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Drummer and DJ at the ICE Bar in Memphis, 7/3/14 @IceBarMemphis
Drummer and DJ at the ICE Bar in Memphis, 7/3/14 @IceBarMemphis

Drummer and DJ at the ICE Bar in Memphis, 7/3/14 @IceBarMemphis

Last week on Hangtime (which is a great way to keep up with events in your hometown, by the way) I read about an event called My Jam Session at the ICE Bar out on Hacks Cross Road. Subtitled “Drums and Drinks”, it featured a live drummer paired with a DJ, and for someone who loves hearing a funky drummer as much as I do, I had to attend, as I had not heard of anything like this in Memphis before. As it turns out, the drums and DJ trend is very cutting edge, at least in New York and Los Angeles, and the people that organized this event have been doing it in Nashville, and decided to bring it here to Memphis. Not surprisingly, the drummer they brought is from Nashville, a young man named Jeremy Williams who was very impressive indeed on the set. The rationale behind this is to heighten the excitement for the crowd by augmenting the traditional DJ-based club atmosphere as the live drummer adds rolls, fills and breakdowns to the continuous mix. In my opinion, it works fairly well, although the standing-room only crowd in Memphis wasn’t familiar with the concept. Whether the trend will catch on in Memphis remains to be seen (we have plenty of great drummers for it if it does), but Jeremy Williams is very much a drummer to keep an eye on.

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