Drummer from Pautaxant, Maryland, a navy brat who moved around a lot as a child, including four years in North Africa. In the states, he lived in Nashville, Tennessee, Oakland, California and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Music was his anchor. At the age of four or five, he started playing the piano by ear, and he was good enough to warrant classical training.
While he was in college, he took a different tack. Encumbered by the rigid technical demands of his music teachers, yearning to be more creative and interpretive, he eschewed classical music for the live club circuit. Some of the artists he worked with during this time include John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, and Jerry Garcia. Tom was a good guy to know, because he helped get Eddie some studio dates.
He kicked around between the two coasts in the late 1960s, performing live in New Jersey and recording at Fantasy Records in San Francisco, California. A couple of his early recordings include Smoke’s 1968 eponymous album and Doug Clifford’s 1972 offering, Cosmo, on which Eddie contributed vocals.
On a hunch, Eddie moved to Nashville. He was convinced that was where it was going to be happening. He found work quickly on the local club scene, where he met up with Cherry Bombs drummer, Larrie Londin. Larrie encouraged Eddie to switch from piano to the drums. Eddie took his advice and it turned out to be one of the best career decisions he ever made. He has since become the #1 go-to guy if you’re cutting an album in Nashville.
His discography is too exhaustive to list in its entirety, and too full of highlights to just list highlights. Some of the artists and groups he has worked with, however, include Alabama, Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, John Denver, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Mark Knopfler, Lyle Lovett, Reba McEntire, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Marie Osmond, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Bob Seger, Ricky Skaggs, Sting, George Strait, Conway Twitty, Uncle Kracker, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood and Trisha Yearwood. His gold and platinum recordings number in the hundreds.
He has also become a staple on film soundtracks such as America’s Sweethearts, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Contact, Everybody’s All-American, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Horse Whisperer, Indecent Proposal, Jack the Bear, King of the Hill, Life Goes On, Maverick, Nadine, The Prince of Egypt, Rustler’s Rhapsody, Something to Talk About, and Twister.
In 1992, he joined the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and has served off and on with them through the new millennium.
He is also a member of two bands, The Notorious Cherrybombs and The Players.
TNC comprise Eddie Bayers, Richard Bennett, Tony Brown, Rodney Crowell, Hank DeVito, Vince Gill, John Hobbs, and Michael Rhodes. They have twice been nominated for a Grammy award, once for Song of the Year and once for Vocal Group of the Year.
The Players overlap a bit with TNC, and include Eddie Bayers, Paul Franklin, John Hobbs, Brent Mason, and Michael Rhodes. They have released a “live” DVD which features guest artists such as Shawn Colvin, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Jim Horn, and Travis Tritt.
Eddie has also produced recordings for Lane Brody, Rosanne Cash and Glen Campbell, as well as the movie soundtrack of A Thing Called Love.
He has won Drummer of the Year from the Academy of Country Music a record thirteen times, including an unprecedented eleven years in a row.
Sources:
- http://www.eddiebayers.com/bio.html
- http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Eddie_Bayers.html
- http://community-2.webtv.net/eddiebayers/EDDIESNEWS/
- http://www.zildjian.com/en-US/artists/artistDetail.ad2?artistID=1020
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VInVRzBScGs
- http://www.answers.com/topic/eddie-bayers
- http://www.bigbangdist.com/eddie_bayers.htm
- http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:6bktk60x9krk~T40
- http://community-2.webtv.net/eddiebayers/MOVIECREDITS/
- http://www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001121/Eddie%20Bayers