Wednesday, July 07, 2021

Grandma Drummer



"Grandma Drummer" is the name affectionately given to the lady who comes into Coalition Drum Shop in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Now she's gone viral on the internet! Sixty-three-year-old Mary Hvisda started playing drums at age 15, and has played in bands since she was 16 years old -all the way to 1990.
“I couldn't find no other bands to play with, and then I did quit,” said Hvizda.

Soon after, Hvizda sold her last drum set, but she never really lost her love for playing.

“I still kind of like to go to the music store and play a drum set, and then that's it,” said Hvizda. “My music urge has been satisfied.”
The drum store is giving Mary a set of electronic drums, which will be delivered on Monday. After all, she's not nearly as old as most of The Rolling Stones -and they're still playing. (via Metafilter)

4 comments:

Bicycle Bill said...

That's my hometown!!!

This is a somewhat old clip, from 2013.  While the basic story is correct, here's 'the rest of the story', as Paul Harvey used to say.

Originally her identity was not know when the clip first surfaced.  She was known only as "Mary" to the store personnel when she sat down and rocked out.  It was only a few days later that her full identity and back-story emerged.

Mary, who was 63 when this clip was recorded, was 16 in 1966 when she became the drummer for a local group called "The Chantells", the first all-girl rock band in La Crosse — pioneers in a male-dominated industry.  She played in over a dozen different bands in genres ranging from rock to country/western over the next 25 years until the last group she played with, "On The Road Again", broke up in 1990.

Even more interesting is that she wasn't aware she had become an internet sensation, either.  She didn't own a computer, and had never heard of YouTube until the clip went viral and someone brought it to her attention.

And the moniker of "Grandma Drummer" isn't quite accurate, either.  She never got married or had children of her own, algthough, as she said that, at 63, 'that is certainly grandma's age."

And yes, she got her drum kit.

-"BB"-

Miss Cellania said...

Thank for all that, Bill!

xoxoxoBruce said...

Yeah, thank you Sir. It's so cool to have that filled in.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Go, girl, go!