andrew dodson

Thirteen years ago, my mother and I walked into a tiny store on Southland Drive in Lexington - The Drum Center of Lexington.  I had just started high school and wanted to learn to play a drum set so that I could join the high school jazz band.  On this day, I only expected us to be “looking.”  I was quite surprised when my mom told me she’d buy me a set that day.  The owner of the shop, Kevin Toole was more than helpful.  He was great.  I left that day with my very first drum set - a black Mapex Venus series that I still own and use today.

That day prompted me to start buying most of my percussion equipment from Kevin.  He was tremendously friendly and I often wondered how he stayed in business - his prices were great.  It took me a while to figure out that he was more into the business for the love of it than to make a buck.  Over the last few years, I’ve been ordering more of my equipment by way of the internet, so I hadn’t seen Kevin in a good while - unfortunately.  Isn’t it sad when we prefer convenience over relationships?  After all, gas is expensive these days.  So, we pay shipping instead of maintaining good relationships.

I heard several weeks ago that Kevin had developed cancer.  This past week, Kevin finally lost his battle and passed away.  On a local message board, one person said, “The world just lost an amazing person. I don’t know if I believe in
heaven or any of that, but i’d like to think he’s hanging out drinking
a beer with Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, John Bonham, Tony Williams, and all
of the other drum greats that aren’t with us anymore.”

There’s a memorial concert this Friday at UK’s Memorial Hall.  I’m not sure if I’ll attend, but you can find the info here.  God Bless Kevin and his family.

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