Fred Satterfield: Grammy-Winning Drummer (The Oak Ridge Boys) & Graphic Novel Illustrator

Fred Satterfield is a Grammy & Dove Award-winning drummer, and graphic Illustrator. Fred was the Oak Ridge Boys' drummer for 20 years, winning 2 Grammy's, 2 Music City News Awards for Band of the Year, 1 CMA Award (along with 7 other nominations), and contributing to 35 Top 40 Hits including 25 #1's. He's made 4 appearances at the White House for 3 sitting presidents, and 25 appearances on The Tonight Show.

In additional to his musical acumen, Fred is also an accomplished illustrator, having produced more than 4 dozen coloring books for Dalmation Press, and numerous album covers for Benson Publishing. He is currently illustrating the graphic novel versions of C.G. Cooper's popular Corps Justice Series.

Episode Highlights

Discover the beat behind the legendary Oak Ridge Boys as Fred Satterfield, the Grammy-winning drummer and masterful graphic illustrator, takes us on a rhythmic odyssey through his remarkable career. Listen in and learn how Fred's early love for pounding out beats on coffee cans evolved into mesmerizing performances for U.S. Presidents and appearances on The Tonight Show. His heartfelt narratives will transport you from his church-playing roots to the pinnacle of country music success, with a few laugh-out-loud encounters along the way.

Fred's chronicles extend beyond the stage into Nashville's recording studios, where creativity meets precision. As a seasoned session drummer, he unveils the intricacies of recording everything from demos to Olympic anthems, emphasizing the subtle art of capturing the perfect tempo. Musicians and music aficionados alike will gain a fresh perspective on the collaborative magic that happens behind the scenes, as well as the disciplined approach it takes to maintain a steadfast groove, both in music and in life.

But Fred's talents don't stop at the drum kit. As we segue into the harmonious relationship between his rhythmic prowess and his illustrative genius, Fred illustrates how passion fuels his dual crafts. Whether discussing the joy of creating children's books or the journey of bringing a paramilitary thriller to life in graphic novel form, Fred embodies the essence of creativity. His story is an eclectic composition, a symphony of beats and brush strokes, inspiring you to chase your dreams with the same fervor that he brings to drumming and drawing. Join us and feel the rhythm of inspiration with Fred Satterfield, an artist who truly lives to create.

We cover a ton of fascinating topics in this episode including:

• Starting as a professional touring drummer at the age of 15

• Causing a Secret Service incident at the White House while testing out a bass drum

• Entertaining Ringo Starr on The Tonight Show

• Having Jay Leno open for the Oak Ridge Boys while he was an up-and-coming comic

• How the Oak Ridge Boys helped pioneer HBO's concert series

• Getting sponsored by Pearl Drums after having his own drums stolen

• Playing jingles in New York City for a series of commercials with Larry Bird

• Recording the theme songs for the '84 Olympics

• The mechanics, logistics, and creative requirements of playing on a studio recording sessions

• The pros and cons of using click tracks in the studio

• How being in the right place at the right time led to a career transition as an illustrator

• Breaking into the graphic design business by designing Jimmy Buffett's first tour t-shirt

• Learning the proper mindset to be a successful creative professional by studying Kenpo Karate with Elvis Presley's head of security…and so much more!

Listen

Read the Complete Transcript

Shane

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the official Live2cre8 podcast, coming to you from Nashville, Tennessee. I am your host, Shane Almgren, and I am joined today, also from Nashville, by Grammy and Dove award-winning drummer and graphic illustrator, Fred Satterfield. Fred was the Oak Ridge Boys’ drummer for 20 years, winning two Grammys, two Music City News Awards for Band of the Year, and contributing to 35 Top 40 hits, including 25 number ones. He's made four appearances at the White House for three sitting presidents and 25 appearances on The Tonight Show. In addition to his musical acumen, Fred is also an accomplished illustrator, having produced more than four dozen coloring books for Dalmatian Press and numerous album covers for Benson Publishing. He is currently illustrating the graphic novel version of C. G. Cooper's popular Corps Justice Series, which is available on Amazon.com.

So, Freddy, thank you so much for joining me today. It is a pleasure to have you here on the show.

Fred Satterfield

Man, it's great to be with you, Shane. I'm really excited to have this opportunity.

Shane

Freddy, we've got lots to talk about. We've got music and art, but let's start off where you started. So you were the Oak Ridge Boys’ drummer for 20 years thereabouts.

Fred Satterfield

Close to 20 years. I worked with their organization easily that long. That was just an awesome, awesome career. I started off as one of the band members, and then after about seven years, I was promoted to band leader for them and really enjoyed that aspect of my career as well. And taking a kind of a leadership role and working with the record companies, the various unions, management, the agencies—William Morris Agency, Jim Halsey—that was all just great, great experience, and quite an education for me.

Shane

How did you get involved with the Oak Ridge Boys in the first place?

Fred Satterfield

Well, I was born and raised out in Los Angeles County, and I actually got started in the music business playing in church. A couple of guys, Tim and Steve Archer, were forming a group, and these guys were incredible singers. So they wanted to put a group together, and they asked me to join. I'm about 15 years old—14 actually—at that point, I think, and they were a little bit older. So they were good mentors, and we actually put a great band together. They had a young musician a little bit older than myself named Billy Masters, an incredibly talented guitar player, singer, songwriter. Through that mentorship, we toured up and down California, and I really got some great experience under my belt and was in the studio recording with them. When I was around 15 years old, I did my first recording session at the MCA Whitney Studios in LA.

