummer left.

DN:  Speaking of, Kenny?

K&S: Yes.  Kenny had left and they weren’t doing anything, and they were using Open Eyes' rehearsal space over at the storage building, so I told them I would fill in untill they found someone.  I don’t think I even knew you then.  It was just me, Doug Reynolds, Greg Walker and Chris Hedrick.

DN:  I knew you.  I can remember coming in for rehearsal, and them telling me, “Ron Petitt  has been playing for us”.  I had seen you with Open Eyes opening for Geoff Moore at a big concert here and thinking, “Oh my gosh, what am I getting into man.”

K&S:  I remember that show.  I got a lot of compliments on the sound of my snare which I have to credit to Wendell Duprang.  He was a real drummer's sound guy.

DN:  Ya’ll rocked.  Man, Open Eyes was great.  I was there with my girlfriend at the time, and I’d never heard of you, but I remember saying dude, that’s what I want to do, and this was before I played with any band except for at my church.  That’s what kind of started a fire was that Geoff Moore/Open Eyes gig, seeing that and just loving it.

K&S:  Back to your stint in Open Eyes.  Alan Smith let me hear the tracks on the PeekaBoo CD that you guys cut down in Florida with Ronnie Cates of Petra.  He let me listen to it, and I was very impressed.  You guys actually tracked some of the songs that the band wrote when I was with them and I was just very impressed with the way you interpreted the material.  How much did Ronnie Cates help you in your tracking of the songs on that particular CD?  Did you get any advice or did you just do your own thing completely? 

DN:  Well, both.  He helped set the tempos and the click track was really new to me at the time.  I’d done a little bit, but not much.  I can remember coming up there, I’d rehearse with the click just a little bit on my own time.  Ronnie was kind of like Roscoe, he would just listen and say, nope go back.  He was dead on.  His ears were just so tuned to it, which was great.  That was great practice for me, too.  I’ve got to give credit to Greg Walker because he added a different edge on things.  He was more of a rocker than Justin or Alan so we would say, hey man we’ve got to rock this one out, or you know, maybe do a little different thing on it and he could figure out an edgier arrangement for the track.  It really came out good.  Now, there are times these days that I listen to it and go “Oh God, it’s killing me.”  I hear all the little cheesy things that I did way too much of.  But yeah, it was cool.  And Ronnie Cates was great.  I wish I could talk to that dude again.  It’s been years. 

K&S:  So going back one from Open Eyes, to what I suppose was your first legitimate band… ALL ACCESS? 

DN:  Yeah, it really was. 

K&S:  I remember being around at the beginning of that.  You had those old Pearl Exports.

DN:  Plywood Pearls.

K&S:  The bass drum spur was broke off one side of it.  At one point in time I saw you at a gig and you had some duct tape going on keeping this thing together.  The kit was in pretty bad shape. 

DN:  I think Justin Haigler still has that kit somewhere. 

K&S:  But when you got in there and started playing with those guys, it was very evident that you had a rudimental background, because it made you so much tighter than Kenny was.  He was such a shy player compared to you.  All the sudden their music woke up.  I just remember that.  You guys got to open for Bride.

DN:  Bride.  That was a great CD, that tour, they really did cool stuff.  Here I was this little preppy kid, coming out there to all these long-haired Axel Rose / Guns & Roses, looking dudes and I had my little vest on. 

K&S:  Rockin out. 

DN:  Oh god, that’s awful.  But yeah, you’re right, man, high school and all the rudimental stuff really helped me.  As far back as sixth grade when I first started playing drums, I had a band director named Reggie Vaughn, and man, he just invested in me.  From day one, he could tell that I loved music and he just threw everything at me.  My first year playing drums I won a drum contest and from then on, the whole marching thing really helped.  In eighth grade he let me take a drum set home, and I started playing to the Beatles because I’ve always loved the Beatles.  They’re still one of my favorites.  I started playing to that and a White Heart album called “Freedom”.  It’s still one of my favorite albums.  Chris McHugh on the drums, man, he’s a monster.  So I was playing to the Beatles and White Heart and Lord knows what else, I started learning.  I guess when I was 15, the music minister at church said, “Hey we need a drummer, you want to come check it out?”  I started doing that and then Doug Reynolds, who was in All Access said, “Hey we need a drummer.”  That kind of started that whole process.  And that was right about the time when I saw you guys open up for Geoff Moore.  Man, my music world just exploded. 

