Yonrico Scott's GRAMMY Journal (Part I)
04.09.10
In January, drummer Yonrico Scott traveled to Los Angeles, CA to attend the GRAMMY awards ceremony on behalf of The Derek Trucks Band. He came home with some extra hardware in tote. This is his story, in his words, of the trip of a lifetime. (Part II will be posted later this afternoon.)
We (the dTb) got word of our GRAMMY nomination the night of our second show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. Of course we were all completely blown away! I think we all felt that it could happen, because of the great year we’d had, and the buzz, and some of the high-profile gigs like GMA and Conan shows, and traveling to Europe, Japan and beyond… It just felt like it was time for some recognition!
But, Derek being the cool, calm and collected individual that he is, didn’t really think that it was going to happen (I think). But I’m always an optimistic man, and in the back of my mind I just felt this would happen. So when we got the word, I was thinking from that moment that I was going to go to LA. I kept it to myself until the day after Xmas, and then I called Derek and asked if he was planning on going to the GRAMMYs. He said “I don’t think so.” So then I asked if Susan was going and he said “I don’t think so." I said I might go and Derek said you should go and represent. So then it was official, and I took it on myself to get out to LA and be a part of the festivities.
Once the big week came, I landed at LAX and wasted no time getting down… First up was The Roots Jam party, which was great – I hung out with ?uestlove, John Legend, Mos Def, Macy Gray, Jon Batiste, Tal Wilkenfeld and a lot of other great artists from all kinds of genres. When you think about playing an instrument you sometimes complicate it, but with ?uestlove he’s just like a drum machine, his band’s sound is all drum-and-bass (or tuba) and he holds it all together like a master.
The Roots party was great all-around. One of the many highlights was walking on my first-ever red carpet! A lady yelled at me “who made that hat? This is LA, it’s all about the clothes!” So I showed off my hat and opened my coat to show the shirt I got in London. I stayed most of the night at the party and then the next day was the GRAMMYs, and I had to be there at Noon for the pre-telecast portion.
Only a few awards are given on the TV broadcast, but there are dozens of other awards for every type of music you can think of handed out at the pre-telecast portion. Our category (Best Contemporary Blues Album) was towards the end so I knew it would be a long, nervous wait. As I was walking in the door, I walked right up on Robert Cray and his wife. I introduced myself and told him I was a big fan, and that I’d heard him at Royal Albert Hall in London.
The telecast has the big awards but the pre-telecast has some great musicians – Chick Corea and other winners were in the house. Even Taylor Swift was there to pick up her first of many awards that night. We sat and waited for 2.5 hours through so many presenters and awards… Then, finally it was time.
Part II will be posted later today... Stay tuned! Remember, you can always find more of Yonrico Scott on Facebook and Twitter.
On the red carpet at the Roots Jam
Drummers unite - Yonrico & ?uestlove of The Roots
Yonrico with Tal Wilkenfeld
We (the dTb) got word of our GRAMMY nomination the night of our second show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. Of course we were all completely blown away! I think we all felt that it could happen, because of the great year we’d had, and the buzz, and some of the high-profile gigs like GMA and Conan shows, and traveling to Europe, Japan and beyond… It just felt like it was time for some recognition!
But, Derek being the cool, calm and collected individual that he is, didn’t really think that it was going to happen (I think). But I’m always an optimistic man, and in the back of my mind I just felt this would happen. So when we got the word, I was thinking from that moment that I was going to go to LA. I kept it to myself until the day after Xmas, and then I called Derek and asked if he was planning on going to the GRAMMYs. He said “I don’t think so.” So then I asked if Susan was going and he said “I don’t think so." I said I might go and Derek said you should go and represent. So then it was official, and I took it on myself to get out to LA and be a part of the festivities.
Once the big week came, I landed at LAX and wasted no time getting down… First up was The Roots Jam party, which was great – I hung out with ?uestlove, John Legend, Mos Def, Macy Gray, Jon Batiste, Tal Wilkenfeld and a lot of other great artists from all kinds of genres. When you think about playing an instrument you sometimes complicate it, but with ?uestlove he’s just like a drum machine, his band’s sound is all drum-and-bass (or tuba) and he holds it all together like a master.
The Roots party was great all-around. One of the many highlights was walking on my first-ever red carpet! A lady yelled at me “who made that hat? This is LA, it’s all about the clothes!” So I showed off my hat and opened my coat to show the shirt I got in London. I stayed most of the night at the party and then the next day was the GRAMMYs, and I had to be there at Noon for the pre-telecast portion.
Only a few awards are given on the TV broadcast, but there are dozens of other awards for every type of music you can think of handed out at the pre-telecast portion. Our category (Best Contemporary Blues Album) was towards the end so I knew it would be a long, nervous wait. As I was walking in the door, I walked right up on Robert Cray and his wife. I introduced myself and told him I was a big fan, and that I’d heard him at Royal Albert Hall in London.
The telecast has the big awards but the pre-telecast has some great musicians – Chick Corea and other winners were in the house. Even Taylor Swift was there to pick up her first of many awards that night. We sat and waited for 2.5 hours through so many presenters and awards… Then, finally it was time.
Part II will be posted later today... Stay tuned! Remember, you can always find more of Yonrico Scott on Facebook and Twitter.
On the red carpet at the Roots Jam
Drummers unite - Yonrico & ?uestlove of The Roots
Yonrico with Tal Wilkenfeld
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