So through all of that, long story short, at one of our concerts, I met a gentleman by the name of Dony McGuire, who invited me to be with another group who were based out of Nashville. Eventually, I took him up on that opportunity, moved to Nashville, and through that association, later on, met the Oak Ridge boys. And then, ultimately, after working with Dony on a couple of incredible records, one of which was nominated for a Grammy. The second did win a Grammy—"The Lord's Prayer.” It was an awesome musical.

I received a phone call from Dwayne Allen, who wanted me to come out and do some recording sessions at their studio. Unbeknownst to me, it was actually an audition to see if I would make a good fit for their touring schedule. So, as a result, we cut some really great music, and in January of 1980, they invited me to tour with them and start their big headline tour, the very first tour dates they ever did where they were the actual headliner, which was an incredible opportunity. And then, of course, that just launched me into everything—television, videos, recording, the whole nine yards. It was an incredible experience and very rewarding. So that's kind of a short version of how that all occurred.

Shane

And I want to come—you said television, and we're going to get back to that in just a second, but I am curious what kind of upbringing one has that, at the age of 15, one is capable of doing session drumming. What were you—did your parents have you in drum lessons? What were you doing as a kid?

Fred Satterfield

It's kind of crazy. My dad moved our family up along with some others—my aunts and uncles. They all had a construction company, and they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, right after statehood, and so for a time, I was there in Alaska, and it was a lot of fun growing up there. I mean, you could ice skate to school, and ski, and go play in the snow, but your time outdoors was limited. It was very cold there, so you spent a lot of time indoors.

And I don’t know. The drums just seemed to be a natural evolution for me, and I spent a lot of my time, you know, banging on my mom's coffee tables. I fashioned some drumsticks out of my dad's suit hangers. I'd go in there and rub the tines out of the suit hangers and work out on her coffee table. She said, “Hey, that's got to stop.” And so she cut the bottoms out of coffee cans in the plastic lids on one end, and so I kind of had these drums to bang around on. Of course, that was boring until finally she just said, “Harold, buy that boy a drum.” And that's kind of how that got started.

Also, during that time, my cousin and I—we loved to draw, so we spent a lot of our time indoors drawing and drawing our own comic book characters, and so these two talents kind of started there in kind of a closed environment, almost like a cocoon in a way. And once we returned to California, that's when I wanted to play in rock bands, and my dad told me, “Well, Freddy, if you’ll work with this group that's in the church, I'll buy you a new set of drums.” So who's going to turn that down? I figured, “Okay, well, pop, that sounds great. I'll start playing with him, and then I'll play with the rock band after I get those new drums.” Well —

Shane

— So you and your cousin—I'm sorry, go ahead.

Fred Satterfield

Well, the funny thing about it is that we got to play some pretty good rock music with this church group, and we got busy. We were getting booked for concert dates and youth rallies, and at that time, the Jesus movement was huge on the West Coast, so we were playing festivals and big events. And from then on, it just—it took off, and I was always kind of—I just had a real knack for rhythm. I just paid attention. It just came very natural to me, and that's kind of how it led to the fact with The Archers—that was the name of the group—Tim and Steve Archer. When we went into the studio to record some music, they took me in with them. We played on our own records, essentially. They augmented some of the tracks with studio musicians, but fortunately, I was good enough at that point to step in there and got the opportunity. And then that just kind of lit the fuse for things to come, really.

Shane

Apparently, it led straight to the White House, huh?

Fred Satterfield

Well, yeah. [Laughs].

Shane

More than once.

Fred Satterfield

Yeah, several times, actually. Well, I mean, when you're growing up, it’s like the president and the first lady—they live in the White House. It’s the pinnacle of American success, and thinking that you would ever go visit there is, you know, quite a fantasy.

Not long after I got to Nashville, Dony McGuire mentioned that Reba Rambo was putting a band—needed a band together for a White House appearance. So we got some guys together and rehearsed her stuff, and we wound up playing for a big all-day dinner chicken on the ground event for Jimmy Carter at the White House, and I was just—wow, incredible experience. Then I had the opportunity with the Oak Ridge Boys later on to play for President Reagan, not once but twice at the White House, and then for President Bush Senior at his big congressional gala event at the White House. So that was just—what is that? Four trips to the White House, and then, of course, we also did the library openings and some various inaugurations. It was quite incredible, and each time, each separate visit, was an entirely life-changing event to be a part of something like that.

Shane

And you had a bit of a drum tech Secret Service incident at one of these occasions, did you not?

Fred Satterfield

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm glad you brought that up. My drum tech—his name was Mark Bass [sp], a great guy. I really enjoyed working with Mark, and he would set up my drums, and of course, every time he would take the bass drum out, and the first thing he would do religiously is, once he had fixed the bass drum pedal to the drum, he would smack it three or four times to make sure everything was working smoothly and just check out the sound of the drum in case he needed to do any tune-up or any fine-tuning anywhere. And when he did that, it was in the band shell at, basically, the backyard of the White House, and he suddenly heard all this clicking and a shuffling and clicking sound. And when he looked up from the bass drum, there were just an array of Secret Service men, and they all had automatic weapons trained on the band shell.

