The Three-Foot Rule: Joel Stevenett on How a Session Drummer Gets the Gig (Episode 3)

Everything you do is an audition.

You may not know Joel Stevenett by name or recognize him on the street, but you have heard him. As Nomad laid out in the intro to Episode 3 of The Career Musician, Joel's drumming runs through records with artists like Jo Dee Messina, Donny Osmond, Air Supply, Styx and Kenny Loggins, through movies, through themes for ESPN and the NBA, and through more than 60 video games.

Nomad calls him the epitome of a stellar career musician. The two met in Nashville in 1996, and this conversation happened over a lunch break between sessions at Nomad's Place in Burbank. It is full of session drummer advice, but the biggest lessons have nothing to do with sticks. They are about how you meet people, how you follow through, and how you stay fresh.

Play it like the first time, every time

Joel spent a good four or five years with Jo Dee Messina, doing 80-plus shows a year. Between production rehearsals, soundchecks and shows, he played those songs hundreds of times. So how do you keep it from going stale?

His answer: play it like it is literally the first time, every night. He would smile across the stage at the bass player and the guitar player, and the band stayed cohesive. He also kept the biggest ears possible, locking his right foot with the bass player's right hand and letting everything else sparkle.

Nomad, speaking as a producer and music director, added that the whole band has to play in one accord, and that awareness has to project out to the audience and especially to the artist.

"If you're backing an artist and singer, my gosh, the last thing they want to do is just have a chops fest."

Joel Stevenett, 8:17

Nomad made a point he also makes in his own book: decide early whether you want to be an artist or a side person. If you choose sideman, be content in it and support the artist you are backing 1,000%.

The three-foot rule

When Joel first moved to Nashville he didn't know anybody. His older brother gave him a piece of advice: the three-foot rule. If anybody is standing within three feet of you, talk to them.

So at a drum clinic in a sweltering warehouse with about 125 drummers, when the clinician finished and every drummer in the room rushed over to meet him, Joel went the other way. He walked over to the bass player, who was rolling up his cable with nobody talking to him, told him he loved what he did, and asked to grab lunch sometime.

Three days later they had lunch. Joel invited him over to jam in his basement, and the bass player said, let's go right now. They played for an hour and a half. That weekend Joel went to see him play with a new female duo, and after the show came the news: they were looking for a new drummer, with auditions on Tuesday.

Availability, initiative, follow-through

The audition roster was already full. Joel asked for the tour manager's number anyway and called him on Sunday morning. He didn't ask for a slot. He said if they had a lunch break and time for a guy to play one verse and one chorus, he would love to. Six hours later, the call came back: come in and play one song.

He bought the album, listened to that song over and over, and showed up so nervous his right leg felt like it was playing 32nd notes on the kick. Halfway through the first chorus, a shadow walked toward the stage with a hand across the throat. Cut. "Thank you, Joel."

Here is the part that matters. He didn't sulk. He smiled, shook everybody's hand, thanked them for the opportunity and said maybe they would work together in the future. On his way out, he was asked to hang out in the parking lot. Ten minutes later: do you want the gig?

"See, I told you Joel was the consummate professional. Keeping a positive attitude goes a long way in this crazy business of music."

Nomad, 26:11

Nomad broke it into three steps: the three-foot rule, making yourself available, and taking initiative with follow-through. A lot of players get stuck in "should I call, should I not call." Joel called. The worst they could say was no. That is Luck = preparation + opportunity in real time: he was ready, and he made the opportunity happen.

Be genuine, and it comes back around

Nomad lives by the same rule. Chatting with the shoe guy at a department store, he found out the man's wife worked for a company that puts on big corporate events with live bands. They exchanged numbers. He was there to buy shoes.

Joel's caution: be authentic, because people can smell it if you are not sincere.

"It's about being selfless... when you kind of let go and it's not about you, it really does come back around, like multiple fold."

Joel Stevenett, 28:45

If Joel is not the right guy for a gig, he recommends a buddy. To him, there is enough work, enough gigs and enough opportunity wherever you live. Work begets work, and it usually starts with a conversation you didn't have to start.

Lose the eighth notes

Joel has always learned by listening, from Neil Peart as a teenager to Allan Holdsworth and the players he found by rereading liner notes. He also booked a three hour lesson with legendary session drummer JR Robinson, after spotting on his website that he was off the road and taking students.

The lesson he still uses: at slow tempos, drop the eighth note subdivision on the metronome and play to quarter notes only. Let your inner clock take over and your feel will be spot on. Joel practiced it late at night, air drumming on a table to the click, working on patience between each note. Today he uses both kinds of click depending on the tune.

The takeaway

Joel's story is the whole playbook. Talk to the person three feet away. Make yourself available. Follow through when it feels bold. Take the "thank you" with a smile, because the way you walk out of an audition is part of the audition. Then keep learning, and keep surrounding yourself with great people. If you have an audition coming up, start with the free Audition Secrets guide. You can read more about Joel at Modern Drummer.

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

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