Here's a YouTube video clip of The Second Chance Band performing on September 14, 2012 for the Birmingham Fraternal Council's President's Ball at The Concordia Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Featured musicians are: Sam Chiarella, lead vocals and guitar, Mark Brewer, Bass, Vince Oliver, Sax, Anthony Oliver, Keyboard, and John Oliver, Drums. Sam sings a great version of "Rainy Night in Georgia"!

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: ...

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: ...: John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: Just received a great signed drum head from the le... : Just received a great signed drum ...

Wonderful weekend with friends and family....music gig Friday night was awesome.......peace and love!

My Dad, Vince Oliver, playing killer sax on this Rockabilly local number 1 hit in Birmingham in 1960:  Meet Me In The Barnyard.

The Second Chance Band will be performing tonight for a private party in downtown Birmingham.....and I get the awesome opportunity to play drums and sing with some incredible musicians: Mark Brewer, Sam Chiarella, Vincent Oliver and Anthony Oliver!!!!!

Here's a recent shot of me performing with Take 3 at the Daniel Day Gallery and Dream Mecca Studio! If you've never been to this incredible venue on Birmingham's southside, you're missing out! It's an art gallery, it's a live music venue with performances (depending on the weather) both inside and outdoors, it's a bar, it's a crafts mecca, it's a vintage clothes warehouse. Daniel and Melody do such a fantastic job of making everyone feel so welcomed at their place of business

Here's an action shot of me behind a very vintage set of Ludwig Champagne Sparkle drums......they ROCK! They are the very desirable Blue/Olive badge 1970 clear interior 3-ply shells with re-rings, 22, 13 and 16. For the snare, I used (of course) the most recorded snare drum in music: the Ludwig Supraphonic. This particular snare is dated October 29, 1968 and has a keystone badge!!!!

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: Just received a great signed drum head from the le...

John Oliver, Drummer, Husband, Father, Collector: Just received a great signed drum head from the le...: Just received a great signed drum head from the legendary American Drummer Charlie Adams! He has played drums and percussion with many, ma...

Just received a great signed drum head from the legendary American Drummer Charlie Adams! He has played drums and percussion with many, many famous artists, most notably with Yanni, where he's been on 9 different world tours! Check out his website: http://charlieadams.org/

My drum collector, friend, teacher and part-time therapist is the world renowned drummer Gary Asher. This YouTube clip is from last year and features three-year-old drummer VJ Oliver tearing it up on a vintage Yamaha drum set and wishing Gary Asher's Drum School a happy 30th year anniversary!!!!!!

I took the day off of music to watch my son play his first ever soccer game today!!!! Toodles!!! #5goals

Awesome gig last night with Take 3 and special guest Lauren "Sassy" Brown at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City. The place was PACKED...and not one person left...we even played over for an hour! Every song wasn't perfect, but every song was performed brilliantly......wow, what a night!!!!  By far the best gig of the year!!!!!!   CANNONS!!!!

Band practice tonight.......today is full: VJ's first field trip ever (to Home Depot), doctor's appointment, work, work, work...but get to learn new songs tonight for the gig tomorrow night at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City....should be fun!!!!

I will be learning about 15 new songs tonight for Take 3's Friday gig at The Tavern of St. Clair in Pell City. These songs are from the songlist of Lauren Brown, who will be our featured performer that night. I'm really looking forward to hearing our band back this great singer. Think blues, soul, and standards, all rolled into one (like Diana Krall meeting Koko Taylor). Should be a blast!

(9/11/12) Always remember 9/11! I know I will. I was in Chicago on a business trip......my two colleagues and I met up to decide what to do...we managed to get a rental car, and we started driving home; one of my friends lived in NYC, one in Ft. Myers, FL, and I, of course, in Birmingham. We drove one of my friends to Indianapolis where his family met him to drive back to NYC, my other friend and I drove farther south for the night, and the next day, I drove us to Birmingham. My other friend made it home to southern Florida the next day (four days total for him from that fateful Monday morning). God Bless America.

Sunday, 9/9/12....I had spent most of the day today in bed with some kind of unforgiving stomach bug.....but sometime around 6 pm, I managed to crawl myself up and out of my room and to my trusted iPad to see what I had missed.........and there it was....an innocuous Craigslist ad: "snare and case: $XXX...I knew that I had missed the deal of the day, even though it had just been posted some 15 minutes beforehand.....I emailed the anonymous email address...and waited.

I finally got the call...the snare was still available......of course, it was located on the other side of town...not to mention there was a language barrier to hurdle too in getting directions from its owner......long story short: I managed to "rescue" a mid 90's beautiful Ludwig 5 x 14 Supraphonic snare drum (Monroe keystone badge) and a Ludwig UFO case from the nice lady.....and I even got a lead too from someone else in her family needing a student's drum kit (remember to always ask seller's if they have any other drums/drum parts and/or other music instruments!)

Internet  ads that pop up every now and then with no detailed descriptions and crude photography are a drum picker's smoking gun to perhaps a great deal from someone who knows not what they have.....

(9/8/12) I had the honor of playing drums at the wedding of Greg Franklin and Traci Owenby over this past weekend....wow, great gig.....and I used my vintage champagne sparke Ludwig's with Blue/Olive badges for the first time since completely refurbishing them....they rocked!!!!!!!

Take 3 Gig, 09/06/12

Great gig last night at Nino's with Take 3.  Our last set featured special guest Lauren "Sassy"  Brown" I also test drove a brand new set of Ludwig White Marine Pearl drums, courtesy of Gary Asher's Drum School.....CANNONS!!!!