These bass drum reports sounded like weapons’ fire. So it’s kind of comical today, but he said he looked up and saw all of these guns trained in his direction. It was pretty frightening for him. I believe he even said he saw a sniper on top of the White House. So, of course, they came up and said, “Mr. Bass, please, we frown on that type of behavior here. We need to know of any sudden noises or anything like that in advance so that we can make sure that we don't have an incident.” So that was something that could have gotten out of hand, and it was all about just banging on the drum here, just a very innocent act, so to speak.

Shane

It was the world's most disastrous sound check.

Fred Satterfield

Oh man. What would I do without Mark?

Shane

And so, other than the White House appearances, you've had more than one Tonight Show appearance as well. I want to say it's more than two, also.

Fred Satterfield

Oh, yeah. The Tonight Show became kind of a staple thing. Each time we had a new single out—this was after I was with the Oak Ridge Boys, and those guys had about 35 while I was with them—at least 35 chart records, most of them number ones. We would generally follow up a new single release with a West Coast tour doing promotional television, that type of stuff. And almost always, when we do those West Coast swings, we would either go to Lake Tahoe for a week or two or over to Vegas, and of course, one of the best and premier ways to promote in those days was to do a Tonight Show appearance, and Johnny liked the boys.

We were on there maybe two, three times a year easily, and those all led to little individual stories and some interesting experiences in and of themselves. But I probably played on The Tonight Show easily 25 times between the Johnny Carson years and Jay Leno. Incidentally, Jay used to open our shows in Atlantic City when we would play at Harrah’s Marina prior to his rise in his career. So we had a little backstory with Jay before he became, really, a national and international talent. That was very interesting, and we were certainly glad to see his success once he began to blossom through The Tonight Show.

Shane

I would think with 25 Tonight Show appearances, you've got to have some pretty good stories. Any memorable ones pop into mind?

Fred Satterfield

Well, maybe one that pops into my head so quickly is the night I met Ringo Starr, and of course, being a big Beatles fan and learning to play a lot of drums listening to Ringo, to be able to meet him, and he just happened to be on the show that we were on, it was a real—ah, it was just a thrill. And at that point, the boys—at that particular show, we didn't have our full band on the show. Normally, we would have the band, and we would be the back of the boys, but for some reason, I think just two or three of our musicians were there. So we were over, sitting in with The Tonight Show orchestra. So I was playing—Ed Shaughnessy, who was The Tonight Show drummer—I was playing his drum kit. So I was kind of elevated back up in that orchestra area.

And while we were doing “Elvira”—and this may have been right after “Elvira” was a huge hit—and I'm looking over, and I see Johnny Carson, and there's Ringo sitting in the seat next to him, and we're playing “Elvira.” When it comes to the bass singer part the “omm poppa, mow mow” part, the tom-toms kind of play this little chant behind him, and I'm seeing Ringo drum on his thighs to my beat, and that was just a thrill. I mean, what a turnaround. How many times have I drummed to his beat? And to have that experience was—that was a real kick. I'll have to say that was a highlight watching that. It's like—I call them my Ferris Bueller days. That was certainly one of them.

Shane

That is definitely one. That qualifies. What about the HBO specials?

Fred Satterfield

Oh, yeah, that was great. HBO was starting a concert series then, and they were doing some just exceptional concerts, like Earth, Wind & Fire was one I recall—a very, very successful HBO special. And they were doing a lot of the bands that I liked at the time, and when it came time for us to do one, we were requested, and our management put that together. It really was kind of a high mark at that point to be able to be a part of that kind of series, and then to see myself on HBO some time later, that was another benchmark achievement to be a part of that kind of television event. The Oak Ridge Boys were fortunate to hit a lot of those kinds of pinnacles right through the ‘80s and on into the ‘90s, when a lot of this cable and a lot of the media was really developing.

Shane

You were sponsored by Pearl Drums. At what point in your career did they approach you about that?

Fred Satterfield

That's an interesting story. I had always played Led Wood drums, and at one point prior to joining the Oak Ridge Boys, I was doing quite a bit of showcase and studio work in Nashville. I did a showcase at the Exit/In, a very popular music venue in downtown Nashville, and cartage was supposed to come over and pick my drums up, and they had actually brought more drums to the gig than I needed. Well, long story short, my drums were stolen, and it was devastating. I just had the one drum kit at the time, and Larrie Londin, a very famous studio and live-performing drummer here in town—one of the finest drummers ever. I found out about this, and I had played on some albums where he played some of the tracks. I was the young kid, and I played on some tracks, and he really kind of took me under his arm a little bit and showed me some ropes early in my Nashville career. When he found out that my drums were stolen, he had cartage send a set of his drums over to me.

Now he played Pearl drums, and Pearl was just really starting to come on the scene as a big national name and, of course, later, really, as an international name, but they were starting to make wooden drums about that time. Well, I enjoyed Larrie's drums so much that I bought a set of Pearl drums from the drum shop he and his wife Debbie had called D.O.G. Percussion—a famous drum shop for years in Nashville. I really enjoyed those drums, so once I got the job with the Oak Ridge Boys, it was kind of a high-profile job in that you were getting a lot of media coverage. Of course, playing to the kind of crowds we were playing to was great promotion for them also, and I think Larrie called Ivan and put a good word in for me. I went out and met with him, and that's how we began that relationship, really, and I really owe a lot of that to Larrie Londin.

