When it turned out to not be true, the self-labeled “Rock’s Oldest Girl Drummer” changed her moniker to “Rock-n-Roll’s Most Unexpected Girl Drummer.” A much better fit.
Who would expect a 55-year-old, mild-mannered project administrator who likes cats and gardening to be invited onstage to jam at Legend’s Bar and Grill in West Seattle?
Gail Lynes is my new idol.
The only new thing I’ve contemplated learning in my 50s is tap dancing. In her 50s, Lynes married an English bloke she met online and got a set of drums. She followed through with lessons, and all sorts of doors are opening for the adventurous drummer.
Raised in California, in 1968 she won Best Student in Musical Comedy at J.F. Kennedy High School in Barstow, Calif. She lived in Canada and Bothell before settling in Everett in 2004. She’s worked in administrative support for 36 years and is now with PACE Engineers in Kirkland.
She met Bill Lynes, a British sailor, in an Internet chat room in 1996. After he retired from the Royal Navy, they married in 2000.
Lynes admired drummer Sheila E. when she saw her at a concert in 2003 with Ringo’s All-Star Band.
“I coined my now infamous motto ‘Middle-aged Broads Still Rock!’ and started to think I might like to try drumming,” Lynes said. “I waffled between thinking it would be cool and thinking it was the silliest idea I’d ever come up with.”
A little more than a year ago at another concert, she admired the drummer with singer Michelle Branch, who opened for the Dixie Chicks. She said ‘that bald guy’ blew her away. She told her husband she was ready for a set of drums. He got her the instruments for Christmas, and on her 54th birthday she took her first lesson.
“I’ll never know if he got me the drums to call my bluff or because he really thought I could do this,” Lynes said. “Besides being incredibly supportive of my drumming goals, considering that this is nothing like what he thought he was signing on for, he serves as my roadie, main groupie and official photographer.”
Her first goal was to play at Woodstick ‘05 on Jan. 21, with hundreds of other drummers in the Tacoma Dome all playing the same song, but didn’t know if she would make the date.
“The first six months didn’t go well,” Lynes said. “Drumming is a lot more difficult and complicated than I’d imagined.”
I watched her play and never realized drummers have to coordinate both hands and both feet. It’s like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time while hopping up a flight of stairs on one foot.
Lights went on when she attended a master class and private lesson with Kenny Aronoff, who was with John Mellencamp for 17 years. Lynes discovered he was the bald guy she’d seen drumming for Branch.
“He was the reason I decided to get my drums,” Lynes said. “I wanted to do what he does. He was very encouraging, really inspired me, and most importantly took me seriously and talked to me as if he could see me as a drummer.”
Her first teacher, Greg Dana of Maltby, said Lynes had that special spark necessary for any middle-aged broad to rock hard.
“Gail is a very aggressive, talented young lady who is beyond dedicated to the study of the drums,” Dana said. “Nothing will stop her. She has advanced very well over the course of our time at my studio.”
Through her success, she became less timid, practiced in a basement at her Everett home and started feeling like a drummer. She hit the gym to get her back in shape (it takes a toll while drumming) and found herself easily sliding into size 4 jeans for appearances.
She made Woodstick and went onstage at Legends Bar and Grill, where musicians can sit in, and did “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Mustang Sally.”
“And I think I rocked the house,” she said. “The other drummers pronounced me ‘solid,’ and I loved it.”
Lauralee Smith, keyboard player for Shelley and the Curves, saw Lynes perform in Seattle.
“The drummer of our band, who was also present, turned to me with a big smile and said, ‘She rocks,’” Smith said. “Although I have been playing in bands off and on for decades, Gail is an inspiration to me. Her fearless determination and focus is contagious, as well as her support for her fellow musicians.”
Lynes is looking for great drum teachers as well as folks to jam with. She said even though it turned out she wasn’t the world’s oldest girl drummer, she is content to be unexpected.
Stay tuned. Her beat is just going on.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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