This week's guest is Marc McDuff, and his career is proof that the call can come from anywhere.
Marc grew up in a town of about 1,200 people in central Vermont. His high school pulled students from five towns just to fill the building. His dad was a 1970s hippie and a lifelong drummer who kept a kit in the basement, so Marc started banging on it as a kid, took lessons, played the high school musicals, and never left that lane.
He auditioned for Berklee mostly for the experience, then used a tuition exchange to study at the University of Montana in Missoula, where a percussion director with North Texas roots was teaching. After college he moved to Seattle on a whim. No job lined up. Nobody he knew. He played regional theater, went to jazz jams, and met people.
That's how the work found him. A music director he had played shows with all through college got hired for The Wizard of Oz national tour and asked for him. That run lasted about three years, with two U.S. legs and stops in China, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
After Wizard, he drove his old Subaru Outback across the country to Brooklyn. He reached out to me, and we got him into the pit to sit in. Then COVID hit. He was working at a cafe in SoHo when he sent out a few cold emails introducing himself. Months went by. Nothing. Then the phone rang: we need a drummer next week, are you available? That became the Legally Blonde tour, and the same music director brought him onto The Cher Show tour for two more years.
In this episode
Why a few cold emails, sent months earlier, put him back on the road
Playing about 20 minutes of a show in pitch black after his light blew in Scranton, with no comms
Walking an unrestored stretch of the Great Wall, where soldiers carved their names into the stone
Reading the entire Game of Thrones series in the pit on Wizard
Treating every injury as a technique lesson, from thumb tension to his current Achilles rehab
Why the two hours onstage are the easiest part of touring
His top five: David Garibaldi, Carter Beauford, John Bonham, Keith Moon and Keith Carlock
Marc's advice for college players is the part I want every young musician to hear. Say yes to everything. Community theater, regional shows, the brunch cabaret that pays $20 and a beer. Not for the money. For the music directors and theater people who do this for a living. Those relationships are where every one of his tours came from.
Episode chapters
00:01:33 Meet Marc McDuff, and his Seattle Mariners memories
00:04:21 Memphis in Seattle, and the Super Bowl finish I missed for places
00:09:27 Growing up in a Vermont town of 1,200
00:10:05 A hippie drummer dad and a kit in the basement
00:15:01 Skater days and a broken shoulder before college auditions
00:21:17 Auditioning for Berklee, and why he chose Montana
00:25:13 Seattle, regional theater, and the call for The Wizard of Oz tour
00:26:54 Touring China, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
00:30:25 The stretch of the Great Wall tourists never see
00:34:45 Brooklyn, COVID, and the cold email that landed Legally Blonde
00:37:14 Two years on The Cher Show tour
00:38:40 The night the light blew in Scranton
00:40:54 How he stayed fresh playing the same show for years
00:42:38 Drumming injuries, technique, and Achilles rehab
00:46:04 What nobody tells you about touring
00:49:13 The one thing college drummers should start doing now
00:51:31 Marc's top five drummers
00:56:29 What's next for Marc
Connect with Marc
Follow Marc on Instagram at @marc_mcduff.
The Trust Economy: Live on October 29
Marc never landed a tour because of a résumé. Every call came from somebody who already trusted him.
Most musicians never learn how that works. They practice for hours, show up on time, play well, and still watch the call go to somebody else. Nobody tells them why. So they keep doing more of the same, and every month the phone stays quiet, somebody else is building the relationship that could have been theirs.
That's why I built The Trust Economy, a live Zoom masterclass on Thursday, October 29 at 5 PM ET / 2 PM PT. In 60 to 90 minutes, I'll break down what contractors and music directors notice that has nothing to do with your chops, what puts a name at the top of their list, and what quietly takes it off.
You'll walk out with a plan to become the musician people recommend without being asked. A replay will be available.
Want the full rundown first? Read the masterclass details here.
If you want the full picture of how a theater career gets built, pick up my book, Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician's Guide to Building a Theater Career. Just got the call to sub? The Broadway Sub Playbook walks you from the first call to opening night for $7.99.
Thanks for listening. If this episode helped you, share it with a musician who needs to hear it, and leave a five-star review wherever you listen.
Clayton
