If you're dealing with drummers, I first would like to recommend this book:
Checker and the Derailleurs, Lionel Shriver
The main character is a drummer. If I remember correctly, Shriver's husband is a jazz drummer. The book is very well researched on drumming and such, but it doesn't get too bogged down in drumming detail. Might be a good place to get some inspiration.
Next, I'll say that I'm not a drummer. I've only played with a few, and they certainly range from fanatically devoted to drumming to those who just don't care. One name you probably know by now is Neal Peart, the drummer for Rush. Laugh if you want to, but every drummer knows who he is. And he has defined what it means to play drums for anyone who plays popular music after 1980. Some love him, some hate him, others fall between those. But every drummer over age 18 (many younger ones too) will know who he is. And 90% of them will have some opinion about him that he or she will share with you.
No rock artist can exist without drums (or a drum machine -- but that's an entirely different story). Even Jack White needed Meg. So they're always around, and any good drummer will probably always have a job (as evidenced by the many guitar players, like myself, who answered this thread -- as opposed to no drummers!).
The main issue with drummers seems to be the size of the kit: big or small? The most fun drummer I ever played with started with a 9-piece when I first knew him and eventually drew that down to four (bass, snare, hi-hat, crash). I've seen some guys go as little as three (bass, snare, and using the hi-hat to approximate a crash if they squeeze it open far enough). The drummer I play with now has adopted a good middle ground: floor tom, two racks, bass, hi-hat, ride, snare, crash.
Just some thoughts.
take care
---Jones()
