Me, Myself, I and Wes. (We constantly argue and fight, like a typical band. Like Metallica’s "Some Kind of Monster," but only in my head.)
Influences
Anything soulful, groovy, funky, musical, creative, expressive, insightful, deep, artful, stated with integrity, real, organic, raw, clean, dirty, nasty, beautiful, ugly, happy, sad, mean, gentle, brilliant and, of course, stoopid.
My first record was The Beatles "Yellow Submarine" with the B Side of "Eleanor Rigby." I guess that's what started my diverse musical palette.
There are so many artists in this category, that I couldn't possibly name them all. Then again, there are so many that are NOT in this category, and I couldn't possibly name them all, either.
The artists that I'm playing with in these videos are some that have influenced me. They include: Sting, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Steven Tyler, Chuck D. of Public Enemy, Billy Dean and Britt Savage.
Sounds Like
An original version of me, hopefully.
Record Label
I Started 2: Hearo Records & Barnegie Hall Records
I’m a musician who calls himself a drummer...not the other way around. When people ask me what I do for a living, I say, "I hit stuff."
I love playing great music and contributing to the song. I'd rather groove than anything else, but I can play those fancy fills and drum solos if you'd like. In the words of Garth from Wayne's World, "I like to play."
As a kid when I started playing, I learned quickly that moving drums can be a hateful experience. That's probably why now I'm producing and writing in addition to playing drums. But, drums are my passion.
Creativity, expression, and the invocation of emotion and thought
are the most important parts of creating art to me, and I try each day to do
this in my journey of music. I realized somewhere along the way that I needed
to write music and push myself into other frontiers of the musical process to
satiate my hunger and need for the creative process. I just wish that there
were more hours in the day. I tried not sleeping, but that didn't work out so
well.
My Past:
I grew up in a small town in NC that had one blinker light. There wasn't that much to do, so I played drums. After college, I moved to NYC to be a Jazz musician and even got a Master's Degree in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, but I decided that as much as I loved Jazz, I was still also a product of Rock, Pop, R&B and Country Music. I worked on the scene there for a decade playing for various artists and as part of the various original bands, and made a lot of great music. As a kid, I just wanted to be in a band like Led Zepplin. But, I've been very lucky to have recorded and performed with some great artists along the way. These include:
Stevie Wonder • Sting • Beyonce • Alicia Keys • Steven Tyler • Joe Perry • Mariah Cary • Shakira • Jamie Foxx • Jermaine Jackson • The Pointer Sisters • John Legend • Melissa Etheridge • Joe Nichols • Jo Dee Messina • Billy Dean • Deanna Carter • Chuck D. and Fine Arts Militia • Confrontation Camp (feat. Chuck D.) • Public Enemy • Busta Rhymes • Michael Brecker • Randy Brecker • "Father Time" Milt Hinton • MC Lyte • Dusty Drake • Jimmy Wayne • Dan Colehour • Rick Huckaby • Big Daddy Kane • KRS-One • Bootsy Collins • Vernon Reid • Delbert McClinton • Linda Davis • Diana DeGarmo • Melba Moore • Loralye • Clara Oman • Mary McBride • The Drakes • Father Oblivion • The Big Little and strangely enough, Will Ferrell. Of course, I've also had the pleasure to play with Britt Savage and Twang Deluxe.
On another note, I also did some Broadway Shows in NYC. I have made whip crack sounds for John Lithgow in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." I have played quite possibly the largest set up in the world of drums and percussion in the show "BKLYN." I acted the part of a drummer that couldn't speak in the show "Once Around the Sun" and I was the drummer in the 15 Piece Big Band on "Rat Pack, Live at the Sands."
I have been lucky enough to have played for Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. I have played Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Rainbow Room, The Grand Old Opry as well as CBGB's, The Bitter End NYC, and The Bottom Line. I love to play, no matter how big or small the stage or the audience.
My Present:
In addition to doing sessions for artists and producers such as Billy
Dean, I've been doing sessions and records for some great songwriters here in Nashville such as Richard Leigh,Victoria Banks, Tom Shapiro, and Rivers Rutherford. I've also been doing more production work and recording records at my own studio. In terms of playing out live, I have also been doing dates with Joe Nichols, Jo Dee Messina, Dan Colehour, Rick Huckaby and Linda Davis....and they are all artists with which I really enjoy playing.
I recently finished a record with my wife, Britt
Savage. We're really looking forward to making some noise
with this band "Britt Savage and Twang
Deluxe." It was great to colaborate with her on her record, and be sure to check out our Mod Night here in Nashville at 12th and Porter. Britt will be singing and playing therimen, yours truly will be playing drums with the rest of the band, and a multimedia video presentation will join us as an additional member. We also have finished a video featuring one of the songs for our record Lookin' Like I'm Gonna.
My Future:
If the fickle
nature of my lover, music, will care to remember me, I hope that my voice will
stand out in her memory.
Be sure to check out
website, www.weslittle.com. Thanks for checking out my little corner of myspace.
Hey Wes! I LOVED the 5 minutes and 45 seconds of "Wes Little" ... AWESOME STUFF! I remember back in the day (early 90s) I walked into the band room in G'ville (At EC) ... you playing with a headset on and MAN was it smokin'! I was totally in awe of what you were playing! After you finished, I asked ... Hey, what on earth are you listening to? you said: "a click track!" Ever since that moment, I ALWAYS tell young drummers ... GET YOUR TIMING DOWN and you just might be as good as Wes Little! ;-)
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