Bill Gibson: A Cappella With Brushes

Content developed with clients Huey Lewis & The News...

“Whose idea was it to include the snare with the brushes for the a cappella portion of the show?”

Bill Gibson: It might have been Huey’s idea, but Huey and mine together. The first time we did it was for “Little Bitty Pretty One”. That was years ago, after the “Four Chords” album came out. I used it on the record I think. We just thought it would be a good shtick for the a cappella thing if Mario came out with an upright bass and if I had a snare drum up front and played with the brushes. It was more for show I think than anything else, but it seemed to work.

“But you’ve kept it kept it all these years ...”

Bill: Yeah. It just became a thing we do whenever that song’s called. “Ok, get the brushes out”. They got me at one sound check one day. We were gonna do “Um, Um,Um,UmUm,Um” and “Little Bitty Pretty One”. I used to not play the drum with the brushes on “Um,Um”. But at sound check one day, since the drum was already there, I just played along to the track and the guys said, “That sounds great! Why don’t you do that in the show?” 

And I said, “Really? I won’t be able to do all the cool choreography with you.”

They were like, “Ah. Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.”

“They decided you were more valuable as a drummer than a dancer.”

Bill: Yeah, apparently. And I’m sure that’s true.