Eric Darken on Building a Session Musician Career (Episode 134)

Reliability beats virtuosity.

When Nomad started doing sessions in Nashville around 1999, he kept hearing the same name: if it is anything percussion, call Eric Darken. In Episode 134 of The Career Musician, Eric sits down to talk about how he built one of the busiest careers in session percussion. His credits include Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Jewel, Bob Seger, Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill, and at the time of this conversation he had spent more than a decade touring with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band.

Nomad asks for the "secret sauce" of a session musician career. Eric answers in one word, then spends an hour unpacking it.

One word: diversity

"One word: diversity. Good attitude, good work ethic, being able to work with a wide variety of people, being able to be a chameleon a bit."

Eric Darken, 2:54

Eric adds the skill underneath it: walk into a situation and read the room immediately, know your role, and learn at a young age how to serve people. His goal is to bring as much to the table as he can, whether he is working for Bob Seger, George Strait or Megadeth. Yes, Megadeth. He had just finished his third or fourth record with them, swapping ideas over Zoom, and his role was cinematic and orchestral.

Live TV at 19: where discipline came from

Eric's grandfather was a dance band leader in Chicago. Eric started on a snare drum at around eight to ten, grew up as a drum set player into jazz, Rush, Weather Report and Pat Metheny, and drifted toward percussion in concert bands and orchestras. A mallet teacher in college pushed him hard, so he was reading orchestral parts young.

Then came the gig that shaped him. At Oral Roberts University, he landed the percussion chair on a live TV show, five days a week for almost three years. Rehearsal at 7 a.m., read the chart twice, then play it live for a national audience at 19 or 20 years old.

That taught him to be prepared. He would ask the music director for charts ahead of time and shed anything tricky the night before. At night he played with local symphonies, by day in college jazz bands. He jokes it is a miracle he graduated. That is Savvy from the ETHOS code: doing your homework before anyone asks.

Be a sponge, and be honest about what you want

How do you get that versatile? Eric learned a lot by listening, constantly, to everything new, and by studying the LA hand percussion greats like Lenny Castro and Luis Conte. He took a few lessons with Conte and watched orchestral percussion sections on LA scoring stages. He also started recording in high school, and hearing himself back hooked him.

Just as important: be honest with yourself about what you like. Eric loves orchestral music and plays timpani, but he never wanted a symphony job. Some people love the road. Some never want to tour. Know which you are.

On the old Nashville split between the "studio cat" and the "road dog," Eric thinks the stigma has mostly worked its way out. More artists take studio players on the road, and there are two or three session players in Buffett's band, including music director Mac McAnally.

How a one-week sub became a decade

Eric spent about 20 of his 30 Nashville years mainly doing studio work. Then Mac called. Buffett's longtime percussionist, Ralph MacDonald, had health issues, and they asked Eric to sub. He thought it would be a week or ten days. Every month they asked him back, and by the end of the year, after Ralph passed away, they asked him to stay. He had already played on a few Buffett records over the years, including "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" with Alan Jackson.

That is the organic way work happens: somebody you played well for gives your name to someone else. Work begets work.

Think like a career plumber

For the young musician whose phone isn't ringing, Eric reframes the question. Take "musician" out of it. How does a career landscaper or chef get the word out in a new town? You meet people, sit in, play churches for free, hand out business cards. He did plenty of four-hour gigs for $40, dragging gear through parking lots.

"I've been using the same plumber for 25 years. Why? Because he's great... he shows up, he does his job and he does it great. And it's the same thing with us."

Eric Darken, 25:52

Eric's parents owned a sporting goods store, and they taught him about serving the customer: when a customer walked in at 5:30, they stayed. In music, that is sticking around for the extra overdubs. Even after years in Buffett's band, Eric still asks how he can better serve the band and help Jimmy be a better performer. And most of the successful people he knows are great hangs. That is reliability beats virtuosity and low maintenance / no drama in one story.

Gear, cartage and endorsements done right

Eric's full rig can fill two cartage trucks. Every case is numbered, and he knows what is in each one, so he can tell his cartage company exactly which trunks, bass drums and gongs to pull. He only brings what a session needs: big drums for a film score one day, a different setup for a Western swing record the next.

On endorsements, he never chased them. He plays gear that represents him. He has been with Paiste for over 20 years and plays Meinl because he likes the instruments and the people. When he finds a small builder making something special, like a suitcase bass drum or a clear drum full of popcorn kernels, he just buys one.

Be aware, and serve the music

In the room with big artists, Eric is quiet and all ears. He doesn't need to be the center of attention. On a full tracking date, he listens to the producer and the other players. One-on-one, he reads the room fast: if they want shaker, tambourine and congas on the last chorus, that is all they want.

"Be aware of who's playing what, when and why. And by doing that, you'll know what to play or what not to play."

Eric Darken, 43:28

He credits Mac McAnally with the phrase he lives by: serve the music. With Buffett, he finds himself editing out more and more of what he doesn't need to play. Like a great chef with 30 spices, use the three that make the dish.

Value your time, and stay teachable

On rates, Eric looks for a happy medium between asking too much and lowballing yourself. When someone says "do your thing," remember that thing took 30 or 40 years to develop. And it is okay to walk away from work that is not good for your soul. Sometimes, though, the music is incredible and the bread is not, and he does it anyway.

His final word is to be teachable. On a day off in Boston, he went to Symphony Hall and took a lesson on triangle and tambourine from Neil Grover, a percussionist with the Boston Pops. His bandmates couldn't believe it. That is Humility, and it is why he is still in the game in his mid-50s.

The takeaway

Be diverse, be prepared, be aware, serve the music, and never stop learning. Show up like the plumber you have trusted for 25 years. For more on the career side, grab the free Get the Gig guide, and check out Eric's work at ericdarken.com.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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