Other Ludwig Drummers

Jack Howe of Chesapeake, VA

Hi, my name is Jack Howe.  I've been drumming off & on since 1963.  I got my first Ludwig "Acrolite" snare about the time of the Kennedy assassination...as the funeral march was one of the first things I learned...  I built upon that piece by piece...with allowance money... adding on a 14x20" Oyster Blue Pearl Ludwig "Club Date" bass (single center lug) followed by "Classic" 9x13" and 16x16" toms...(found two more of the same at a yard sale years later...so now double mounted & double floors)...  Still use them today...daily.  My grandfather was a drummer in the 1910's thru 30's... He used a Ludwig bass pedal... it is the SAME ONE pictured on the cover of the 1922 catalog...  (I used it from about 1966 until I got my Speed King pedal in 1968.)

In 1970 my high school stage band was the opening act for Duke Ellington...in 1971 opened for Count Basie and in 1972 opened for Lionel Hampton and his band... His drummer, Rufus Jones was using some Paiste "Giant Beat" cymbals...18" crash & 20" ride... He didn't like them and asked if I could use them... duh..... You'll see them in the 2nd & 3rd shots... (Also maybe worthy of note, is that my high school, T. C. Williams in Alexandria, VA was the real home of the Titans...of "Remember the Titans" fame...which happened to be my senior year 1971-72... My only "claim to fame" is that I was the head drummer in the marching band and yes... the football team really DID come out on the field dancing at the state championship... There was some significant "revisionist history" going on in the movie...but the story about the team itself & coaching conflict was pretty accurate...and all the teams real names were used. 

I haven't been playing professionally, but have done some "jamming" for fun occasionally... I'm now 47, and have been in the U. S. Coast Guard for nearly 28 years now... and plan to do another 2 before mandatory retirement... Who knows... maybe I'll get back into drumming more seriously then... I hope so... I've had a lot of offers to join bands.

I enjoy all genres of music...except hip-hop and rap... Big band (Buddy Rich, etc) is a lot of fun but not much of that around these days... Classic Rock, (Journey, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, BS&T, Billy Joel), New Country (Garth Brooks, etc...), Jazz/Blues, Swing/Big Band... old R&B, Soul, Southern Rock... additional artists...Earth, Wind & Fire...Chicago, BS&T, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dave Brubeck, Buddy Rich, Marshall Tucker/Charlie Daniels... a wide variety.

Click here to see more pictures of Jack's kit in our 'Other Collections' page.