By Sam Schierholz
Pulling pots and pans out of the cabinet, a young Joe Palumbo sat on his kitchen floor, beating on the cookware with a wooden spoon. Rhythm was always in his blood. Starting his musical endeavors in 4th grade, he first tried the saxophone, then piano and guitar, but nothing stood out to him like the drums did.
“I’ve always wanted to be a drummer for as long as I can remember,” Palumbo said. “I’m not the flashiest drummer in the world. I’m not someone who’s going to be Buddy Rich, or an incredibly flashy drummer. But one of the things I’m told over and over again is that I have incredible time.”
He believes that natural time was built over time listening to records and playing a little drum set on his bed.
“I would take the cardboard pieces out of hangers from the dry cleaners, and those were my first drum sticks,” Palumbo said.
He would listen to records and play along, and get that natural feel of what time meant.
“Music gave me a sense of discipline and kept me out of trouble,” Palumbo said.
Music involves copious amounts of math.
“I think music really helps kids when it comes to understanding concepts of rations and adding,” Palumbo said. “The beauty of music is that there’s multiple time signatures, and those multiple time signatures give you the opportunity to really be creative in your ability to put those notes within a bar.”
Having an uncle who was a famous trumpet player in San Francisco, Palumbo got to participate in drum circles on Hippie Hill as a young kid.
“They had these amazing drum circles with anywhere from 40-60 people, some would be as small as 10, but I’ve been in drum circles that have had 60 guys sitting around in a circle beating on a variety of different kinds of drums,” Palumbo said.
His uncle also knew Bill Graham, a premier music promoter in the 1970s and 1980s. This led to exciting music opportunities for Palumbo, including attending his first rock concert while watching from the side of the stage.
“In 1975, at the age of 11, my first rock show that I ever went to was a show with Styx and Wishbone Ash,” Palumbo said.
He eagerly watched a band performing on stage, wishing one day that would be him. The crowd cheered loudly as the band rocked on. A concert series held at the Oakland Coliseum was always filled with popular rock bands.
“I used to go backstage and have backstage passes to Day on the Greens, in San Francisco,” Palumbo said.
The stadium was set up where the sunset was always on the back of the stage. The sun would come down behind the music stage.
“When The Fix were playing the song ‘Red Skies at Night,’ the sun had come down and created one of those red glows in the sky,” Palumbo said.
Snapping away at live performances, photography helped connect Palumbo with music at an early age. He was given a camera when he was very young, and he took pictures at shows.
“My first picture that I did as a freelancer was to a magazine called Bam in San Francisco, was when I was 15,” Palumbo said.
He has taken photo shoots with Poison, Huey Lewis and the News, and Sammy Hagar.
“I saw Metallica when they did their very first show in San Francisco with a band called Raven from England,” Palumbo said.
Talented mentors helped Palumbo follow his drumming dreams. His teacher in early
high school was a guy named Danny Avila.
“In his high school career, Danny Avila was the number one percussion chair in the California junior symphony,” Palumbo said. As a 17-year-old, Avila played with Don Ho.
Palumbo lived in Rhode Island for a while, where there were many skilled musicians.
“There were jams that were just incredible, in a place where you can really percolate and hone
your craft,” Palumbo said.
A famous blues band called Roomful of Blues was local to Rhode Island.
“Their original guitar player, Duke Robillard, had come in and visited us once in one of our jams,” Palumbo said.
Palumbo got a chance to play with him, after listening to his records over and over again. Now, Palumbo is in two formal bands. He plays with a band called Elvis is a Punk Rocker.
“We take Elvis songs and cover them, but with a punk edge,” Palumbo said. They
speed up and rough up the classic Elvis songs. “We just entertain people by having them
connect the real recording to our interpretation of it.”
He is also starting a surf rock project called The Angry Waves. Palumbo fills in at other gigs when someone needs a
drummer.
Day in the Life of a Las Vegas Drummer
A loud alarm buzzes at the crack of dawn as Palumbo starts his gig day by looking over the set list.
“I’ll wake up and have constructive force to get myself together,” Palumbo said.
He puts his drum set together in his garage and then breaks it back down to put in his truck, so that he’ll never forget anything.
“I have it set up as it would be at the gig,” Palumbo said. He is never late to a show, always arriving a few hours early. “It gives me a chance to sit down and take in the atmosphere of the room and be ready to play when the show kicks off.”
Setting up the drum kit takes time and energy, something he saves for the show.
“I like to be able to sit down and cool down and let my body dry out and be ready for the show in a calm and controlled manner,” Palumbo said.
The drummer might not be the focal point of a band, but drummers have the important job of setting the tempo.
“Nothing gives me more of a thrill, than when I go and play in a place
where there is a dance floor, and I see people moving to my rhythm,” Palumbo said.
Drummers can ultimately determine the texture of the music by their dynamics.
“In the end, it’s what makes people move, and making music is meant to make people move and have emotion,” Palumbo
said. A band can’t be great without a great drummer. “It’s a joke, but not really a joke, that the
drummer is always blamed for everything,” Palumbo said, “if something goes wrong even if it
was someone else’s mistake, the drummer always gets blamed.”
Palumbo has a collection of drums, including seven different drum kits.
“I have everything from a 16 inch bass drum all the way up to a 26-inch bass drum,” Palumbo said.
Sitting at the kitchen table early one morning enjoying a hot cup of coffee, his wife saw a unique drum set for sale on Facebook Marketplace. More than six years ago, it is still his favorite drum set. The original owner had passed away. The drum set had sat in the back of a garage for years, untouched.
“My pride and joy of my collection is (that) 1963 Rogers, with everything completely vintage, as if it was bought yesterday,” Palumbo said.
Another piece he takes pride in is his 26-inch John Bonham bass drum. He had been on the hunt for just that size drum and his old pal, assistant band director at Indiana University, had just what he was looking for. The marching band was getting rid of their entire drum corp outfit and replacing it.
“He said ‘If you pay for the shipping, I’ll send it to you’,” Palumbo said.
Instead of it being 14 inches deep, it’s only 12 inches deep, so it takes up a little less space. John Bonham from Led Zeppelin played a 12-inch deep. Watching your dreams come true right in front of your eyes is a feeling that cannot be replicated.
“The first night I played the Double Down and my name was on the marquee, I was like a little kid,” Palumbo said.
His band started a tradition where bands who play at the Double Down would all get together and take a picture under the famed bar’s marquee.
“When you’re at a gig and you’ve got multiple acts, if you all support each other, it makes for a better show,” Palumbo said.
The Las Vegas music scene is filled with talented musicians, and people who love to perform.
“One of the shining gems of this scene is the punk scene,” Palumbo said. “The beauty of the punk scene here in Vegas is that there are about seven venues that are dedicated to maintaining surf and punk rock.”
Palumbo’s band is one of many who perform live shows multiple times per week.
“My band has 11 gigs in the next 6 weeks,” Palumbo said. Las Vegas is filled with musical opportunities.