Joe Welsh
I first began playing drums in high school, in both the marching and concert bands. Outside of school I played with the Trilby String Band, in Philadelphia, and am proud to have marched up Broad Street, along with the other Mummers, in the New Year’s Day Parade. I was also a member of a quartet made up of other string band members. We played everything from Broadway tunes to rock n’roll to polkas. The gigs usually netted the band $100 for the night, which was good money for 4 hours of “work” (considering that my dad was bringing home $100 per week for 40 hours). Most of my money went to pay off my drums…a Ludwig Jazz Master 4 piece set, in champagne sparkle, that had been endorsed by Joe Morello. I dearly loved that kit.
I joined the army in ‘66…but managed to continue playing. I was accepted into the ASA Band at Ft. Devens, MA. It was a semi-official “good will” extra curricular organization which was broken into two sections - one was the marching/concert band and the other was a big band swing band. I played in both and had a lot of fun. Went to Vietnam in ‘67 and was lucky enough to play in a pick-up band with some old gear we found in an NCO club storage room.
I didn’t touch the sticks again until I arrived in Germany in the spring of 1973. There, I played in two bands over a five-year period plus did some music theater work for the MWR folks.
After returning from Germany, I joined up with a small jazz quintet in Concord, NH who played gigs in a local pub. (Jazz pros from Boston would sometimes come up and sit in with us. Now, THAT was cool!)
I joined up with The Midnight Blues in October 2007. Playing with The Midnight Blues has been the best thing that could have happened to me, musically. Because we’re playing Joey Vee’s original music, I have the chance to be instrumental (no pun intended) in building the song structure. Since there is no original song, or band, to constantly be compared to, we have only to be true to ourselves and to Joey’s vision. Also the song building process allows me to improve my chops, over an extended time period. I’m a better drummer now than I was back in October.
The Midnight Blues has five members…and everyone of them brings musical knowledge to the table and shares it with the others. We blend well together and the music says it all.
So…Thank You, for stopping by and checking out my page and I hope to see you at our next show.
Cheers,
Joe Welsh
Equipment I use:
Tama Drums, Imperialstar kit.
22″ bass, 10″ and 12″ mounted toms, 14″ and 16″ floor toms
Zildjian cymbals… 21″ ride, 20″ and 17″ crash, 14″ Quick Beat hi-hats.
I use various makes of hardware : DW, Pearl, American Drum School. For sticks, I like Vic Firth, Vater and Carbostick 5B’s.
I also own a couple of Rogers kits, from the 1960’s, that I am restoring. One is a Londoner in black wrap and the other is a Holiday in white marine pearl. I’m looking forward to using these kits to gig with in the future.
Here is one of my paintings
