“Everything that I’ve done in my musical career is a result of me saying yes”

Those are the words of drummer, Dru Marshall, and he stands by them. In a career that has taken him through nearly all of the country’s time zones, this native Floridian knows how to maximize an opportunity.

A young Dru, honing the skills that would turn into a career

When asked how he got into music, his answer isn’t what you’d expect. Sure, he cites John Bonham, Steward Copeland, Travis Barker, and Joey Jordison as influences, but his moment of inspiration was a little bit offbeat. “Remember the band, Hanson?” asks Dru with an inkling of hesitation. “Well that drummer was only 2-3 years older than me. He’s close to my age and I bought the CD and listened to it a million times. There was one song on there that has a drum solo on it. As soon as I heard the drum solo I just knew it. I’ve got to play drums. At 8 years old, that’s what I’ve got to do.”

As a kid at summer camp, he met someone who just wanted to have a jam session. Though the relationship didn’t start off so hot, this would be the person that eventually introduced him to his first real band with studio recordings and all.

Dru backing Joshua Micah during his 2018 Revival tour

A few years later, Dru didn’t know when or where his next gig would come. If nothing else, it was unconventional. “I found an ad on Craigslist for a band that needed a drummer to go on tour” explains Marshall. This may seem like a sketchy proposition to the average artist, but not to the man that prides himself on saying “yes”. Dru auditioned and earned the spot amongst a field of 100 applicants. For the first time, Dru showed some apprehension.

“I didn’t want to take the gig because I was scared, I was nervous,” he confides “I didn’t know these people and they were a crazy metal band. But I was like ‘yes, I’ll do it.’” It wasn’t long before he “bought a one-way ticket to LA”. Luckily, the ad didn’t carry the reputation of other products and services offered on craigslist. “It wasn’t BS, they offered us a record deal with real money, a real recording budget, we recorded with a Grammy-nominated producer, all because I saw an ad in a newspaper and decided to give it a shot.”

Eventually, the band split and Dru picked up a job at a local Starbucks. After dealing with many jerks at this particular California branch, Dru had a feeling about one customer. He asked him if he was a musician, and the rest was history. That customer was singer, Joshua Micah. The two became fast friends and soon after roommates. Naturally, when Micah approached Dru about playing a concert with him, it was time for another “yes”.

Joshua Micah, the singer surging up the CHR charts, met Dru at Starbucks and eventually brought the drummer on tour with him

“I wanted to say no,” started Dru. “I felt like I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t comfortable. I said ‘yes’ and the concert went better than I could’ve expected. We had no idea that it was going to be that fun and that good.”

As fate would have it, Micah’s primary contacts in music reside in Nashville, Tennessee. It would be time for Dru to move again to continue pursuing his dream. By this point, that was nothing for the drummer that had lived in 4 states in just the last 5 years. Dru claims, “I have no attachment to any spot, I’ve been lucky that I’ve made friends in all these different places. With the internet and technology it’s really easy to meet like-minded people and establish yourself quickly”.

In his down time, Dru has taken to YouTube with drum lessons and a vlog to document his current tour with Joshua Micah. That 19-show tour began earlier this month and will include stops in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, and California this Spring. The tour dates are all listed here.