I started playing drums in elementary school in the late 60's. It wasn't until around 1974, at 14 yrs old, when I began playing out professionally. At that time in America, most every drummer wanted to play rock or pop for nothing more than the new grooves being introduced all the time. The reason why I say that is from the 70's through the 2020's there have not been a lot of percussionists I wanted to emulate more that perhaps 4-5 total, and one is Simon Phillips. Regardless if you followed him during the younger "speed" riffs of his early days to his later "hyper technical" stuff that can set a mood, he always has the right thing going on at the right time in the right song at the right moment. I'm glad to have met him, seen him play, and followed his career. I wish him the best and look forward to his future contributions as he continues to shine in his ever expending musical interests.