Shane

So you've got—what did you tell me—over 2,000 sessions under your belt as well?

Fred Satterfield

Oh, yeah. I would say at least over the years—demos, jingles, records, custom records, you name it. I've been in just about every kind of recording situation that you can think of. I certainly enjoyed the record dates. They're always fine. I had some interesting jingle dates that I did up in New York City. I would go up there whenever we'd have a break from touring. A lot of times I had some friends up there, one particular friend, Jim Fitzgerald, who goes by Fitz, and a lot of people call him Jimi Fitz. He's now a very successful radio personality out on the West Coast, out in the Palm Springs market, but at the time, he was a real underground New York rock and roll artist—singer, songwriter, producer. I would go up and do work with him, and then I would meet more people working with him than I would work at trying to meet down in Nashville, and I subsequently wound up picking up record dates and studio dates in New York when I would go up there to work with Fitz.

So one of the unique sessions I did was a series of jingles, one of which was a Canon camera commercial that Larry Bird at the time was very hot when Boston and the Lakers were constantly the big rivals between him and Magic Johnson. Larry Bird was the pitchman in this whole deal, and I got to go in and play drums on one of these commercials. Well, it was very, very low-key, really, until about five Canon camera executives all walked in the room with their cameras shooting pictures of everything, and it really put the pressure on for us to get this jingle in one take. Fortunately, we all clicked, and it really happened. That was a terrific experience. And then, seeing that commercial on TV for a number of months afterwards every time I would see it, that had a rewarding feeling.

Shane

And you also did something with the ‘84 Olympics, right?

Fred Satterfield

Yes, through that same jingle house—Richard Laskey [sp], and he had the contract to do the Olympics that year. This was one of my very first experiences working with click tracks, and at the time, Synclavier and Fairlight were just coming out with the sampling technology and sequencing and what have you, and he had a lot of stuff recorded using this technology, and he wanted real drums with the program percussion and stuff. So he had me come in, and I just worked with him for a few days and dropped the live drums on a lot of this music, which much of it became the theme song for the Olympics that year. Again, what a feather in my cap, and I owe that all to Jim Fitzgerald, actually.

Shane

Can we talk a little bit about the actual logistics and mechanics of a recording session?

Fred Satterfield

Well, obviously, every studio has the basic stuff. You've got your sound console, the format that you're going to record on, and then you have your microphones. Every session is a little different, every engineer is a little different, every producer is different, but basically, you’re going to—at least from my end as I arrive. Some sessions have a budget to where I have cartage, have my drums in there, everything set. Other sessions are a little more streamlined budget-wise, and I might pack my own drums in. But regardless, once I'm set up and the drums are miked, it's time to play music.

In Nashville, you kind of create the music as you go. They’ll generally have a numbers chart rather than a staff chart, like some of the stuff in New York was all pretty much charts written out staff-wise. But in Nashville, they really look to the musicians to kind of be a little more imaginative and creative in helping craft this music. And the number charts are basically the chord progressions with some notations, but they're a lot loosely constructed, and it really does give your musicians a little bit of breathing room. And as a result, you know, Nashville’s now become probably the premier place to record, and a lot of it has to do with musicians here.

Shane

And a lot of people listening aren't going to know how this works, but when you're a session player, you show up, and your job that day is to play the drums, and people are going to come to you with song ideas or charted songs for songs that you've never heard before in your entire life, correct?

Fred Satterfield

Exactly, yeah. Yeah.

Shane

So they might play you a rough work tape or a rough demo tape, and then what? Just give you a few minutes and say, “Here, think about how you would play this. And then we're going to hit record.”

Fred Satterfield

Yeah, usually the artist has some ideas they share once you've heard their basic demo, or they may even just sit around the piano and play a little bit, and you write some notes and stuff along with the chart. Then, of course, the producer is going to have some input there too. He's looking for this kind of direction or this kind of sound, and you do your best at that point to give him what he's looking for. And usually, they dial it in pretty fast.

And then the remaining time you spend on the song is just kind of fine-tuning some of the intricacies. They're getting the tempo right, making sure that it's not too fast or too slow. That's a real big deal because, obviously, if you get the song too fast, a lot of artists want that energy and the speed, but if you get it too fast, they can't get all the words in. That's counterproductive. So tempo is so important. And then again, the key. A lot of times you're recorded in a couple of different keys so that the singers are able to really show off what they do best, and the key can have so much effect on that. So really, it comes right down to once you get a kind of path of the song, then you fine-tune it there with tempo, key, and any last-minute arrangement fixes that you might want to do.

Shane

This is a two-part question. One, how much in the studio are drummers using click tracks to keep the tempo? And then two, is just inherent tempo—is that a thing that some drummers have, just like the way some singers or musicians have perfect pitch?

Fred Satterfield

I think that's the truth. When I grew up, I played to records a lot. Now, on some of those records, the drummers were using click tracks at the time—the Wrecking Crew. A lot of the albums that I listened to and practiced to were recorded in Los Angeles during the ‘60s, ‘70s, late ‘60s and ‘70s, and in the ‘80s. But those records were recorded, a lot of them with click tracks—not always—but they were nice and solid. So what that did for me was, as I practiced with them, it inherently gave me the ability to play in relatively good time. So I just kind of got used to doing it. It's almost like setting my heartbeat to the tempo of the song. I kind of had my own click going.

