Marching to the Beat of My Own Drummer

Michelle Sandlin’s Drums

I was asked last night to give a brief synopsis about my passion for drumming for a potential opportunity to be featured along with my drums in an upcoming magazine article.  This is one of those moments when my professional life touches my personal life.  Actually, the two overlap all of the time, mostly of my own doing.  In person or on-line, what people see everyday is me, the real me!

So, how did this whole drumming thing come about?  Well, here’s some of that synopsis:

At the end of March of this year, my husband and I welcomed a day that we thought would never actually come:  The day we officially became empty-nesters.  As many people do, it became a time of introspection and the immediate realization that we finally had the house to ourselves.  So, I got out the old bucket list, and decided that I needed to do something that I had always wanted to do.  While there are MANY things on that list, the one that sat on the very top was learning how to play the drums.  It was a life-long dream of mine that I always vowed to pursue, although the timing had never been right.

As a teenager, my mother told me that “girls don’t play drums,” so I settled for electric guitar and became a well-respected air drummer amongst my high school peers.  That was cool, but never quite the same as the actual drumming that I longed for, and was convinced that I would have an affinity for.  And, I was right!

So, in April of this year, I started taking drum lessons at the coolest music school in Houston: ABC School of Music.  About a week later, I bought my drum set, which appears in the photo above.  In typical Michelle fashion, I made sure that the world was astutely aware of my new obsession and pastime as a drummer.

I take lessons on Tuesday evenings from Chad, and practice about 10-12 hours each week.  I have boldly recorded a couple of videos, one of which I put on Facebook for public consumption and candid comments.  I have been invited to play in a couple of different bands/open microphone nights at some clubs in Houston, although I have not decided on which one to play in yet.  My goal by the end of this year is to play with a band on stage.  If that works out, I see myself continuing to play in a band on a regular basis.

As a result of my social media activities, my life has become rather transparent and is out there for all the world to see.  I have incorporated my newfound love of drumming into my professional online presence, with a fair amount of critical acclaim thus far.  I have already seen so many ways to weave my drumming into my professional life and give my friends, connections and followers a glimpse into what makes me tick, or more specifically the beat of a different drummer that I seem to follow.  Can you guess who that drummer might be?  That’s right, it’s me!