K&S:  Well, I remember talking to Alan Smith some time later and he seemed a little bit concerned about you going into major debt over buying this kit that you’re still playing to this day.  Your first professional drum set-- top of the line Premiers. 

DN:  Yeah.

K&S:  I remember hearing about that, and I was so jealous because I’ve never had a brand new store bought kit in my life ever.  What was that like spending all that money that you really didn’t have at the time?

DN:  Well, I walked into Little Drummer Boy with my wife and it felt like I was a little kid, you know, like ten years old.  I’m sure she watched me just wanting to laugh and make fun, but I was just playing on everything.  There was a blue maple Signia series and there’s this green Genista.  I sat behind them and played them.  She asked me which one I liked better and I said the Genistas.  She said let’s get them.  We had a credit card.  We hadn’t been married a year I don’t think.  And she said I know you need some new drums and, of course, she knew how bad my Pearl kit was.  I called them the Pearl ply woods.  They sounded bad and looked bad but man, they were a blessing.  My parents bought them for me and they lasted a while.  But, yeah, I can remember taking the new kit up to First Bossier, getting them out, and doing every Steve Smith, Journey lick I could think of.  That’s why I wanted a seven piece kit just so I could hit that one lick in “Faithful”.  Having a better sounding kit opened a whole new world.  You know, you got more things, more toys, more things that you can try to pull off. 

What I really want to go for now is that old school look, feel and sound. 

K&S:  Are you thinking about going to the old sound but with newer gear?  Or are you wanting to old sound on something medium vintage, something 60’s? 

DN:  That would be great, but with the new stuff they’re coming out with now you can get that sound so you don’t have to go on e-bay and find some 60’s kit.

K&S:  You played the James Burton Guitar Fest.

DN: Yes.

K&S:  How did you go about getting in on that gig and getting to play with those guys?  Was there any pressure there? 

DN:  Definitely there was pressure, mainly because I was playing with Joe Osborne who is one of the most prolific bass players ever as far as all he has done.  It was weird.  I was going to get a tattoo on a Wednesday or something, and I was just about to start touring with Darrell Evans when I get this phone call from bass player named Gary Dooley.  He said, "Hey man, we’re doing this Christian project for James Burton.  He wants to record a Christian album and the drummer’s not working out.  Would you like to come do it?"  I said yes.  No questions asked, I’m there.  So I turned my car around and said forget the tattoo, I can do that anytime.  I spent two days working out the songs.  Of course, I’m in there with James Burton, who’s again just like Joe Osborne.  He’s done everything.  He is a super nice guy.  He’s a Christian now, and he’s there.  He’s really got it together.  Man that was great.  You talk about an incredible guitar player.  James was one of George Harrison’s main influences and so here I am playing with this guy who influenced George Harrison.  One time James said to me, “I want a Ron Tutt feel on this one.”  My heart just flipped because this guy was in there talking about Ron Tutt who he has played with for years.  I could  play it because I can remember hearing that sound.  James said, “Yeah that’s it, man, you got it, you got it.”  Talk about the big head, man, I’ll never forget that session.

K&S:  How did that lead into playing the live show?

DN:  From that project, they had mentioned that they were going to do the festival.  Of course, I wanted to get in on it so I told them if you need somebody for that, let me know.  So they called me.  I played with the Nelsons, who my wife was in love with when she was 19 or whatever, and then Johnny Rivers.  They gave me the tunes and I learned them.  We went and rehearsed one night, I think, and it happened.  It was cool.  It was a lot of fun.  Then I was back stage with all these unbelievable artists, Brad Paisley, Dr. John, Eric Johnson. 

