Real drummer talk from the working side.
Working Drummer treats drumming as a working life, not just a set of chops. Conversations move from theater chairs and Nashville sessions to artist support, endorsements, family logistics, and the small decisions that keep a player called back.
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Working Drummer is built around the part of a music career that rarely fits into a highlight reel. It talks to players who have made the chair work night after night. Some guests are famous inside the drumming world, like Jeff Hamilton. Others are working pros with resumes that stretch across country tours, Broadway, indie stages, theater work, studio files, artist relations, and regional circuits. The appeal is in the detail. Matthew Atkins talks about preparation, charting, theater direction, and knowing when to trust the hired players in the room. Sean Horton brings the split-life reality of family in Sweden and work in Nashville into the same conversation as the Lauren Daigle gig. John Spittle connects Trace Adkins road work with pocket, feel, and a studio life recording drums for producers and artists. Bruno Ezrabilski’s path moves from Rio de Janeiro cafe gigs and a Dave Matthews tribute band to Broadway and Mitski. Mark Slutsky’s episode frames curiosity and micro-level practice through a long touring and session career. Chris Stankey gives the artist-relations side of Sabian, with old circuit stories and cymbal-company lore. Nate Felty’s conversation catches a band in rapid motion, where success changes the workload but not the need to communicate cleanly. The show does not rush these answers. It lets guests follow the thread from one gig to the next, because that is often where the lesson lives. There is drummer language here, but it is rarely gear talk for its own sake. Charts matter because someone has to be ready. Endorsements matter because the meaning of visibility has changed. Feel matters because the song needs support before anyone needs a drum moment. The tone is casual, warm, and musician-literate, with enough banter to keep the room loose. For players, it is a useful record of how working musicians think. For non-drummers, it is a grounded look at the craft, discipline, and human maintenance behind professional music.
Made for: Built for drummers, working musicians, music students, educators, and serious fans who want the career realities behind the gig. It especially suits listeners who like patient interviews about feel, preparation, touring, recording, and musical judgment.
What sets it apart: The show favors ground-level career experience over celebrity polish. It gives space to the less glamorous but essential parts of the job: charts, rooms, support slots, artist dynamics, endorsements, family logistics, and staying easy to hire.
With 500 episodes and counting, Working Drummer Podcast is the source for those interested in what it’s like to be a professional drummer. Hosted by Matthew Crouse and Zack Albetta, Working Drummer covers it all with a dynamic range of pro drummers who represent many different genres and scenes. Each weekly interview features a different performer, sometimes with a less recognizable name, but always with an impressive and distinct body of work. This unique approach has garnered a loyal audience hungry for unfiltered stories about making a living as a musician today.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Working Drummer makes the professional choices behind touring, sessions, stage work, and music-first playing unusually concrete.
Working Drummer treats drumming as a profession shaped as much by judgment and preparation as by technique. In interviews led by Zach Albetta and Matthew Krause, performers discuss reading charts, supporting arrangements, taking direction, learning unfamiliar material, and…
Three and a half hours on a cover gig may do more for your contacts than another handshake.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A steady drumming conversation about preparation, trust, and doing the work well in the room.
Matthew Atkins keeps this Working Drummer conversation focused on the job itself: showing up ready, taking direction, and backing the music without turning it into an ego exercise.
Jeff Hamilton talks sound, standards, and serving the music.
Working Drummer follows Jeff Hamilton through a career that reaches from Woody Herman and Monty Alexander to Ray Brown, Diana Krall, the Jeff Hamilton Trio, and the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, but the stronger thread is his attention to sound and to serving the music.
A grounded career story where Sabian lore meets the shared-kit realities of the Midwest circuit.
Working Drummer's conversation with Chris Stankey uses Sabian history to get at the quieter labor behind a drum brand. As Director of Artists and Public Relations, Stankey sketches the artist program as more than a roster: it is recruiting, developing, supporting,…
A road-level look at how humility and candor travel with Nate Felty into bigger rooms.
Zach Albetta's talk with Nate Felty turns the Zach Top gig into a grounded study of how a Nashville player stays steady as the rooms get bigger.
A close-up look at a working drummer's Nashville path, with the craft and discipline that keep the gig moving.
Zoltan Tobak's move from Fort Bragg, California to Nashville reads as a practical career path. He moved in 2014, then became the live and studio drummer for Muscadine Bloodline in 2016 while keeping other Nashville projects in play.
A working drummer links life in Sweden and Nashville to the small arrangement choices that make a band feel settled.
Sean Horton traces a working drummer's life across family in Sweden, jobs in Nashville, roots in Rochester, New York, and years spent in Los Angeles.
A Chicago-to-Nashville drummer story about adaptability, professionalism, and learning how to read the room.
Dave Brandwein's route from the Chicago scene to Los Angeles and then Nashville gives Working Drummer a clear way into the question of how a drummer stays employable across different kinds of work.
Dave Brandwein shows up as a road-tested working drummer.
Horton is caught between family life and gig life.
This episode features an interview with drummer Jared Schonig, discussing his career in Broadway shows like 'Just in Time' and 'Moulin Rouge!', his work with the 8-Bit Big Band, and his diverse projects in jazz and music.
Ben Lecourt describes checking a tour manager's workload before asking for help, especially on a big-city show with press, guests, and last-minute demands.
Matthew Krause sits down with Matthew Atkins for a practical, down-to-earth talk about the working drummer life.
This episode features an interview with drummer Chaun Horton, discussing his career touring with Lauren Daigle, balancing family life in Sweden with work in Nashville, and his experiences in the music industry.
This episode features an interview with drummer John Spittle, who discusses his career playing for country icon Trace Adkins, developing pocket and feel, and coming from three generations of drummers.
This episode features an interview with drummer Bruno Esrubilsky, discussing his nine-year career with indie artist Mitski, his Brazilian roots, and his experiences in the music industry across different genres and locations.
This episode features an interview with drummer Marc Slutsky, discussing his career working with artists like Peter Murphy, his approach to practicing, and his experiences as a touring and studio musician.
Zach Albetta sits down with Jeff Hamilton, whose career stretches from Woody Herman and Monty Alexander to Ray Brown, Diana Krall, the Jeff Hamilton Trio, and the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
Working Drummer episode 557 pairs Matthew Krause with Chris Stankey, Sabian's Director of Artist and Public Relations.
Working Drummer episode 556 follows Zach Albetta and Nate Felty as Felty explains how he got pulled into Zach Top's drum chair in late January 2024.
Matthew Kraus talks with drummer Zoltan Tobak about the path that took him from Fort Bragg, California, to Nashville.
This episode features an interview with drummer Eric Gardner, discussing his 25-year career in LA, his work with artists like Melissa Etheridge and Tom Morello, and the importance of patience in the music industry.
This episode features an interview with LA-based freelance drummer Greg Sadler, discussing his diverse career spanning jazz, cover bands, singer-songwriters, and musical theater, along with his experiences studying with Ed Soph and playing with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.
This episode features an interview with drummer J Rod Sullivan about his experiences landing and adjusting to high-profile gigs, including touring with Janet Jackson and maintaining a Vegas residency.
This episode features an interview with LA-based drummer Kassandra Kocochis, discussing her recovery from losing her home in the Altadena fire, her work with Altadena Musicians and Instrumental Giving to help musicians get instruments, and her experiences touring with Persian superstar Ebi.