What's a recent compliment you've received lately about your playing?

A funny one that comes to mind is from probably 12-15 years ago when I was visiting Vegas. I stopped by the local Guitar Center and saw they had a Yamaha DJ controller with two discs that you can spin to simulate scratching vinyl records. I started playing around with it, scratching multiple polyrhythms and creating complex patterns by going back and forth from triplets to 16th notes, 8th notes, etc.

After a while, a guy came up to me and asked what club I was DJ'ing at. I told him I'd never done this before! He looked at me quizzically for a second, then asked "Are you a drummer?" I said yes, then he nodded and walked off. I'll take that as a compliment! :)

EDIT: rereading the title of this thread, I guess this one wasn't recent. Oh well!
 
The people in our church sway back and forth, which is not spoken, but it is good with me. Peace and goodwill.
 
Full disclosure up front: what follows is one of my anxiety/crisis dreams I had several weeks ago. OP, I hope this doesn't derail your thread.
Admins: feel free to nuke this post if warranted. Here's the dream:

A friend who is a worship director decided to rent out the local performance hall on a college campus and do a national seminar and combination worship service. He asked three drummers to participate: a Nashville studio drummer, myself and Sheila E. Because I'm so detail oriented the promoter asked me to help take care of anything Sheila E needed. The Nashville drummer arrived and got himself set up early. I was checking off Sheila's list and only lacked one item: a requested side table. I looked for over 30 minutes all over the campus before I could locate a suitable table. I got it to Sheila five minutes before the event was scheduled to start. Meanwhile all of my drums, cymbals and hardware were still in their cases backstage. I asked the Nashville drummer if he would consider covering my part of the program and he promptly declined. With only minutes to go I threw my gear on the stage and but I was unable to adjust, test or fine tune anything. I was sweating bullets backstage knowing this was going to be an epic train wreck for me. I decided to make the best of it no matter what. When my part came I was walking to my kit when I remembered Russ Kunkel using brushes on James Taylor's Fire and Rain. I decided to punt and just play what I felt with zero rehearsal. I went simple--yet spastic--punctuating parts with dowel blasticks. When it ended I couldn't get off the stage fast enough. The segments with the Nashville session drummer and Sheila E were both brilliant. Truly nothing short of amazing. At the end of the event I went back on stage to strike and load out my gear. Sheila E was walking towards me and she said, "Hey, can I tell you something?" I couldn't even make eye contact with her, but mumbled "sure." She said, "I really dug your part. Too many drummers are scared to play simple, but what you did . . . . . man, it was perfect. Simple but profound. Nice job."

Mark Twain once said "I can live two months off of a good compliment." Even though the compliment above is nothing more than the product of a dream state, I think I can live two decades off of it.

Next time I print out new business cards I'm thinking of having the back of the card say "Sheila E approved". (Note: heavy on the quotation marks)
 
I'm adding my snippet but want to clarify "recent" as that is a comparable term (being 64). Recent to me is in the last year.

I quit playing in gig bands around 20 years ago, after my last son was diagnosed and his handicaps which changed our lives. So my compliments now come from peers, other musicians, and congregation or church leadership since I only play at a fixed church setting. At my age, compliments... while nice, are more confirmation that I haven't quite lost it yet.

- Some things that come my way are accolades from two other percussionists for sticking a groove, a unique fill, or on my dynamics (which are especially critical in a worship setting).

- Recently, our Lead Pastor came up after our initial praise session opening up the service and asked for me to start up a specific song once again for the church as he and the congregation were amazed and inspired at the riff/complexity of the beat (he never does that as we are on a strict time schedule). Many church members were standing raising hands, dancing in the seats and isles, and getting into it.

-A couple months ago we were playing unplugged (acoustic) which the congregation really responded well to. After the service a visiting professional music director came up and said he thought my playing of the Cajon was amazing and had never heard it played that full and active in his life (I use a Meinl with a piezo pick-up, and that week I added a Schlagewerk HECK1 and a Paiste 404 cymbal). I was putting myself out there so it was nice to hear positive comments from them and others.

