by Steven Austin

The buff drummer for the rock band Black Label Society, Craig "Louisiana Lightning" Nunenmacher, is happily married, and in the studio working on a greatest hits album. Black Label Society will tour Europe again in the fall of 2008.

When at home in Mississippi, the Louisiana native enjoys hitting the weights in the gym, cooking, and spending time with his young son. On days away from his drums, you can also find him on the golf course with hopes to play professionally when his life in music tones down.

Nunenmacher and Black Label Society have been regulars at Ozzfest and sharing stages worldwide with top artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Korn. The band's music will be featured in an upcoming version of the super popular video game, Guitar Hero.

Q: The show is ready to begin and there isn't a drumstick to be found. Which foods could be good substitutes?

A: A very interesting question in the sense that, as a drummer, as long as I have the drums and my limbs intact, I have options. I would quickly look for a couple of whole, raw carrots from catering. They're dense and hard, and could probably withstand the impact of a grown man pounding them on some drums.

Q: You spend a lot of time in the gym to stay in shape. How is your diet when traveling?

A: I work extremely hard in the gym when I'm home to remain in top playing and touring shape. At my age of 37, it's even harder. But, at home I'm very careful to eat healthy foods. On the road we try our best to keep the buses stocked with turkey, cereals, raw veggies, nuts and plenty of water.

(reprinted from clarionledger.com)

Most drummers complain that their left hand can't keep up with their right. Here's some news: Every drummer's left hand is weak (unless you're left handed)! In that case, your right hand is probably weak, obviously.

Watch Mike Johnston demonstrate a cool drum pattern utilizing the left hand in this cool drum video...

~ In order to save valuable time and frustration, mark your cymbals stands with a black Sharpie Marker before dissassemly. When you go to reset simply line up the marks and you're ready to go.

~ Since rubber doesn't have as much flexibilty as a rug, get a piece of it from a home improvement store to use as a mat to keep your bass drum from moving.

~ There's a time to practice, and then there's a time to play. Know those times.

(a transcript from The World Today)

It may not be everyone's idea of a work-out, but researchers in the UK have found that when they're on stage or even a practice session, drummers can use up as much energy as elite athletes.

British sports scientists monitored the heart rate and oxygen intake of the drummer Clem Burke who played with the pop group Blondie. They found that he was as fit as a long distance runner or premier league football player.

Led Zeppelin's John Bonham was a renowned drummer who put his whole body into his work, and his famous 20 minute solos. Now a new study suggests that he might have been as fit as a highly-tuned Olympic athlete.

Sports scientists from two universities in the UK hooked up rock drummers to a series of wires and breathing apparatuses to monitor their heart rate and oxygen intake during a gig.

Their most famous test case was Blondie drummer, Clem Burke.

Dr. Steve Draper, sport scientist from the University of Gloucestershire, says I think the most startling thing for us was when we first got heart rate traces from Clem's concert is, we looked at them, and they could have been a premiership footballer. I think that's where we would like to make the comparison because it's 90 minutes, it's intimate in exercise, the heart rate is very high.

Other researchers found that during a performance, Blondie's drummer Clem Burke lost about two litres of fluid - which is similar to what an athlete running 10,000 metres loses. His heart rate could get as high as 190 beats per minute, which is equal to the world's best footballers during a game.

The findings don't come as a surprise to Eric Neira, who plays the drums for the indie rock band, True Love Chaos, from Sydney.

Eric says, "Yeah, it is very, very physical. I mean, you get off that stage and your underwear is wet! What people don't get is, like, a drummer is sitting on a stool a lot of the time, but you know, your legs, your arms, you're just going at 100 miles an hours sometimes.

And not only that, but then there's the mental strain as well, because as you know, the drummer is the backbone to a band, and you want to keep that time. So very physical, but at the same time, it's a lot to do with the old head, you know, you have to endure, really."

Eric also says with all his drumming he doesn't need to schedule in an extra exercise regime during the week. "I rehearse say once, twice a week with the band, and then we'll do a show as well, and what you find is that that's basically it, you don't really need to exercise at all, that's it. You've done your exercise for the week, and more."

Some rock bands even train before tours to make sure they're match fit. Dave Rowntree, the drummer from the British band Blur, reported losing a stone every time he went on tour.

But it's a different story for Jazz drummers who have a less flamboyant style of playing. Jim Piesse is a renowned Sydney jazz drummer and teacher. Jim says, "Well sometimes, as well as wanting to produce a great sound and a great groove, part of the show is to make it look good, too, so you might exaggerate your movements in order to make it look more visually exciting."

Researchers hope their findings will encourage some overweight children who aren't interested in sport to take up drumming instead.

(reprinted from abc.net)

I don't know why there are not more female drummers around. There should be - women can drum just as well as any man. Dale Anne Brendon can prove it! Watch this video and see!

It's about seven and a half minutes in length, but certainly worth every second! Oh, did I mention that the sound of her drums are amazing?