In my early recording experience in Nashville, there were no click tracks. Los Angeles, New York—they were using click tracks on various things—TV shows, things like that—that you would have to add it precisely. They were well-versed with using click tracks. Nashville was more of a “feel town,” and if you were going to play on a national session, you better have some great tempo because there were no click tracks. You had to find the groove and hold it in the pocket, and of course, it wasn't just the drummer's duty to do that, although that's a big part of what you do playing drums. Everybody has to play good time if you really want to grab a pocket and hold it, and that's what's so great about the Nashville players, at least from that era. Of course, that's evolved through today's recordings. I really didn't use click tracks until I went to New York, and that was in the mid-‘80s, when drum machines became more popular—that kind of thing.

Then it started kind of catching on in Nashville. Now there's a two-headed monster. A lot of the records became perfectly in tempo, and a lot of times they would lose excitement that way. They would be so perfect in tempo, whereas records in times past might speed up a little bit at the end. It just had a natural excitement to it. A lot of people feel like click tracks kind of took a lot of the soul out of music. I know all of Stax Records’ stuff—I've talked to Cropper about this, Steve Cropper—those guys just play grooves. They didn't play with machines. So it's got a lot to do with your heart and soul.

Fortunately, I've always had good time, and I geared myself towards that early on. So when it came time to play with a click track, it was a little difficult at first, but I read an article that Jim Keltner had been interviewed in in Modern Drummer Magazine, and he said something. Early on, I read this. I thought, “It's so obvious.” He was talking about playing with click tracks, and he said, “You know, a lot of drummers fight the click track, and there's no way to win that battle.” He said the key is to let the click be your friend, and once that just really set into my mind, I got along with the click a whole lot better thanks to Jim Keltner.

Shane

In a typical recording session, how many songs would you guys get out of that?

Fred Satterfield

Well, that's completely up to the producer and completely up to the situation. I've certainly done some demo sessions for some of the publishing houses in Nashville, where you do about five songs a session—a three-hour session. On a lot of master recordings, you try and do two songs within the three-hour session, but then again, some people have a little bigger budget. They may work all day on one song, so really, there is no typical amount of material you may record in one three-hour session.

And that's kind of how they break them up in Nashville. Each session is a three-hour card where you start at 10:00 a.m., break at 1:00, and come back at 2:00. Three hours later, take another break. Six o'clock starts the evening, and then you have a 10 o'clock session that night to kind of break them up into three-hour sessions with an hour between each. That's kind of the stock way to do a session, and generally, if you get two songs per session, that's a good master production. Demos—you try and do three. And again, I've been on some sessions where you’d be wanting five songs in three hours. So it really depends on the situation.

Shane

What song or songs are you most proud of for the drum parts that you contributed?

Fred Satterfield

You know, I mentioned earlier playing on some Dony McGuire stuff, and he and his wife, Reba Rambo McGuire, wrote a musical called The Lord's Prayer. Just recently, I kind of became acquainted with that music again after all these years, so it was like listening to it all over for the first time. When I think about that today, I'm probably the proudest of that music of all the things that I've done, because at 22 years old, 23—playing that music and being at that level at that age—I'm kind of amazed when I hear it today. There were no click tracks on that music. It was all feel, and the arrangements, the production, the horn sections on the stuff—all of it is so well done and masterfully played, I have to say, and that includes the stuff I've done with the Oak Ridge Boys—everything else. I'm most proud of that music, I believe, and I think it's still available online if you look up Rambo McGuire, The Lord's Prayer. That'd be an interesting listen for you.

Shane

You’ve been off the road for a while, but you still play. You play with the South Street Players. What is your favorite stuff to play these days?

Fred Satterfield

Well, a few years back—and of course I was playing with a number of bands in Nashville—I got to the point where I'd love to just play with one band and treat it like a business, so we formed with some current South Street Players. It's kind of a loose format of players. Although we have our regulars, we have a great line-up of subs that come in scheduling-wise if we have conflicts, and we wanted to just kind of get back and play music that made us want to play music when we were kids. So we do five decades of hits, all songs you would know.

We are a cover band, but we kind of play the covers like their originals, deep pocket renditions of favorite songs. And we do some Stevie Wonder. We do some Heartbreakers. Allman Brothers. We even do some Jethro Tull when Eric Bikales plays with us. He's a tremendous keyboard wizard, and he plays great flute. So we can do some Tull, Santana, a lot of ‘70s and ‘80s music, and of course, we do some ‘90s and some current stuff as well. But it's all stuff we enjoy playing. We don't have anybody dictating, “We must do this style of music.” It's a little bit looser situation. It's kind of an upgraded garage band, so to speak, with a bunch of seasoned pros enjoying themselves, and we play the Puckett's venues in Nashville, corporate dates, weddings. We even play some of the Preds games for the hockey games there—Nashville Predators—during the period breaks. That's always fun.

Shane

Well, let's do a 180. I mean, that's a career right there. That's an entire career that any normal person would be completely happy with, but then you have your secondary career, and this goes back to—you said back in the day you started drawing.

