When I was a baby, the old Hi-Fi (before stereo) was my baby sitter. My parents would set me in front, and put on a stack of records. I wouldn't move as long as the music was playing, so music was always a part of my life.
I had several uncles and cousins that all played in bands. I still remember my cousin's blue sparkle drum kit set up in the living room where they practiced.
When I was 7 (1965), I got a Kent snare drum and a rudiment book for Christmas. I spent hours and hours pouring over that book and teaching myself rudiments. When I was 9, I got my first drum set; a red, tiger striped set from JC Penney. I played along with record after record; a lot of country and rhythm & blues, a little jazz. Not much rock and roll in those days.
I started sitting in with bands when I was 10-11. My dad was into CB radios around that time and we'd go to jamborees. They'd have bands playing. During breaks, I'd always find a way to talk to the band. I guess they thought it'd be cute to let a kid have a try. Imagine their surprise when they found out I could play (a lot of Wipeout during those days).
In the 6th grade, I joined the school band playing drums. Being left handed, I started using the traditional grip reversed from the right handed guys and the band director never corrected me.
In junior high school, I met a guy whose family had a little gospel group and I started playing with them, traveling around to small churches and the like. Well, we core musicians formed a separate group "Rosewood Garden" and won the Kiwanis Capers talent show and did a couple of songs on TV. At 14, we recorded an EP (that pretty much ended up in drawers at home). The guy that played piano for us went on to become a major producer and owns a studio in Nashville. (Also played in the junior high marching band.)
Played all through high school in the marching, symphonic, and jazz bands. I was lucky to have some great classmates that were fantastic drummers that were also pretty good teachers. Only a couple ever had formal drum lessons, but had played Drum & Bugle Corps and the McDonald's All American Band. Our jazz band was good enough that we used to play halftime shows for the Atlanta Hawks.
During that time, I met guys that also played guitar, bass, etc. and we kicked around for several years playing small gigs.
Finally in my early 20s, I got tired of the same old thing, quit, and sold my drums (1975 Rogers).
In my late 40s, I really started missing the old days, but didn't figure the family would put up with drums, so I started learning to play guitar. After 5 years or so, I finally bought a cheap junk set of drums just to have something to beat on. First thing I did was put on new heads and tune them up to make them sound passable. I've beat on them for about 4 years now. After a job loss, they've kept me going even through a nasty bankruptcy (I'm saving to buy some decent drums).
A few months ago, I was contacted by a guy from Bandmix that wanted to jam. We've put together a core group of guys all in our middle 50s - early 60s that get together every other weekend to jam and maybe someday play a gig or two. So far, we've put together about 30 songs that we could play out if we had the chance. But our lead singer just quit and now we're looking for another.