Stephen Bidwell

Stephen Bidwell

Black Pumas, Hard Proof

Stephen Bidwell was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the Virginia suburbs. Since being first handed drumsticks in the late 80s he has studied and lived in West Virginia, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and New York but has called Austin, Texas home since 2005. Somewhere in those travels he earned a Bachelors degree in classical percussion (two of them actually) and a Masters degree in Jazz studies. Since early 2018 he has been the drummer for the Grammy nominated Black Pumas, a psychedelic soul group known for incendiary live shows. When not on tour with Black Pumas, Stephen co-leads a 10-piece afrofunk collective called Hard Proof, works in countless genres as a sideman, and records and teaches from his home studio.

Stephen Bidwell'S SETUP:

  1. 16" Avedis Hi-hats
  2. 20" Kerope crash/ride
  3. 22" Kerope Medium
  4. 19" Avedis crash/ride
  5. 21" K Special Dry Light Ride

* May be prototype

Stephen
Bidwell's
IN 3

Stephen Bidwell's
IN 3

  • WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

    A good song, an engaged crowd, collaborators that are listening as hard as you are.

  • WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF DRUMMERS

    Don't discard any source material. Be a packrat with your influences, but maybe don't play them all on every gig. No matter what you're playing, try to make it hypnotic.

  • FAVORITE ZILDJIAN CYMBAL/COMBO

    I stumbled on something in a session. I had a pair of 14" K Constantinople hats, and a pair of A. Zildjian and Cie. hats. Any pairing between the four hi-hats sounded awesome.

BEHIND THE KIT

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