We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nich Gannon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nich below.
Nich, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.
Invest in Bitcoin and Tesla. Ha no but seriously, I would probably get private lessons earlier and maybe even not go to college right out of high school. Not that I regret the experience, but most of the opportunities I have been presented with have been from mostly networking and attending jam sessions. So, I guess to get where I am faster with less capital would be to take private lessons instead of going to college, attend more jam sessions and move to Atlanta sooner than when I did. That being said, I am thankful for the experiences I’ve gained by attending Young Harris and Georgia State University, and both of those places have dealt a major hand in where I am now.
Nich, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am an Atlanta-based drummer/percussionist. I offer lessons, session work (either on-site or remote), live performances, and touring services to any artists who need any sort of percussive support. Some of my skillsets include a very fine attention to detail in a performance, as well as an ear for orchestration in terms of writing drum parts for a song/piece. One of my more redeeming qualities is the ability to blend into almost any musical situation from rock, country, jazz, funk and latin to Pop and everything in between. You can find me performing with a variety of musicians in and around Atlanta. I’m currently holding the drum throne for Atlanta rock band, The Ides of June as well as the renowned blues guitarist, Hughes Taylor.
As an educator, I am able to pinpoint an exact issue a student may be having and build a lesson plan around their needs and abilities. I am also big on maintaining a solid grasp of fundamentals so my students can better serve the music. I offer lessons out of my house in Chamblee, Ga or at Sandy Springs Music in Sandy Springs.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
So growing up, I was never the best at my instrument in school. I started on drums and percussion kind of late into high school (I had played both guitar and drum set all through middle school but never really settled on either). Although I had a grasp of how to play the drum set, I was pretty far behind my classmates. I was told nonstop by peers that I was not good/wasn’t good enough/I sucked/etc. This sort of led me down a path of sheer stubbornness to prove them wrong. When I hit college and started auditioning for various Drum Corps and Indoor Groups I was still not at the top of the game, and wound up getting cut from almost every group I auditioned for. However, I learned to simply trust the process, keep my head low, and ignore the haters. Thanks to so many incredible supportive teachers I had, and the ability to simply stick to a plan and keep practicing, I wound up progressing as a drummer/percussionist quickly from 2010-2016. Thanks to my work ethic and sheer willpower, I’m now in a spot where I feel confident as a drummer (though I am still constantly learning and striving to improve on my instrument) to take on any gig at hand. This has also led me to be one of the more reliable musicians in Atlanta and opened myself up to some pretty great opportunities thus far.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
That simply spending time in the practice room is the main key to being a successful working musician. Yes, you have to be good at what you do and always have to work on your craft to stay in shape. However, it’s a very small cog in a veerrrryy large wheel in the grand scheme of things. I didn’t truly learn the importance of networking and marketing myself until the past 4 years or so when I left grad school and had to fend for myself on the scene.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nichgannon.com
- Instagram: @nichgannonmusic
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nich-gannon-6a5b06180/
Image Credits
Michelle Wood Stephen Averett