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In Praise of Great Musicians (1): Al Cross September 29th, 2008

As I was surfing the web this afternoon, I came across an article by Derek K. Miller entitled “Seventeen Top Drummers,” and I noticed that Al Cross is listed there (along with such names as Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Stewart Copeland, and Phil Collins).  A big fan of Al’s former band Big Sugar, Miller–a drummer himself–mentions that he is inspired by Al’s drumming, even though Al is now ”a white haired old man” who is “gone and retired.”  In fact, although Big Sugar is defunct, Al has been keeping quite busy playing with the likes of Loreena McKennit, Natalie McMaster, Jane Sibbery, and Anne Lindsay (among others)–and I’m thrilled to say that he appears on my own forthcoming CD entitled “On the Bridge You Were Burning” (due out in March of 2009).  Al was a joy to work with in the studio, not only because he is the best drummer I’ve ever played with (and probably ever will), but because he is a lot of fun to hang out with.   As Al said a number of times in the studio, he wanted to leave his “trademark” on my songs, and so he did.  His drum tracks might just be my favourite thing about the whole CD.  Thanks, Al, for being so awesome!