Bobby Previte Modern Drummer

The liner notes from The Coalition Of The Willing raise a plea for consciousness: Wake up, everybody! If you were less familiar with his prolific output, you might peg Bobby Previte as some sort of quirky multi-instrumentalist agitator who plays some drums. Prepare for a shock. On the Coalition Of The Willing CD, Previte masterfully rips through styles ranging from grunge to rockabilly.

Bobby’s aware of how he’s perceived. “Listen, I’m a drumset player,” he asserts proudly. “That’s how I’ve made my living for twenty years. I’ve written pieces for everything from pedal steel to violin–but I don’t play them. I’m a trap drummer who writes music. And maybe if I was less ‘quirky’ I’d have a lot more zeros in my bank account!”

Proof his command of drums, Coalition presents a spate of drum sounds. On one track, Previte might be working a pair of loosely tensioned toms fitted with thuddy Pinstripes; on another, he’s cranked up a set of his new-found coated, 1-ply batters from Evans, or even EC2s. Either way, the sounds are thunderous–almost metal at times.

“I’ve been listening to a lot of metal right now,” Bobby admits. “Lately I’m trying to get sounds and timbres that capture the emotional qualities I’m trying to express. On Coalition it’s DW drums, but I also have an old Rogers kit from the ’60s–they still sound good.”

For more on Bobby, including news about his upcoming releases, go to www.bobbyprevite.com.

T. Bruce Wittet