Today in New York City, schools are asynchronous (whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean). The reality is that my son does not have to be in school. Since I’m with him and we haven’t hung out in a while, he suggested we get out of town.
We drove up the palisades parkway and saw what was remaining of the fall foliage. We decided to head to Nyack and visit the downtown area. It’s been a while since we’ve been there, so it was going to be fun to revisit a place I used to take my kids to a lot when they were younger.
We grabbed lunch at Harry’s burritos and sat next to these two lovely ladies. While waiting for our food, I started banging on my thighs, like I always seem to do subconsciously. One of the women asked if I play drums. I said, “As a matter of fact, I do!”
We then got into a long discussion about music. One of the women, Denise Deitch, told me that she is a drummer and comes from a family of them. She said, “My son plays with a band called Lettuce and….”
I immediately cut her off and said, “Lettuce?!?” Your son is Adam Deitch?” It was so cool to meet his mom.
We talked about Adam, how Denise and her lunch partner Vikki (Wachtel) were two out of 20 women at Berklee College Of Music in 1969/1970, their careers, both of us knowing Clint de Ganon, my Broadway Drumming 101 Podcast, the advice they had for my son and me, and a bunch of other things.
I love moments like this. Meeting friendly people, having great conversations, learning some history, and getting closer to meeting one of my FAVORITE drummers – Adam Deitch!
Clayton Craddock, the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud. He hosts the Broadway Drumming 101 Podcast and has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including “Tick, tick…BOOM! Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants, The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.
You can follow Clayton on the following social media platforms: