Sam Merrick has been in the drum chair for the touring production of Hamilton since January 2018. Prior to that, he was a busy freelancer in New York, working a bartending job for some of that time, and playing a wide range of gigs from weddings to Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. When the pandemic shut down Hamilton, he relocated to the Washington, DC area and set up a home studio where he has done remote tracking and a sample pack which he has just released through The Drum Broker.
In this episode, Sam talks about
- The random wedding gig that led to the Hamilton gig
- The various learning curves the show presented, from reading to energy
- How the show forced him to reckon with some physical issues
- Creating “normal” life away from home
- “De-Hamilton-izing” his playing over the break, and seeking out inspiration and motivation from others rather than waiting it for to come from within
- The sample pack partnership between drummer, producer (Jeremy Page) and platform (Drum Broker)
