that 60% of these churches utilize drums and/
or percussion as part of their music services,
and another 40% of these same churches
have second drum sets for their youth services.
Most of these churches purchase their own
equipment. Wow! Have things ever changed.
How is WFLIII poised to impact the church’s
worship music? Is there any place else in the
world where so many people gather regularly
to sing and appreciate music?
[Bill] I guess I haven’t researched this area at
all, and I go by my past experience going to
my church I know they were always on a tight
budget and needed money to fix the roof or
fix the organ or fix something. I just didn’t see
churches as financially sound enough to spend
money on a kit. My family’s church still has the
same Ludwig tympani my family brought in
there in the late fifties to play on Easter Sunday.
Young Bill III playing timpani
I guess things have changed, and if they do
have budgets then that is a viable market.
[WM] I recently interviewed Nashville-based
drummer Scott Williamson for this publication
(December 2019). Scott’s glowing assessment
of WFLIII Drums is a testimony to the
the drumhead or they change the drum, they twelve-ply, of all these exotic woods, so I asked
think that’s nice. So little things like that add up. somebody why? Does it make them sound any
Then of course with the sound being accepted better? “Oh no, no, but they look cool.” That’s
by everybody, like Scott Williamson and other nice. But that’s what drove me back to the
drummers that play these and within seconds basics which my Grandfather made, a maple/
poplar/maple shell, with a steam bent support
craftsmanship and playability of your drums.
Scott is now one of your endorsees, as are
others. What are you hearing back from players
about your drums? The common thread that
I’m hearing is that your drums are better built,
better looking, and better sounding, than
ring. I thought, man, we just have to go with
“Practice, basics, and that worked.
practice, [WM] What words of advice would you like to
offer aspiring drummers reading this interview?
anything else out there. practice, and [Bill] I really appreciate that comment, and I don’t give up on give up on your dream.
your dream” [WM] Thank you Bill for this time together. It’s
tend to agree. I know I’m biased, but not that
much. But we do put an awful lot of attention
[Bill] Practice, practice, practice, and don’t
been very enjoyable. I’ll see you at NAMM!
into the quality of the edging on the shells, and
the finish inside and out. I mean we put as much
attention into the inside of the drum shell as the
outside. And as we talked about before, my
shells have the support rings inside, the shells
come to our factory totally raw. So when we put
the bearing edge on I ask that we also finish the
bottom side of the support ring. And that does
nothing to the sound, it just looks nice, it looks
finished, so I wanted that and I do that. And
people comment on that when they look inside
say, “Ah, the classic sound!” And that’s what
I‘m looking for, that just makes me so happy,
and that’s what it’s all about.
Before I started this project I did a little research
at the drum shows and drum shops, seeing
what was out there, and I was astonished at
how complicated and over engineered a lot of
things were. The shells were six-ply, ten-ply,
January 2020
Alex MacDougall
Former member of Daniel Amos (DA), Larry
Norman Band, Randy Stonehill Band, and the
Richie Furay Band. He’s also worked with Andrae
Crouch, Bob Bennett, Phil Keaggy, and hundreds
of additional artists and projects. He serves as an
Adjunct Professor, teaching in Music Business at
Dallas Baptist University and Trevecca Nazarene
University’s National Praise and Worship Institute, in
Nashville, TN. Alex is available for lecture, teaching,
and conference workshops.
[email protected]
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