Fred Satterfield

Yeah, that was a whole other—you know, it's pretty odd that a lot of musicians that I know are also superb artists, and vice versa. There must be something in your brain that gets wired that way, and I know that when I'm drawing, I kind of get the same fulfillment from doing that as I do when I'm playing music. And when I got off the road and decided not to tour as much, one of the things I wanted to do was illustrate more. As a result, my wife and I moved from the north side of Nashville, up in Hendersonville, and we moved down to Franklin, on the south side of town. I'd always liked Franklin. I thought it'd be great to stay in the Nashville area, but just kind of shift around a little. We moved down to the Cool Springs area, and there was a nice little area we would do our nightly walks into this business district, and there was a little publishing house there called Dalmatian Press.

We looked in the window, and they had all these children's books and stuff. And my wife said, “You know, you should bring a portfolio down here. Bring some of your drawings down here, Freddy. I bet you could get a job.” “Well, Brenda, I've never really drawn any children's stuff. I always loved drawing comic books and actually wanted to go to work for Marvel Comics when I was a kid.” She said, “Well, think about it.” So, after telling myself all the reasons I shouldn't or couldn't get a job out of this place, I kind of kicked myself and said, “Wait a minute. Now you've talked yourself into not doing this, and this would actually be something fun to do. I need to just step back and go be my positive self and do this.” So I thank my wife for inspiration to do this.

I put a little portfolio together, and somehow, I talked my way into the creative director at Dalmatian Press, which nowadays, knowing that I did that—somehow I did that. I know how impossible that is to do when you try to do it, but it just—I talked my way in there, and, long story short, I left with an assignment. Timing is everything, and they had just apparently exploded as a company, and a lot of their original works were going to Walmarts and Targets across the United States. They had a lot of rack space to fill, and they suddenly had several books that had to be completed, and they didn't have enough artists. I just happened to be sitting in front of her when this was the case. That's just another miracle event in my life, and I turned in the assignment, which was crazy. I mean, I'm drawing these cute little pictures, and they want 45 to 50 per book. And I'm going, “Oh, my goodness. What a challenge!”

I turned the assignment in. She said, “This looks great. Here's another one.” So I turn right around and walk out with another assignment. Subsequently, I've probably done 50+ books for them—all kinds of coloring books, activity books—all of these kinds of things. They publish everything I draw. And again, that's a miracle. To any art student that's trying to get something done like that, you know how difficult it is to get the ear or the eye of those creative directors. So I walked into something that was really phenomenal and has kind of become a side career for me. And then, as a result, I met a very popular novelist, C. G. Cooper, who you know as well, and we met through our business networking organization, BNI. When Carlos was the owner of a property management company, he wanted to become a writer and then subsequently followed his dream. He now has a successful series of paramilitary thrillers on Amazon.com—very, very successful.

Shane

That would be the Corps Justice Series, if you're —  

Fred Satterfield

— The Corps Justice Series, yes.

Shane

By C. G. Cooper.

Fred Satterfield

C. G. Cooper. We kind of hit it off and started talking about, well, maybe he might want a graphic novel of one of his novels, and so that idea became another idea, which then brought my cousin and I back together in a more serious way, even though the last several years prior to this C. G. Cooper project, we had been developing our own characters again.

And we have struck a deal and have actually illustrated one of his novels into a graphic novel for him—his first novel called Back to War in the Corps Justice Series—and we just published Episode One: Back to War, the graphic novel. It's also available on Amazon.com, and that is an incredible success for myself and my partner, David Snelson-Smith, to be able to do this now at this part of our lives, kind of reinvent ourselves all over again, and actually do something that was what we wanted to do all along, ever since we were kids. So through this association with C. G. Cooper, we're seeing another dream come true, and we've developed a little company called Regal City Media, and you can go to the website regalcitymedia.com, see our blogs, kind of find out our story, and then, of course, a link to the C. G. Cooper graphic novel is on there as well. I'd invite you to check it out and see, you know, what being positive about life and never giving up on any of your dreams can actually achieve for you.

Shane

And I know right now in the Corps Justice Series, I believe, he's got 11 books and then 3 spin-off books. Is the long-term plan to just keep illustrating them as long as you can, or is there a cutoff plan?

Fred Satterfield

Well, we'll just see how this goes, and, you know, certainly I’ve read all of his stuff. The second he has a book come out, I purchase it. I love that genre, you know? I'd be very happy to illustrate more Corps Justice novels. That would be a blast. We also plan on releasing some of our own characters on the Regal City Media site. They will also be available on Amazon.com. You can get the Kindle version, or you can get a print version as well.

Shane

Oh, one thing that I forgot to lead into this with: You had a pretty awesome gig for your very first graphic designer illustration job. You mind telling us about that?

Fred Satterfield

Well, when I first moved to Nashville, I was still drawing quite a bit, met up with some great guys, and we wound up—of course, when you first move to a new area, you'll get a couple of roommates, rent an apartment, and that's kind of how you live for a little while. After that, I met a couple of new friends, and we were a little more successful. We decided, “Well, let's go in, and we'll get a house together.” And I did that, and one of the roommates was a gentleman by the name of Darrel “Curly” Jones, and he was working with Jimmy Buffett.

