The Best Country Drummers Of All Time Ranked

Drums were scorned by early country musicians as being “too loud” and “not pure”, but by 1935 Western swing big band leader Bob Wills had added drums to the Texas Playboys. In the mid-1940s, the Grand Ole Opry did not want the Playboys’ drummer to appear on stage. Although drums were commonly used by rockabilly groups by 1955, the less-conservative-than-the-Grand-Ole-Opry Louisiana Hayride kept its infrequently used drummer back stage as late as 1956. By the early 1960s, however, it was rare for a country band not to have a drummer. Bob Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. A decade later (1948) Arthur Smith achieved top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recording of “Guitar Boogie”, which crossed over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to the potential of the electric guitar. For several decades Nashville session players preferred the warm tones of the Gibson and Gretsch archtop electrics, but a “hot” Fender style, using guitars which became available beginning in the early 1950s, eventually prevailed as the signature guitar sound of country. Here are all of The Best Country Drummers Of All Time ranked.

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4. MYRON HOWELL

“When country newcomer Jake Owens — who hit the Top Ten fast with the euphoric “Yee Haw,” and then came back with the self-seeking mid-tempo “Startin’ With Me” — needed a drummer who had enough smack to connect with Kenny Chesney’s giant crowds, Bronin called the 33-year-old black man with the red beard and goggles. Raised playing old-school gospel in the funkiest sense, Howell had gone on to a distinguished career with the BarKays, Confunkshun, Tom Jones, Chaka Khan, and Patti LaBelle, as well as playing a few early Justin Timberlake dates.”

3.  TOMMY BALES

“Bales considers himself a groove player, and has always been known as a heavy hitter. “Someone who just slams it out there!” he stresses. “When it came to merging the two worlds [of blues and country] what really helped me was listening to [Kentucky Headhunters drummer] Fred Young, because he’s not a country player at all — but he knows how to drive that kind of music. He gets how to make that rocking, blues-based playing work for country.”

2. STEVE SINATRA

“A Berklee grad from South Florida, he landed a gig with Sarah Buxton a few weeks after arriving in Nashville, did some sub dates for Texas icon Pat Green, and then took up the sticks with the roughshod Kentucky duo David Tolliver and Chad Warrix, whose backwoods brand of song-driven rock caught the ears of Tim McGraw and Byron Gallimore, who produced Halfway To Hazard’s self-titled debut.”

1. JARRED POPE

“Bakersfield-bred Jarred Pope has anything but organic country roots, yet his ability to rock the rich harmonies of Whiskey Falls is probably as much a result of his varied musical experience as it is his ties to the legendary California country music Mecca that spawned Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Having played everywhere from the Opry to opening shows for GooGoo Dolls, Cake, and Puddle Of Mudd, the five-piece group recognizes it’s about making a connection with whatever audience they face.”