SKF NOTE: One night at a club in Illinois, back when I was earning a living as a drummer, musician friends and I were checking out the band. This was not a name band. It was a lounge band traveling a circuit, probably, of short stints at different Midwestern venues.

The only bit of music I remember from that about 47 years ago? During a ballad, the drummer gently dragged the loop on the wire end of his brushes straight down, from just below the cymbal bell to the cymbal edge.

I had never seen that before. What a great sound effect. I’ve used it countless times since.

And it taught me that, in almost every musical situation, even the mostly lame musical situations, if I keep my eyes, ears, and mind open — there’s always at least one good takeaway.