Just got an email from my favorite band and I found this inspirationallittle nugget wedged in!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy origional member, fantastic drummer, and BBVD member of the month, KURT SODERGREN 

I've been thinking about inspiration lately.  I still remember my first impulse to play the drums.  After seeing some friends playing an outdoor party I was hooked.  And wasn't that my friend playing drums?  I didn't know he played. Immediately I started renting a drum set from the local music store on weekends and playing along to my dad's record collection.  I was very motivated to get better so I would be good enough to join the group and hang with these guys
.  Not long after this my friend Brian, the drummer for the band that played the party, decided to switch to bass.  I told him I had taken up the drums and offered to be the drummer.  We got together in the guitar player's parent's garage and with my rented kit I tore into Louie Louie, Wild Thing and a few others.  It felt so good and I could tell that things were clicking with us.  In reality I'm sure we sounded pretty rough but that feeling!   From that moment on I couldn't get enough.  We went on to play together throughout high school and into college playing clubs and getting better.  More often then not bands break up and this one wasn't any different but I have only great feelings for those guys and our time together.  It would be several years before I felt that way again.

After moving to Ventura I met a guitar player.  He played the blues really well but what got me was his tone.  Man he sounded good and even without a bass player we started jamming together.  Though we were both in other bands we began to make plans talking late into the night about music and the musicians we dug.  That guitar player was Scott and together we started Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.  I got that stoke again times ten.  I began taking lessons on a regular basis and found place so I could shed.  I wanted this.  Not for money, not for fame but for that feeling.  The one you get when the band is really swinging.  When you first hear your song on college radio at 3:14 a.m. driving home from a smokey bar gig in long beach.  We took every opportunity to play live and found like minded musicians with the same passion to add to our sound.  Guys you could get in a van with and drive across the country for months just to share your music.  I've slept in a lot of crappy hotels. I've missed some birthdays.  I've sweat through a lot of suits because we have been playing together now for 20 years. 

Inspiration still comes.  Now it includes the kid you saw in the front row playing air drums. You make a mental note to give him a stick as you walk off stage, maybe sign it, and then 6 years later you see him at another show and he says he just got accepted to North Texas and thanks you for the inspiration.

Kurt.

Thanks for reading my blog and remember to always follow your dreams (however cliché that may sound)! If you have an inspiring story, comment or email it to me at Swimerpat@gmail.com and I may feature it here!