Larry Eagle
the Little Band That Could's drummer, also plays in Bruce Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions band. He performs in many genres -- including avant-garde Jewish bluegrass. You’re in for a laugh or two with Larry’s #BandMemberMonday!
Q: What is your favorite track on Revvin' Up the Reindeer?
A: It’s really tough to choose but I think my favorites are “Hanukkah Rocks” and “Baby New Year.” A lot of behind-the-scenes creativity went into "Hanukkah Rocks” and the result is festive, exciting and fun. And “Baby New Year” shows off the traditional jazz/New Orleans styles of music that I particularly love - Seth and Bill (Holloman, who played all the horns) really shine on that tune.
Bill Holloman adding some plunger trumpet at our "Press Play" CD Release concert. City Winery, 2016. Photo by Jeremy Gordon
Q: What are your favorite Holiday traditions?
A: Well, we have four immediate family birthdays (including mine) the week before Christmas so my favorite holiday tradition is getting through December in one piece.
Q: What do you do when you're not playing with the Little Band That Could?
A: I sit by the door waiting for my next chance to play with the Little Band That Could. (JK)
Actually, I perform and record with a lot of other artists in a wide variety of genres including rhythm and blues, jazz, country, latin, an assortment of world music styles and avant-garde Jewish bluegrass (and no, I’m not JK about that one).
Q: What is it like playing with "The Boss?"
A: Brady? He’s the best! Oh, that other Boss…
The “Seeger Sessions” project was completely different from anything Bruce (or any of the rest of us) had ever done and there was always sort of a manic, flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants energy to our live shows - very unpredictable but incredibly rewarding, especially when we saw how much the audiences loved what we were doing!
Of course, sometimes it seemed like the rest of the band just left me behind…
Pic 1: Here I think Bruce was looking for help from above because of that scary-looking guy behind him… Pic 2: This pic was taken in a nearly 2,000-year-old arena in Verona, Italy, with Little Band bassist, Jeremy Chatzky, on the left and Marty Rifkin (who also plays on Revvin’ Up The Reindeer) on the right. We were told that our dressing rooms used to be the places where they had once kept gladiators and lions! Pic 3 & 4: Larry on the Seeger Sessions Tour!
Q: Who are your musical inspirations?
A: Oh, so many! The drummers alone could fill a page - Earl Palmer, Steve Gadd, Jack DeJohnette, Buddy Rich, Ringo Starr, Zigaboo Modeliste, Jo Jones, Art Blakey…
My all-time favorite, though? Patrick Star!
Q: What is a surprising or interesting fact about you?
A: I’m (partially) color blind - not sure that’s really all that interesting and people who’ve seen the way I dress don’t find it surprising at all.
Q: What is your best memory with the Little Band That Could?
A: That’s hard to narrow down and I’m not sure that Brady would consider it a wonderful memory, but there was once a concert in Arizona where we had a little mix-up and the drums hadn’t arrived before our scheduled soundcheck. Until almost the very last moment I thought I was going to play the whole concert on a garbage can!
Larry, Seth, Liz, Brady, Claudia & Jeremy, "Press Play" photo shoot. Photo by Randee Doddona
