HELPING UNCLE CLYDE Lately, Brett has served as a sort of “relief drummer” on his uncle's gigs. Due to health issues, Clyde can't sustain a whole gig. “So I'll jump in on the second set, play ve or six songs – or as many as he wants me to – and then he'll come back up and play.” When Madison resident Leo Sidran was six years old, his jazz vocalist-pianist father, Ben, brought home a child-sized drum kit. Then Ben called Clyde Stubble eld. “He came over and showed me how to hold the sticks and hit the drums,” says Leo, who now tours with his father's combo.
Madison-based drummer Joey Banks says Stubble eld’s willingness to play with regular people – rather than stars – has been important for the local scene. “He has done artist development for hundreds of musicians who have come out of Madison, letting them be in his band, coaching them. Clyde has always been very supportive of young kids who want to get onstage; he gives them that experience,” says Banks, who co-founded the local group Coalition for Recognition of Clyde Stubble eld. “And, he’s always had some constructive criticism to help them develop. A lot of those musicians have gone on to become pretty high-level musicians in their own right, and teachers. That’s the kind of
“Clyde is a great example of how a person left to his own devices can nd his own voice and change the world.” - Michael Bland, former Prince drummer
Leo Sidran also has childhood memories of Stubble eld playing at festivals in his East Madison neighborhood. Starting at age 13, he started accompanying his dad to Stubble eld's weekly Funky Monday gigs. “When I was just old enough to stay up late and hang out, Clyde would let me sit in. I don’t think I ever asked him to show me speci c stuff, but he was so supportive and in uential. “He did tell me to practice by hitting a pillow. Counter to what most drum teachers would tell you – to work on the bounce and release of the stick – Clyde told me to muscle it into the pillow. He’s a very physical drummer.” Leo Sidran says he has been most impressed by Stubble eld’s “total commitment to the groove; he is not busy or ashy, he is settled deeply into his pocket.”
person he is; he is genuinely kind.” Banks, who is also a music educator, teaches a lot of “Clyde beats” to his students. “Clyde’s real gift is his left hand, the solid, pocket feel. It separates his feel from everyone else’s.” Clyde Stubble eld never got a chance to meet Prince, although he worked on a recording project at Paisley Park in Minneapolis, back in the early ‘90s. But Prince’s long-time drummer, Michael Bland, is another player who considers Stubble eld a major rhythmic in uence. i i i l i i l i l l i l l i i i l li l i l l l l l i l i j i l i i li i l i l i i l l i l i l l j i i “He has been such an innovator,” Bland says, pointing out that Stubble eld is largely a “self-taught” drummer. “Clyde is a great example of how a person left to his own devices can nd his own voice and change the world.” i l i i l l i l l l l i l l i i i i l
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