Keith Hamlin Drummer for The Shotgun Band

Keith Hamlin Drummer for The Shotgun Band

There is so much I can say about Keith Hamlin. He was the best drummer that I have had the privilege to perform with. He was accurate in all of his rolls and his beats. He was  neither too fast or too slow . He didn't speed up or slow down while he performed. His drumming made my job as a bass player easy. 

This is the secret to a band with a tight sound. The drummer and the bass player have to play together. When the rhythm section is tight the rest will come together.

 Keith Hamlin was self employed and had his own business known as Keith Graphics. He also worked for his uncle at the local music store called The Bible Book Store. He was an artistic sign painter. He did the art work on our Shotgun Band truck and our lighted sign that we carried around at each performance. 

When Keith began performing with us he carried a lot of equipment with him. He took his own drum riser which would set him up higher behind us and his own lights behind the drummer. He would set up two sets of drums an acoustic set and an electronic set. He had his own stage monitor so he could hear himself. Keith didn't sing but every drum was miked precisely. He used a set of Rogers acoustic drums and he had each drum tuned exactly for the best sound. Before Keith started with The Shotgun Band he performed in two different rock bands. One was called Plastic Faces and the other was called Kidz. He would perform each song exactly like the original record. A drummer has to have a lot of stamina and be fit to perform for three hours in a row and Keith was just that. Keith performed with us for six years and we were blessed to have him. When he left us he did just like you would in a public job. He gave us a notice not to leave us without until we could find a drummer. Today Keith is retiring from drumming. His last band was called Problem Child a tribute to AC DC. I saw him at one of his last recent performances and he played perfect and then the ambulance had to take him to the hospital for heat exhaustion. What a way to end a career.