K&S:  Any cool drummers?

DN:  Well, what’s the girl’s name that plays drums?  Hilary Jones? 

K&S:  Hilary Jones.  Was she there?

DN:  Wow, she killed everybody.  She was incredible.  And then she got off stage and you could tell she was frustrated.  She said, “I couldn’t hear anything, I played like crap.”  And her crap is better than me on my best day, you know.  But she was so nice.  She was up there just going off, dude.  It was so great. 

K&S:  Did I hear correctly that you auditioned for Kenny Wayne Shepherd? 

DN:  It wasn’t an audition.  We just jammed.  It was all through Jimmy Wallace.  As you can tell, every opportunity in my life as far as music has just been on a who I know.  I have hardly tried out for anything.  I tried out for the Rebecca St. James gig and I didn’t get it.  But that was really the only audition I ever had.  No, this was before Kenny Wayne’s last album came out.  He was on the tour, and so Jimmy gave him my name and Shawn’s name, and so he came down to Noble Savage one night and we all jammed.  It was great.  You know, we did some Blues, and we did some of Jimmy’s original stuff that Shawn and I got to record, which I’m very proud of.  But he ended up going to L.A. and using L.A. guys.  So it wasn’t really a tryout.  It was just a jam. 

K&S:  Technique vs groove.  This gets back into probably how you’ve grown as a drummer over the years.  You mentioned how you were a big Dave Weckl fan coming up but now you lean more toward the Steve Jordan style.  What do you see as the difference in the two? 

DN:  There’s a very big difference.  We’re playing some of that John Mayer trio stuff, and Steve plays simplistically and it’s just as beautiful as a Dave Weckl solo to me.  It’s so laid back and just deep pocketed.  Everybody kind of shuts up and listens.  You learn that your first year of playing drums… or you should.  But it’s just the way he approaches it and that is his sound.  He’s got that old vintage sound.  You can’t pull that off on a tight snare drum, Dave Weckl type thing.  I guess somehow, a lot of it was playing with Shawn and our different influences and stuff.  I want to be the guy who does not have to play ghost notes and thirty seconds and all that stuff, and it’s a challenge for me because I think, I want to do what Vinnie Colaiuta would do, but you don’t necessarily have to do that all the time for it to be beautiful, you know, to be your art.  So, I guess that’s my biggest challenge and obstacle right now.  I know John Hoffman touched on that in his interview… knowing how to lay back and let the music sing. 

K&S:  He said that you were one of the guys who reminded him of that, so you must be accomplishing that to some degree. 

DN:  Yeah, but not like I’d like to.  I guess I’m not quite where I want to be.  I want to be where Abe Laboriel, Jr. and Steve Jordan are in terms of that solid groove but then again like Vinnie in terms of sheer versatility.  Vinnie can play at the highest technical level and still play a gig where all he does is groove. 

K&S:  Such as the Faith Hill gig.

DN:  Yeah, you have no idea it is him.  Exactly...  I want to be able to find that balance, and sometimes—this is my deal.  If I know you’re sitting out there, if I know John or some other person is out there, a lot of times I’ll start thinking “man I’ve got to do this or I’ve got to do that.”  I want to get to the point where I don’t have to prove myself anymore. 

K&S:  That’s all on you my friend because you don’t have to prove anything to us.

DN:  There’s still that ego thing that happens.  I don’t want to do that.  I want to do what is exactly right for the music, because that’s all that really matters.  That’s what people want to hear.  You know, it’s great for a couple of drummers in the audience, but more than anything, I just want to make music.  I guess that kind of goes back to the piano thing.  That’s really what it all boils down to.  It’s not how fast you are or how good you are or any of that.  It’s what you are saying with your art, with your instrument.  That’s what I’d like to get to. 

