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BiographyName: Mike Wilcox
Styles/Influences: Bernie Dresel, Steve Gadd, Dickie Harrell, Ringo, Charlie Watts, W.S Holland, Joe Morello, Dino Danelli Band, Stray Cats, Beatles, Stones, Byrds, Gene Vincent, Uncle Tupelo. I like all sorts of music from latin, to opera, to jazz, to rock-a-billy, to insurgent country and classic rock, country, country rock, blues and all their derivatives. History: My drumming journey is probably a lot like most drummers out there. I remember first getting captured by music when I was in kindergarten in 1954. I was being bad and went and hid behind a piano just as the teacher was starting the music portion of the day. She started playing and apparently hit all the right notes. I just fell in love with the way things sounded from behind and so close to the piano. From then on, I listened intently to all sorts of music. Fast-forward a few years. My parents and relatives loved to gather on Saturday afternoons to eat, drink, and just plain relax. They often times had a few friends over for these "parties"; we lived on a farm outside of Corning New York, to help in the revelry. Things never failed to get around to singing. I think it was my father's influence mostly. They would start singing Mills Brothers songs and many others that were popular in that time for folks their age. The harmonies were wonderful and I would sing along with them. Towards the end, they would turn to singing country ballads and do a great job on those as well. This was pretty much acappella with some harmonica thrown in once in a while. I soon found myself hitting my knees to keep time. Of course there were the pots & pans thing. Hitting them with wooden spoons was the method I most favored. This wasn't well received because I normally did this early Saturday mornings while watching Hop-a-long Cassidy on television. This stuff went on for a few years and I remember that my cousin, Duane Eddy, showed up at one of the Saturday sing fests. He was just stopping by on his way to Albany for a gig and ended up staying the night. He showed me his guitar and a few chords then took it out to use at the party. I, of course started slapping my knees to keep timeand he stopped dead. "I didn't know we had a drummer in the family" he said. He then went into the house and brought out his guitar case for me to bang on. That was it, my first "gig". I never turned back from then. I'll move along rather quickly from this point. I got into Rock-a-Billy music, Patsy Cline, Narvel Felts, Elvis, and all that, but when The Beatles, Stones, and all that British invasion stuff came around, I was busy. I didn't have a drum set, so I used one that a friend had. He didn't like drums but his parents bought them for him and he was supposed to use them. I would go over to his house and practice for him. His parents never knew he wasn't actually doing anything. It was all me. Anyway, I was in a few bands in high school joined the military, went to college, got married, and had kids. That pretty much ended my drumming career for a long time. I just couldn't be on the road with the kids at home so I set drumming aside. I still beat my thighs to a pulp and slammed my feet down along with any music I heard but didn't actually sit down at a kit again until 1989. By this time the boys had gotten interested in music and I found myself buying guitars, basses, amplifiers, mics etc. So I decided I might as well start playing again. I picked up a cheap kit and jammed along to records, tapes and the new CDs and found I was a little rusty, but could keep up with just about all of them. A couple garage band things happened as hobbies. I hooked up with a guy at church and started teaching kids for free on Saturday mornings. We had up to 23 kids there some days teaching them how to play, present themselves etc. This led to an invitation to play heavy metal in a Christian band named "Messiah". It was during this time that I found I was getting dizzy and disoriented. It didn't seem to happen while I was playing much but more so during the day. I found myself tired all the time and had difficulty focusing on anything. I was getting in trouble at my job and my boss finally confronted me with it. He said I was not the guy I used to be and to go get things checked out. I did, and to make a long story short, I ended up with diagnoses of Meniere's disease. (Please see the article below for the particulars of Meniere's disease) After failing to get any relief from area doctors, I went down to Memphis to see a specialist. He confirmed the diagnoses and started me on a series of treatments. Each would work for a time but I always ended up back where I was. I was getting pretty discouraged (spelled depressed) because it seemed each day I was getting worse. I couldn't hit cues, perform any opening fills, had no energy, was depressed and seemed to fall down a lot. I had a couple vertigo attacks and frankly was ready to just drop out of everything. I was in trouble with my job, my family (they didn't understand), my band mates, and myself. I was in three bands at this point and was failing everybody. I made a frantic call down to Memphis and was told to get down there right away. I left the next day and saw the doctor that same day. Within minutes, he sent me to the hospital in a cab, and the next morning, I had a dangerous operation involving the "baggie" that surrounds the brain. It's called sac decompression and shunt. It seems I had so much pressure on my brain that the doctor couldn't see how I was able to even stand up, let alone do anything. The surgery relieved the pressure and has been a great success. I still have lingering symptoms and have to be careful what I do but life has been good for the last four years. Since that surgery, other than starts and stops, I never experienced a symptom during a gig or practice. Music has healing powers! No more falling off the throne, no more dizzies and whirlies, no depression. I dropped all of the bands and started my own, "Crossfyre". It's country at the core just like those sing along parties when I was young. We do newer stuff as it comes up. The guys in this one all understand my problems, as I do theirs. We get along and are patient with each other. I also play a set of Roland V drums at church. I've been doing that since the operation and God always pulls me through. I have to work very hard to focus on starts and endings but everything else is on autopilot. I just let it come out. MediaAudio #1 & #2 replaced 03-29-06 Video #1 (wmv)
Audio #1 (mp3)
Audio #2 (mp3)
GearAll info updated 03-29-06 
Drums: NDC Custom in Vintage Silver Crushed Glass Glitter Finish
Cymbals: Various Brands
Hardware & Misc:
I also use a Gibraltar rack system, clamps, and cymbal arms. Heads: Evans Batter & Remo Reso on all drums Sticks: Pro-Mark Millenium II Japanese Oak Wood Tip |
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