American Drummer Darren Williams | Inspirational Musician | Musicians with Disabilities

Darren Williams

Location: Springfield, MO

Challenge: Cerebral Palsy

Darren Williams is a drummer from Springfield, MO who lives with Cerebral Palsy. He comes from a long line of musicians in his family. He adds "My grandfather was a touring saxophone player in St Louis in the 50s and 60s, so I always grew up around music. The reason that I picked the drums, I remember a school assembly that I went to at a school in St Louis for kids with disabilities call Elias Micheal School, and there was a school assembly wear a band came in and played, needless to say I honed in on the drums immediately and haven't turned back since *laughs*"

Darren is primarily a session drummer, and he is also currently applying for original artist by the name of Avazesa, and he is a freelance drummer as well. Darren adds "My latest passion has just been to add videos to my Instagram, YouTube, and personal Facebook page. Just wanting to inspire anybody willing to watch."

When asked about funny or bad gig stories, Darren says "The only thing I can really think of is back in 2008, I learned why I don't want to play Z custom cymbals ever again *laughs* I was playing for a rock band by the time of the final piece, the last note of the last song I completely nail the crash in a 1 by 1 inch chunk of it flew at my head *laughs* that's how I learned that big cymbals are definitely not my thing."

Darren considers his heroes to be the guys that he plays with these days. His buddies in Springfield Missouri that he supports and supports him. He adds "Those are the guys that are always teaching me something new and pushing me to continue my journey".

Darren says the biggest challenge for him as a musician has been attempting to play someone else's drum set. He adds "You never realize how something as small as pedal tension, rack tom angles, and drum throne Heights can really affect you being able to do your job". He recalls going to try out for a church, and it was the first time in a long time he played somebody else's drum set. He adds "You would have thought I just learned how to play drums the day before". So he's learned that his kit is set up specifically for himself and how he plays, that sitting behind someone else's drum set is a bit of a task.

Darren Williams