South Louisiana native Doug Belote grew up in Cajun country, immersed in the sounds of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, Cajun, zydeco, Dixieland, gospel, Latin and New Orleans second line rhythms. He began playing the drums at age 12 and worked in clubs and at recording sessions while still in high school. After just a semester at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he sold everything he owned including his drums and hit the road for The Drummers Collective in New York City, where he studied with Ricky Sebastian and Kim Plainfield and broadened his musical palette.
In his early 20s, Belote began touring Europe, Japan and the Caribbean with a variety of New Orleans-based jazz, blues and funk artists. He has recorded on more than 100 albums and his resume includes work with Mike Gordon, Jeff Coffin, George Porter Jr., Willie Nelson, Sonny Landreth, Henry Butler, Delfeayo Marsalis, Anders Osborne, Cyril Neville, Ivan Neville, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Allen Toussaint, Fred Wesley, Steve Masakowski, Charlie Hunter, John Oats Shane Theriot, Derek Trucks, Susen Tedeschi as well as a 2010 performance with Eric Clapton at the Crossroads festival.
Doug currently lives in New Orleans and tours with 12-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas.
In this episode, Doug talks about:
Recording in New Orleans for T.V. shows and commercials
Working with Jerry Douglas and the funny story of his “audition” for Jerry
His understanding of recording in Nashville
His documentary: Street Beat – Drumming Below Sea Level
Studying with Kim Plainfield at Drummers Collective
Playing with Sonny Landreth and Eric Clapton on the 2010 Crossroads concert
Living in flood prone New Orleans
Doug endorses: Yamaha drums,Zildjian cymbals, Shure in-ear monitors and Pro-Mark drumsticks
We’d like to recognize and thank listener James Osborne and his support of this podcast through Patreon. See and hear more about James at: jamesosborne.com.au
This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums