Many years ago, when I was playing rhythm guitar and singing with a 5-piece country band, there came a time when the drummer became seriously ill. He had a major heart attack and went into congestive heart failure. It ended his drum playing career and a few years later, it took his life. He was a great drummer, his timing was pretty strict and regimented, but not as strict as a drum machine or any other electronic device. The big thing he could do was adjust to subtle changes in tempo, especially when our lead guitar player began sliding out into left field. Our lead guitar player was all over the place when it came to tempo, mainly, I believe, because he rarely played in the band, just sat at home and picked out songs and sang, so tempo was never a critical thing to him. When we lost the drummer, and wasn't able to find another for the following week's jobs, I went to the local music store and purchased a Roland programmable drum machine. Back then, it was considered the best available, and it really sounded fantastic.

Well, the only person that seemed to be able to keep time with the machine was me. The lead guitar player never really paid any attention to the drum machine, or our drummer when he was there. The drummer would always adjust to suit the guitar player's tempo changes, but the drum machine didn't, thus causing a problem. I later noticed our fiddle player and the mandolin player, had the same problem. Since then, I've noticed that I wasn't the only person that encountered this. There are a lot of great players out there that cant keep time if you gave them a metronome - it's amazing.

All but the guitar player and myself have long since passed away, and last year I had to retire. The guitar player performs that NH circuit, playing and singing as a solo entertainer, performing only Marty Robbins songs. He does about 2 jobs a week most of the time. He still cannot keep time with the keyboard, and turned down my offer when I offered to give him the old drum machine. Said he just couldn't get the hang of using it.

All the best,

Gary