He was driving the bus for Jimmy and taking care of some other business for Jimmy, and he decided, “Hey, Jimmy, we need to have some T-shirts on the road. You need to have some product to sell at your concert.” So Jimmy agreed, and then they came up with a partnership that they could both live with. So Curly had seen my illustrations, and he says, “Freddy, I need you to draw me a T-shirt for Jimmy Buffett, and I want it to be this kind of a cartoon of a shrimp, and we're going to put on there Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. And I want this shrimp to look like he's partying—maybe have a beer glass in his hand over here in this claw, or whatever.” That was the direction. So I tried a few things. I nailed down the final product. He took it to Jimmy Buffett, who loved it and approved it, and so Jimmy Buffett's very first piece of swag was illustrated, actually, by me. Now, that's pretty remarkable.

Shane

That is cool. Do you either draw or drum every day? Do you have a daily ritual?

Fred Satterfield

You know, I draw something every day. Now it's kind of part of my curriculum and has been really since I was doing the television press stuff. I don't drum so much every day like I used to, but I have these rhythms that just go through my head all day long. They never stop, actually, and I'm always tapping on something, or I'm playing some rhythm. It's almost like a—I don't know, it's like a loop in my head. I'll get a rhythm going, and a lot of times a friend of my wife will look over at me and say, “That a rhythm going there, Satterfield?” Because she'll see me, I'll be tapping some kind of rhythm out on the couch or someplace.

So even though I may not have a pair of sticks in my hands or a conga in front of me or something like that, it seems like I am drumming every day in some way or another, and it's just kind of a—I don't know. It's in my body. It's in my DNA, and I have this going through my subconscious constantly. And as a musician yourself, I think you can relate to that.

Shane

Mm-hmm. Have you ever tried to pay for a meal with a napkin sketch you did at dinner?

Fred Satterfield

[Laughs]. No, that's an awesome idea. Maybe I'll try that, but I can’t say I've actually used a napkin sketch as currency. But I will see if I can pull that off sometime.

Shane

Answer this in two parts: What advice would you give to somebody who wanted to be a professional musician, and the same for a professional illustrator?

Fred Satterfield

First of all, you have to love it, and you have to work at it constantly because you never know when your opportunities are going to present themselves. So you have to be ready, and in either vocation, have your chops up. I really worked at my drumming earlier in life all the time. The illustration thing—when my opportunity with Dalmatian Press came together, I really got that job on the portfolio of stuff that I had done years prior. So I really had to step up my game there. I wasn't quite as prepared to take on that task, although I got lucky. I had an opportunity, and I did bring my game up in time to complete the assignment. Be prepared. I guess that's the most important advice I can give you—and love it.

Shane

Why would you try to talk somebody out of pursuing either one of those career paths?

Fred Satterfield

Well, if I saw that they really didn't have what it takes in my opinion and they asked my opinion, I would try and send them in another direction because I know how competitive it is. I know what it takes to be a success. To do anything—let's say, for example, to tour and perform and work with a top-tier act for almost two decades—you have to not only be a great musician at your position, you have to also be a well-rounded personality and person to deal with the day-to-day of that type of lifestyle. It's more than just being a great player. You have to have the ability to think for yourself, be a self-starter, and motivate yourself, or you won't sustain a long career at that. That business can eat you up if you don't have your mindset right.

I owe a lot of my mindset to a gentleman by the name of Jim Thompson, who I met doing a recording session with some of Elvis's musicians, and he was there, basically, as their security, and come to find out he was one of Ed Parker, who was the father of American Kenpo Karate—one of Ed’s inner circle. Jim and I kind of hit it off, and I began to study Kenpo Karate with him, and I learned so much more than just martial arts with Jim, who was a Korean War veteran and professional bodyguard, and he and a partner ran karate studios out in Ontario, California.

So he was a professional at every level, and he taught me how to think for myself, how not to get in a fight, how to get the mindset to survive in life, and ground myself. That really was part of my entire education, which led to a successful career on the road and touring, dealing with day-to-day life in the music business or any business, really. It will still translate over to that. So I owe a tremendous amount to him, as well, for my music career and my drumming career. Believe me, once I started advancing in martial arts, my drumming took on a whole different elevation. So it really translates into everything you do in life.

Shane

There's a lot of discipline and calming mechanisms at work there.

Fred Satterfield

Yes, and the calming is all part of channeling your energies, and I know you, as a martial artist, know exactly what I'm talking about there.

Shane

I got you, buddy. I feel you, man. [Laughs]. One more question before our final 14 here. Where do you want to be in five years?

Fred Satterfield

Where do I want to be? Well, I'd like to be on Maui. I'd like to migrate to Maui. We have family there. I can illustrate graphic novels from anywhere. I can play music anywhere. I would really like to be there, and I would like to continue to explore those talents and the possibilities of a rewarding life doing those two things. That's where I'd like to be in five years.

Shane

That brings us to the end of the interview. Wrap up, final 14. Are you ready for this?

Fred Satterfield

Well, let's find out. Go ahead and fire the cannon.

Shane

All right. If your job only paid the bills and not a penny more, would you still continue to do it?

Fred Satterfield

There's no question there. I see a lot of people who don't find success until later in their lives as artists, and some never do. But yeah, no question, I have to do these things to be happy in life. I'm going to have to absolutely say “yes” on that one.

Shane

What talent or skill do you not have that you wish you did?

