Rock And Blues International

Robbie Parrish - The Sharp Dressed Drummer To The Stars Where does one begin with Robbie Parrish? You may not know him but there is a very good likelihood that you have listened to his work. More than hanging out with the stars Robbie continues to be in the thick of it both on stage and as a world class drum tuner. Most of us never give much thought about what goes into reproducing the quality of sound on stage just as it was produced in the studio but Robbie does and he does this in a big way. Robbie Parrish is known as the consume’ go to sound reproduction man and when it comes to setting up microphones around the drum kit in a studio.

The man is also a top rated drummer and has performed on Broadway in Oh Calcutta! and Tommy among others. On stages around the world Robbie Parrish has performed with Annie Lennox, Edgar Winter, The Temptations, Dick Dale, Etta James, Dr. John and a long list of others. He performed with Chuck Berry in twenty plus shows including being on American Bandstand with him. Closer to home Robbie played in the great rock band Dr. Rocket with band leader Rock Romano. When it comes to dress Robbie is well known as “that sharp dressed drummer guy” and it is not uncommon to find him out and about looking every bit the way he lives his life. It was Duke Ellington that encouraged Robbie’s desire to look rather dapper both on and off stage. Plus as luck would have it a young Robbie Parrish not only received front row seats from Jimi Hendrix but back stage passes as well. He noticed the close to flamboyant dress of Mr. Hendrix and how the man stood out. Those two experiences struck home. Robbie is also the man that handled the sonics for early MTV, Woodstock II, and Live in Pompei with David Gilmour. In his early days Robbie met the Glimmer Twins, Keith and Mick who are better known today as the Rolling Stones. He would go on to prepare the drum sounds on Martin Scorsese’s “Live At The Beacon Theatre” featuring the Rolling Stones. His musical roots were planted back when Robbie was just ten. It was his Mother that took him to the music store and noticed a drum kit perched up on a shelf and mentioned that maybe drums were something he might want to learn. He did and the rest is history of course. Support at such a young age is what brings the best out of those that have the ability within, those that have a natural passion for music. What you have just read is about a man that was encouraged to investigate the mysteries of music and the nurturing encouragement he received that sparked an ember. As time advanced that ember turned into a roaring fire. If Robbie Parrish were to take a Myers Brigg test he would probably test out at about the maximum level in regard to being an introvert. Yet music lives within him so much so that it fuels a passion for perfect sound, to a depth that most of us would never dream of investigating on a regular basis. This otherwise introverted quiet soul becomes a wildly creative yet disciplined extrovert on stage and behind it. He sees music in colors and separates the hues into finely tuned sounds. The benefit is that millions of music lovers are enjoying recordings and live performances that a man of this caliber is fine tuning behind the scenes. World class sound engineer Andy Bradley shares, “Robbie Parrish is the best drum technician in the world” Learn more about Robbie at either https://www.facebook.com/robbieparrishproductions121 or Linkedin.

December 2020 • Rock and Blues International 49