Honestly, while it is nice to get some kind of feedback that your playing is tracking and inspirational, I always remind myself that all compliments go to God in this environment. He gave me my skills and this opportunity so I always strive to remember playing in a praise or worship team is not in any way about "self" but rather his glory.
 
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Cmdr. Ross said:
Thanks. I try to look at the up side of things & often that doesn't end well. But I'll keep on keeping on. ❤️

As for my own project, I feel I can play a lot of different genres but most times those musicians wanting to play, want someone younger and faster.
I'm a fan of the blues scene & figured that would be easy picking to start something. Nope...most players are already attached to another project.🫤

So I'll keep my skills sharp for when lightning strikes. I love to play & will never stop voluntarily.
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this same thing happened to me in my late 30's...after spending the better part of the previous years playinf 3-4 times a week, in many different bands, in many different situations. Then, most of my projects ended for whatever reason. I went into my 40's with just one band, and we were not doing as much. I thought it was sort of "over" untill I turned 48, when, all of the sudden 3 projects popped out of the blue, and here I am sort of busy again. I was not looking for any thing, but they sort of "found" me.

definitely keep playing, and hopefully something will find you
 
The guitarist at an open jam session complimented my sense of groove. Listening to my playing on the recording I took revealed a much different story, however :(
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
this same thing happened to me in my late 30's...after spending the better part of the previous years playinf 3-4 times a week, in many different bands, in many different situations. Then, most of my projects ended for whatever reason. I went into my 40's with just one band, and we were not doing as much. I thought it was sort of "over" untill I turned 48, when, all of the sudden 3 projects popped out of the blue, and here I am sort of busy again. I was not looking for any thing, but they sort of "found" me.

definitely keep playing, and hopefully something will find you
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Me being "found" has happened once or twice over the last 35+ years. One thing I definitely do is keep up the practice & home work so when the call comes in, I'm ready.
 
I got recent compliments, and I was thankful, because it was nice. But also, it meant the people making them weren't familiar with what I've been doing for a couple of years even though I've been very actively playing live and 1 has even been at my gigs.
 
I can’t take compliments on my drumming seriously because I know the truth. But I did get a few nice ones the last time I sat in. I’ll take them gracefully too, dang it!
 
DRUMS01 said:
Honestly, while it is nice to get some kind of feedback that your playing is tracking and inspirational, I always remind myself that all compliments go to God in this environment. He gave me my skills and this opportunity so I always strive to remember playing in a praise or worship team is not in any way about "self" but rather his glory.
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I feel the same way about my church gig, of which I'm very fortunate to have. Such an amazing opportunity.
 
I’ve been trying to find new ways to meet other musicians to play with and have attended a couple open blues jams. At the first one I tried, at Crossroads in NJ, I sat in with a few other attendees for 3 tunes. Didn’t really know the tunes but just concentrated on keeping a solid groove. Never mind that every drop of moisture had left my mouth because I was so nervous. Anyway, I got through the first tune and started to feel, not comfortable, but less nervous. After the second tune, the bass player from the house band, who was playing with us, gave me a fist bump. Later I was back sitting at the bar and one of the guitar players found me and said “Hey man, you sounded great. You have a great pocket.” That was all it took to put a big smile on my face. A couple weeks later I went to a different blues jam at Stitch in Manhattan. Again, I sat in on 3 tunes. The house band bass player also played with us and after the first tune he gave me a fist bump and said “You have a great pocket, man.” Also, during the second tune, a couple got up and started dancing. I’m beginning to think that all those lessons and listening and realizing that less can definitely be more may have paid off. Best positive feedback I’ve gotten in my 61 years. I think I’ll keep playing some more. 🤣
 
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Well done for keeping control of the drum volume which helped reign in and control the rest of the band. The general feedback was we were just about right on volume.
 
A few years back, I was part of an ensemble of musicians that played a one-off outdoor event. One of the leaders was an accomplished musician and worship leader, and after rehearsing, he asked me where I played, and I told him. He replied, by saying, "Well. they must be very happy to have you!" This was a huge compliment, coming from someone who was extremely talented in their own right and has probably played with a lot of drummers.
 
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