There’s so much you can do with just a couple of sticks in your hands. 

On a very primal level, I like the different sound things make when you hit them and when you hit them with different amounts of force. I just think the way it varies is so cool. And I like how having various drums or percussion going fills out the sound of a band.

I was a very big listener of music as a young child. I have older siblings who were always playing rock music, playing the radio, playing records, and I skipped over that little-kid music phase. I got right into, for example, Billy Joel when I was about 4 or 5. And I used to look at the band and know I wanted to do it.

Drums were always something I picked out in songs. Everything I heard went right to the drums. And there are a few songs that really stick with me and inspire me as a percussionist.

“Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2 is one of the first songs I remember hearing as a kid and noticing the drum intro.

The late Neil Peart from Rush is one of my drumming idols. I finally saw them live for the first time in college with a bunch of friends and often think of “Spirit of Radio.”

I heard “Barrel of a Gun” by Guster for the first time in college and thought it was cool that their drummer exclusively played hand drums rather than a conventional drum set.

And “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin is simultaneously one of the hardest drum beats to master – and most fun to play.

After college, life got busy, and music slipped away for a while. I moved back to Malone in 2012 to help care for my Dad after he became ill. I went down to my cousin’s house to catch up with him and some friends and he said, “Hey, let’s jam.” It just came right back, and I’ve been in probably five or six bands since I’ve been back. Right now, I play in a band called Bluebird a few times a month.

Music brought my family together. My wife and I have six kids between us, and everyone plays an instrument. It was our love of music that bonded us. And it will always be there for me and the people I love.

Michael Dufort, RPh, FACA, is the director of pharmacy at Alice Hyde Medical Center. He’s been with us since 2013.