K&S:  And before I let any drummer that I interview get away, I always ask the standard question, give me your three favorite drummers if you had to choose just three?

DN:  Well, obviously, Dave Weckl.  I’ve talked about him a lot.  He had a great impact on my playing early on.  Steve Jordan because of his perfect groove for every situation he plays in and his recent influence.  And Vinnie Colaiuta.  He’s like a blend of those two guys to me, you know.  Not to say that Steve Jordan can’t pull off these incredible licks cause I’ve seen him do it.  And not to say that Dave Weckl can’t get in the pocket and groove more than anybody cause I know he can. 

K&S:  Okay, we talked about your three favorite famous drummers.  What about locally?  Who are some of your favorite guys to listen to that are here on the music scene? 

DN:  Drummers, musicians, or all of the above?

K&S:  Anything you want to comment on. 

DN:  As far as drummers there is Chris LeFebvre.  I heard him at the Revel when I was 21 years old.  I’d always heard about Chris LeFebvre, but I’d never really heard him play.  Then I heard him at the Revel playing with somebody.  He’s got that feel and that deep pocket thing.  So I love hearing Chris play.  John Compton on bass… talk about somebody who has de-evolved or whatever.  You know, he went through the whole EXIT thing and now he’s just Mr. Mo town, Mr. James Jamerson, and I love playing with him because he’s right there and he’s got beautiful note choices. 

Then back to drummers there is John Hoffman.  I think to myself, “I’m pretty good.  I got the technical thing, I can do this.”  And then he comes in and just does things you never though of and you say, “Oh God, I’ve got to go and practice.”  The cool thing about John is he can do all that stuff but he can still create a great, fat pocket.  And when he does do something it, it just floors you, you know.  And he’s a great dude, too.  To be as good as he is, you know, I hope he does clinics.  I mean, I would like to see that for that dude.  To see him move out of here and really go for it— because, man, he’s so good.  People need to hear him, especially drummers.  He’s a drummer’s drummer.  That’s what I’ve always said about John.  You want to hear somebody play drums then John is who you want to go hear. 

K&S:  Absolutely. 

DN:  Darrell Mims is a great musician.  He’s a guitar player.  He plays the flute, too.  He’s incredible.  Jimmy Wooten is another very talented player.  I mean, you got so many different guys around here who are so talented.  Chris Mc Kay, he’s a very good singer/keyboard guy I’ve had the privilege of playing with.  He’s got the New Orleans thing down.  David Deaton is incredible.  Of course, he lives in Ft. Worth now.  He can play with anybody.

K&S:  Yes we miss him.

DN:  Then there is Chip Mackey on drums.  You know Chip?

K&S:  Chip Mackey can swing. 

DN:  That’s exactly what I was going to say.  There’s nobody better.  I mean, he can swing his butt off.  In fact, there’s a lick, there’s a groove that he does—I was playing with Joe Nadeau and Chip came and sat in on a song.  I think it was “Kansas City”.  From then on, it was, “Would you play it the same way Chip did?”  So, I had to play it.  So Chip’s another great drummer.  Everybody’s got their own little thing.  It’s really cool.  And that’s a cool thing about drummers and bass players.  I don’t notice any competition.  You know, with guitar players and keyboardist there’s that competitive ego, but with drummers and bass players it’s almost like we’re a fraternity.  We can learn from each other.  Even though I still feel like I have to prove something sometimes and do some lick, I know that nobody is going to talk bad about me.  It’s a family with the bass players and drummers.  It’s cool.  It’s a great thing around here for that. 

Saving the best for last, I have to shout out to my boy David Rollins up in Nashville.  He’s a great drummer.  He’s one of those guys who picks the right tom for the right measure, the right note.  But even more than that, he’s just one of those guys who you can call on, you know, if you feel like music hates you.  He can turn it around and just say “no man, just keep hanging in there”.  He’s a good guy to lean on when things are tough.  Plus he knows everybody, so that always helps too.

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