Eddie Bayers is an American session drummer

Session musician

Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

 who has played on 150 gold and platinum albums

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

. He received the Academy of Country Music

Academy of Country Music

The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...

 'Drummer of the Year Award' for eight straight years, and has three times won the Nashville Music Awards 'Drummer of the Year'. He is also a member of two bands: The Players, and The Notorious Cherry Bombs

The Notorious Cherry Bombs

The Notorious Cherry Bombs, originally called The Cherry Bombs, was an American country music supergroup founded by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell in 1980. A former member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, Crowell picked several former Hot Band members as his backing band, which he named The Cherry...

.

Early life

The son of a career military man, Bayers moved around as a child, originally from Maryland then spending time in Nashville, North Africa, Oakland, and Philadelphia. His early musical training was as a classical pianist studying Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. During his college years in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

 he jammed with future stars Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

, and Tom

Tom Fogerty

Thomas Richard "Tom" Fogerty was an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival and the elder brother of John Fogerty, lead singer and lead guitarist in that band....

 and John Fogerty

John Fogerty

John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...

 and developed an appreciation for the creative aspects of music. After a short stint in a New Jersey show band he decided to move to Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

.

Session work

Arriving in Nashville in 1973, Bayers became the house keyboard player at the Carousel Club where he met drummer Larrie Londin

Larrie Londin

Ralph Gallant, better known by his stage name Larrie Londin , was an American drummer and session musician. Londin played with a wide range of artists including Journey and Steve Perry....

 who inspired him to take up drumming. His drumming was influenced by soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 drummers such as Al Jackson, Jr. and Clyde Stubblefield

Clyde Stubblefield

Clyde Stubblefield is a drummer best known for his work with James Brown.Stubblefield's recordings with James Brown are considered to be some of the standard-bearers for funk drumming, including the singles "Cold Sweat", "There Was A Time", "I Got The Feelin'", "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm...

. He became the staff drummer at Audio Media Studios along with guitarist Paul Worley

Paul Worley

Paul Worley is an American record producer and session guitarist, known primarily for his work in country music. Formerly a vice president at Sony BMG, he later joined the staff of Warner Bros. Records' Nashville division as chief creative officer...

, keyboardist Dennis Burnside, and bassist Jack Clement

Jack Clement

Jack Henderson Clement is an American singer, songwriter, and a record and film producer.Raised and educated in Memphis, Jack Clement was performing at an early age...

 playing on records by Tanya Tucker

Tanya Tucker

Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...

, John Denver

John Denver

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

, Ricky Skaggs

Ricky Skaggs

Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...

 and George Strait

George Strait

George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...

.
He has since worked with the likes of The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

, Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks

Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...

, Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell

Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...

, Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney

Kenneth "Kenny" Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S...

, Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton

Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...

, Vince Gill

Vince Gill

Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...

, Rebecca Lynn Howard

Rebecca Lynn Howard

Rebecca Lynn Howard is an American country music artist. She has charted seven singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and has released three studio albums...

, Julio Iglesias

Julio Iglesias

Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...

, Alan Jackson

Alan Jackson

Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...

, Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

, Uncle Kracker

Uncle Kracker

Matthew Shafer is an American rock musician known as Uncle Kracker. His singles include "Follow Me", "Smile", and "Drift Away". His music was more rap rock-based at the start of his career before turning in a more rock and Top 40 style music direction on later releases.-Biography:Shafer was born...

, Bob Seger

Bob Seger

Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...

, Sting, Steve Winwood

Steve Winwood

Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...

, and Trisha Yearwood

Trisha Yearwood

Patricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...

. He has also produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....

's album Interiors

Interiors (Rosanne Cash album)

Not particularly country-sounding, the introspective Interiors was seen by a number of critics and fans as a personal catharsis for Rosanne Cash; shortly after its release, she broke up with husband and longtime producer Rodney Crowell. In a first, Cash produced the album herself, and all of the...

, A Glen Campbell Christmas

A Glen Campbell Christmas

A Glen Campbell Christmas is the 56th album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1998 on the TNN Classic Sessions label...

, and the soundtrack for A Thing Called Love.

The Players

In 2002 Bayers formed a band, The Players, with fellow studio musicians Brent Mason

Brent Mason

Brent Mason is an American session guitarist and occasional songwriter. He is known primarily for his work in the field of country music. In addition to releasing two instrumental studio albums, he holds several credits as a songwriter...

, Paul Franklin

Paul Franklin (musician)

Paul Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville,...

, John Hobbs, Michael Rhodes. The group released a live DVD, Live in Nashville, featuring their own performances along with guest appearances by Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton

Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...

, Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...

, Travis Tritt

Travis Tritt

James Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...

, Vince Gill, and Jim Horn

Jim Horn

Jim Horn is an American saxophonist and woodwind player. He was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for five years, playing sax and flute on the road, and in the recording studio...

.

The Notorious Cherry Bombs

Bayers replaced his former mentor, drummer Larrie Londin, in a reunited Notorious Cherry Bombs

The Notorious Cherry Bombs

The Notorious Cherry Bombs, originally called The Cherry Bombs, was an American country music supergroup founded by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell in 1980. A former member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, Crowell picked several former Hot Band members as his backing band, which he named The Cherry...

 for a 2003 ASCAP Country Awards dinner. The band decided to stay together and has released The Notorious Cherry Bombs

The Notorious Cherry Bombs (album)

The Notorious Cherry Bombs is the self-titled debut album by the American country music group The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a band that formerly served as country singer Rodney Crowell's backing band in the 1980s. This is the band's only studio album, with Crowell and Vince Gill alternating as lead...

which was nominated for Grammies

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 in both the 'Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal' and 'Best Country Song' categories. Along with Bayers the band consists of Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell is a Grammy Award-winning musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music....

, Hank DeVito, Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett (guitarist)

Richard Bennett is a touring sideman, session veteran, and record producer. As a touring sideman, he performed with Neil Diamond for 17 years, and Mark Knopfler since 1994. As a session player, he has worked with artists ranging from Billy Joel and Barbra Streisand to Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill...

, and Michael Rhodes.

The Medallion Band

An all-star lineup was assembled to be the backing band at the 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum identifies and preserves the evolving history and traditions of country music and educates its audiences...

 induction ceremony dubbed the Medallion Band. Bayers served as drummer and was accompanied by keyboardist and music director John Hobbs, pedal steel player Paul Franklin, electric guitarist Steve Gibson, bassist Michael Rhodes, fiddler Deanie Richardson, tuba player Larry Paxton, background vocalists Dawn Sears

Dawn Sears

Dawn Sears is an American country music artist. In addition to her work as a backing vocalist in Vince Gill's band, Dawn has recorded three solo studio albums, of which two were released on major labels...

 and Jeff White, and acoustic guitarist Biff Watson. Later that year Bayers and a slightly revamped Medallion Band accompanied Shawn Camp in honoring Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...

. Bayers played the same role for the 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony with the band now dubbed the Medallion All-Stars.

Accolades

Bayers received the 'Academy of Country Music Drummer of the Year Award' 13 times, 'Nashville Music Awards Drummer of the Year' three times, and one of the 10 greatest session drummers of all time by Drum! magazine. He has been nominated for the 'CMA Musician of the Year' ten times but has yet to bring home the prize.

Music industry

In addition to his work as a musician, Bayers has contributed to the recording industry as a 12-year member of the Board of Governors for NARAS

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...

. He is also the part-owner of the Money Pit recording studio. The number one singles "What I Really Meant to Say

What I Really Meant to Say

"What I Really Meant to Say" is a country music song written by Cyndi Thomson, Tommy Lee James, and Chris Waters. It was released in March 2001 as Thomson's debut single, as well as the lead-off single to her debut album, My World. The song reached the top of the Hot Country Singles & Tracks ...

" by Cyndi Thomson

Cyndi Thomson

Cyndi Thomson is an American country music artist. Thomson wrote songs with songwriter Tommy Lee James and in 2000, she signed with Capitol Records Nashville as a recording artist...

 and "Blessed" by Martina McBride

Martina McBride

Martina McBride is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range....

 were both recorded at his studio.