Fred Satterfield

I think the marketing aspect of what I do. I wish I had a better understanding of internet and social media marketing.

Shane

Fill in the blank. I am a success if I _____.

Fred Satterfield

Focus.

Shane

And fill in the blank. I am a failure if I _____.

Fred Satterfield

Get distracted.

Shane

What is the single best piece of advice that you followed to get to where you are today?

Fred Satterfield

I would say my father always told me life is not fair, so depend on yourself. I found that to be true.

Shane

What is a piece of well-intentioned advice that you're glad you ignored to get where you are today?

Fred Satterfield

Stay out of the music business. [Laughs].

Shane

Perfect. Freddy, what character trait do you like best about yourself?

Fred Satterfield

I'm thankful for my imagination. I think that would be it.

Shane

What about the character trait that you like least about yourself?

Fred Satterfield

That's an easy one—procrastination. I, oftentimes, will put things off that I should be focusing on. I get distracted. I start procrastinating. Sometimes, I become something that is a deterrent to success. So that's something I work on constantly—scheduling my time appropriately and not letting things go.

Shane

Fill in the blank. I believe every child should have the opportunity to _____.

Fred Satterfield

Complete their dreams.

Shane

If you could suggest one piece of self-improvement that everyone on earth would adopt, what would it be?

Fred Satterfield

Oh, undoubtedly, paying attention. If you pay attention, everything goes better.

Shane

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Fred Satterfield

You know, that's a good one. I always thought to be as strong as Ben Grimm with the Fantastic Forward would be awesome, or Professor X's telepathy. Wow, that would keep you ahead of the game in so many things. But both of those kind of have their downside. Ben Grimm is this kind of ugly rock monster. He has to pay the price to be inhuman to have that strength. I can only imagine Professor X has too much information in his head. So I think flying would be the best. To be able to fly, you would be so free. And I know—I'll tell you, in my life, I've had dreams of where I could fly, and that feeling of flight when I wake up the next morning—it's very invigorating. So I guess flying would be awesome.

Shane

If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

Fred Satterfield

You know, I lost my mom just about 18 months ago. I think one more fine Mexican food meal with her would be a real gift.

Shane

A hospitable nearby planet has been discovered, and you have been recruited to help colonize it. You may take any three items with you that you wish. What are they?

Fred Satterfield

You know, I'd have to take patience. I'd want to take progress with me and illumination. I'd also want to take my Leatherman and a 9mm, you know, just in case. [Laughs].

Shane

All right, last one, Freddy. You have just won a lifetime achievement award, and we want your acceptance speech. There won't be any music to cue you or rush you off the stage, so you can get to all of the “thank yous” that you need. Or if there are any personal causes that you feel strongly about or you want to champion, this is your soapbox, so let her rip.

Fred Satterfield

Oh, well, you know, I've actually—through the course of the interview—touched on the people who have really been tipping points in my life. My folks, of course, for allowing me to pursue my dreams and encouraging me to do so. They're paramount. That's your beginning—your genesis, really. Tim and Steve Archer gave me an opportunity, and it led to me meeting Billy Masters, my first real musical mentor, who was so instrumental in my later career. And Dony McGuire, of course. I would never be in Nashville if it weren't for him. Jim Thompson, for grounding me and teaching me so much about life through the martial arts. I definitely have to bring him into play. My longtime friends Ron Fairchild and Pete Cummings—musicians I have a real affinity with—and I actually worked early on with both of those guys with the Oak Ridge Boys.

I want to mention my daughters. Thank you for allowing me all those years to tour and for giving me that time. There's a lot of time where I wasn't there to help raise them, and I really appreciate their love for me today and, of course, my love for them. I have to thank my wife, who allows me to be who I am. There's nothing more—not a better gift in life—than having a partner and a wife who allows you to be yourself.

I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out here. I really am very thankful for the opportunity to work with Carlos Cooper, C. G. Cooper, in this new endeavor. It really is a dream come true to be able to illustrate and work on these graphic novels. I so much appreciate that point in my life. It just allows me to kind of come full circle with what I did as a child, and it's remarkable to find out that the things you love as a kid really are the things that all through life you continue to gravitate towards.

So I guess that would be my soapbox. Just be prepared if your opportunities come your way. Have your chops up would be my advice to anyone starting out in a career that is something they really, truly love and want to direct their life into. Be prepared.

Shane

Awesome, fantastic advice, Freddy, and that is officially all I've got for you, sir.

Fred Satterfield

Oh, these are good questions, by the way.

Shane

Well, thanks.

Fred Satterfield

Pretty good questions, man. Well, I hope you've got what you need.

Shane

I think this was fantastic. Many thanks for joining me.

Fred Satterfield

Oh, man, I appreciate the opportunity, Shane, and I really wish you a lot of success with this. Enjoyed that. Well, I'll talk to you later and hopefully see you next Wednesday.

Shane

Okay, sounds good, Freddy. Have a good one.

Fred Satterfield

Adios.

Shane

Adios, amigo.

Once again, that was drummer and graphic illustrator Fred Satterfield. You can check out his current band for show dates and booking info at southstreetplayers.com. You can also check out his design and artwork at regalcitymedia.com. I'd like to thank everyone for joining me today. You are listening to the Live2cre8 podcast, and this is Shane Almgren reminding you to dream big, be inspired, and live creatively.