Faustine Hudson: The Next Long Winters Drummer?

Faustine Hudson, center, seen here with Whalebones.

The drum throne in Seattle's indie-rock act The Long Winters has been empty since Nabil Ayers left for NYC so many years ago. And frontman/Reverb columnist John Roderick has made no secret of the fact that it's not easy to find a new drummer in this town. Well, on Tuesday, Shelby Earl--who released her Roderick-produced record this week--told me that she believes Roderick is going to try and poach her live drummer, Faustine Hudson.

"John the other day was like, 'Man, you're really good,'" Earl said of Roderick's flattery of Hudson. "I was like, 'Back up off!'"

This is interesting news on several levels. First, Hudson is one of the most in-demand drummers in town, playing with everyone from the Young Evils and Whalebones to Pearly Gate Music and Ms. Earl. Does she really have time for another gig? But more important, Roderick told me I couldn't audition for Long Winters because, as he put it, "We don't play with girls."

So, John, what's this I hear about you flirting with Faustine Hudson, one of my favorite--but very female--drummers in town?

"Faustine doesn't play like a girl," Roderick tells me, "she plays like a WOMAN!"

Hudson says that while she hasn't been formally approached about the job, and only recently met Roderick face-to-face, she, "will always find the time for the projects I am interested in. And if they are interested in me, I would definitely sit down with 'em and chat about it."

In the meantime, Hudson is busy readying the release of the next Whalebones record. And we assume Roderick is working on a release from The Long Winters.

So what is it that has everyone in town clamoring for a piece of Hudson? Earl says that there's more to it than the fact that she keeps impeccable time and is a more-than-competent drummer. "I was just telling someone yesterday that it's her energy as a person," Earl says. "I was in a band for years that [Mark] Pickerel was a drummer in, and he also was a very engaged drummer, and that was not always the experience that I had."

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