Brian Gosdin-Drummer
by Jerry W. Henry

I met Brian Gosdin outside his downtown Birmingham loft. It was 2:00 P.M. but he had not been awake very long. It was time for breakfast for him. We walked around the corner to the Lyric Cafe where he ordered 2 hot dogs (his other favorite food is  tacos). We return to his loft, food in hand, for my interview.

Very early on, you learn he loves his 5 year old son, Benjamin,  and his girlfriend, Leigh (Benjamin's mother).  He tells a story about his son seeing wrestling on TV. After watching for a few seconds, Benjamin runs to his room. He comes back dressed only in socks, underwear and a head band. He walks around flexing his muscles and saying "I'm a wrestler." The proud father tells me, "The kid is hilarious. He's a character." Later he tells me, "He (his son) looks just like his momma and he acts just like me."

Brian is from the Roebuck area of Birmingham. His dad was a musician. He played bass in a band named The Zones. There were always musical instruments around his home. He can remember them living in an apartment toward the end of Roebuck Parkway. He remembers singing Rod Stewart songs to his parents. He always liked "Do You Think I'm Sexy," even when he was 4 or 5 years  old. He especially liked singing that song, while running around nude, after getting out of the bathtub.

His father taught him bass. His dad bought him a Fender Music Master 3/4 scale bass when he was 6 years old. They had bought a house by then and he lived there until he was 14 years old. When he was 7 or 8 years old, his dad's brother, bought a drum set. His uncle lived in an apartment. He set his new drum set up and played for about 20 minutes before the landlord knocked on his door. His uncle brought the drum set over to Brian's house. This was before his sister was born so they had an extra bedroom. Brian says, "It seems like I sat down and started playing them. I don't remember ever learning to play drums. I just had a natural aptitude for it." The drum set remained in their spare bedroom until his uncle sold them about a year later.

When Brian was in elementary school, he learned to play cello and violin, plus lessons on bass guitar. When he was 11 or 12 years old, he decided he wanted to play drums. He begged his parents for a drum set. He got a Pearl Export drum set for Christmas (He still has that drum set). His dad played drums before learning to play bass. His dad told Brian that he didn't need drum lessons. He bought Brian the first 4 Led Zeppelin CD's, told him to go to the basement, put on some headphones and "wear it out." Brian says, "I think that was the best thing he ever did for me, ever. For sure! I think that shaped my life forever. I'm still a big John Bonham fan." His dad also showed him a few things using his record collection with early rockers: Deep Purple, Yes, and Jeff Beck. Brian says, "Those groups were a bit 'mathy' for me. I always identified with the British heavy metal kind of stuff." He has always liked the heavy stuff. He still loves heavy metal.

When he was 14 years old his family moved to Asheville, Alabama. He commuted to attend Huffman High School for his 9th grade education. He played in the concert band, a requirement to be in the jazz band which he loved. His teacher recommended that he attend the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He auditioned, was accepted and finished his last 3 years of school there. He took classical percussion lessons there. He played in a lot of musical groups including the Alabama Youth Symphony.  During his senior year he won a scholarship competing in the Classical Oasis competition at City Stages. He attend Belmont University in Nashville where his major was classical percussion but was changed later to a degree in marketing. (Many, myself included, think he went to the University of Alabama. Brian has been on the Tuscaloosa music scene for years. He will readily tell you about his love for T-Town.) During those years in Nashville, he played in many groups expanding his music experiences by playing jazz, country, pop, rock or any other genre that requires a drummer. That included a group named GoodFoot that did mostly James Brown covers. Maybe the most bizzare was a group called the Black Andy Rodrick Show. Playing with that band in 1998 was his first trip to T-Town other than a soccer tournament when he was in the 7th grade. The Black Andy Rodrick Show performed at the Chukker and then at the Nick in Birmingham.

He played around Nashville until 2002 when he moved back to Alabama because his dad and granddad both had cancer. He moved back to be with his family. They both passed away within a year of his return. He got a job at the Mellow Mushroom on south-side in Birmingham (He met his girlfriend Leigh Lathham there 7 years ago). He bought a Harley and started hanging out at the Nick. This put him in the music community and eventually he started working for the Nick. He still works there and normally gets home about day break. He also works 3 days a week for Bailey Brothers Music.

Brian met Philip Hyde, a bartender at the Nick, just a couple of days of hanging out at the Nick. Philip had played in the band, JetStar 7 which became Caddle and asked Brian if he wanted to join. Brian played guitar for them which fed his dream of becoming a lead guitar player. Brian says, "You know I can fake it. But by no means am I a guitar player." Later something happened to Caddle's drummer and Brian took his rightful place behind the drum set.

Next came a gig with Taylor Hollingsworth. He and bassist, Macy Taylor, toured with Taylor Hollingsworth extensively, putting over 100,000 miles on their van in 2 years. Crisscrossing this country as well as Canada. One tour they did 42 shows in 51 days. He came off the road to spend time with his family as Taylor and Macy began gigging with Conner Oberst.

He gets a call from Matt Patton telling him that Sweet Dog (Craig Pickering) had quit the Dexateens and wanted to know if Brian wanted to take his place. Brian jumped at the chance. He has a great respect for Sweet Dog saying, "He's one of the best around. He has got talent." His first show with the Dexateens he says was a disaster. Their gig was at the Jupiter but because of a late load-in, a trip to Egan's was in order. Brian downed a few too many. The University of Alabama was shooting a documentary about the Dexateens and got it all on tape. The band tolerated that night and he kept his job.
Some of the members of the Dexateens have started a side project and they are calling that band, Arkadelphia. He says Arkadelphia has a organ player that is awesome. His name is Joe Bracey, and has a history of church organ playing. He says Arkadelphia has a Muscle Shoals garage soul sound.

He looks forward to the future. He will be home a lot. The Dexateens and Arkadelphia have recording plans. He loves teaching. He teaches drums at Bailey Brother's Music. He hopes his future will incorporate a lot of teaching because he says, "Children are our future. I'd like to see the kids growing up now making good music tomorrow."