Selected discography

Year	Artist/Band	Album	Contribution	RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...  Certification RIAA certification In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
1968	Smoke	Smoke	keyboards Keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
1979		My Very Special Guests My Very Special Guests My Very Special Guests is a two disc album by American country music artist George Jones. This album was released in 1979 on the Epic Records label...	drums
1980		9 to 5 and Odd Jobs 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs Allmusic rated 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs four-and-a-half out of five stars. William Ruhlmann, who reviewed the album, stated that "most of Parton's albums are hard to recommend", but that "[the songs are] enough to put it a notch above most of Parton's RCA catalog." Critic Robert Christgau rated the...	drums	gold
1981		Some Days Are Diamonds Some Days Are Diamonds (album) Some Days Are Diamonds is the 15th album by American singer-songwriter John Denver released in June 1981. The singles released from this album are "Some Days Are Diamonds "/"Country Love" and "The Cowboy and the Lady."-Side one:...	drums	gold
1982		Highways & Heartaches	percussion	platinum
1984		Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind is the fourth studio album from American country music artist George Strait, released in 1984. It is certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies in the U.S...	drums	platinum
1984		My Kind of Country	drums	gold
1987		King's Record Shop King's Record Shop Although it was not Rosanne Cash's highest charting album at #6, King's Record Shop had the most singles topping the country charts. No fewer than four of its tracks placed #1 on the Billboard country singles chart...	drums	gold
1987		Love Me Like You Used To Love Me Like You Used To Love Me Like You Used To is a country music album released by Tanya Tucker in 1987. Continuing the success of her preceding comeback album Girls Like Me, the album produced three Billboard Top Ten Country singles, with "If It Don't Come Easy" and the collaboration with Paul Davis and Paul...	drums	gold
1990		Interiors Interiors (Rosanne Cash album) Not particularly country-sounding, the introspective Interiors was seen by a number of critics and fans as a personal catharsis for Rosanne Cash; shortly after its release, she broke up with husband and longtime producer Rodney Crowell. In a first, Cash produced the album herself, and all of the...	drums, producer Record producer A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
1990		Refugees of the Heart Refugees of the Heart Refugees of the Heart is the sixth solo album by Steve Winwood, released in 1990. The album contained the hit single, "One and Only Man", which topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and saw the return of former Traffic bandmate Jim Capaldi to Winwood's songwriting team. By coincidence, a Traffic...	drums	gold
1991		Trisha Yearwood Trisha Yearwood (album) Trisha Yearwood is the eponymous debut album by future country music superstar Trisha Yearwood. It features her first Billboard Hot Country Songs hit "She's in Love with the Boy", which reached the top of the country charts in June of 1991...	drums	2x platinum
1993		Duets Duets (Elton John album) Duets is the twenty-fourth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1993. Duets was released on a single CD and also as a double vinyl LP in the UK, with a slightly different running order. It was initially a Christmas project of Elton John's, but that soon grew into an...	drums	platinum
1993		Clay Walker Clay Walker (album) -Critical reception:Geoffrey Hines of The Washington Post wrote, "The impressive debut album by Clint Black mastermind James Stroud, reveals a young man still casting about for his own style but nonetheless bringing a handsome, personal tenor and a sure rhythmic instinct to every song he tries...	drums	platinum
1994		Crazy	drums	gold
1995		It's a Mystery It's a Mystery It's a Mystery is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger, released in 1995 .Despite hit singles and fan favorites such as "Lock and Load," "Manhattan," and "Hands in the Air," the album charted at #27 on The Billboard charts...	drums	gold
1996		Golden Heart Golden Heart Golden Heart is the debut solo album by Mark Knopfler, following a successful career leading the British rock band Dire Straits and composing a string of critically acclaimed film soundtrack albums. The album was released on 26 March 1996...	drums
1999		In the Life of Chris Gaines Greatest Hits (Chris Gaines album) Greatest Hits, also titled Garth Brooks in.... The Life of Chris Gaines, is part of the alter ego project of American country music artist Garth Brooks, in which Brooks assumes the fictitious persona of alternative rock artist Chris Gaines...	drums	2x platinum
1999		A Glen Campbell Christmas A Glen Campbell Christmas A Glen Campbell Christmas is the 56th album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1998 on the TNN Classic Sessions label...	percussion, producer
2004		Live in Nashville DVD	drums
2004		The Notorious Cherry Bombs The Notorious Cherry Bombs (album) The Notorious Cherry Bombs is the self-titled debut album by the American country music group The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a band that formerly served as country singer Rodney Crowell's backing band in the 1980s. This is the band's only studio album, with Crowell and Vince Gill alternating as lead...	drums
2008		Christmas Duets Christmas Duets Christmas Duets is a 2008 album released by RCA Records, consisting of archival Elvis Presley recordings mixed with modern vocals by contemporary country and gospel singers....	drums

External links

• Official website