485 - Sam Merrick: Playing "& Juliet" on Broadway, Touring with Jalen Ngonda and Celisse, Splitting Time Between New York and Nashville

Working Drummer

Sam Merrick is a Nashville based drummer, currently holding the drum set chair at & Juliet on Broadway at the Sondheim Theater in New York City. Previously, he spent nearly five years and played over 1200 performances with the national tour of Hamilton: An American Musical.

He has also recorded and/or performed with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Toots and the Maytals, Jalen Ngonda, Saun & Starr (Daptone Records), The Denver Symphony, People's Champs, Kendra Morris (Colemine Records), and many more. Commercial clients include HBO, Levi Strauss, Chase, AT&T, and This American Life Podcast Network.

In this episode, Sam talks about:

• Balancing maintaining a Broadway chair with other musical opportunities
• Relearning how to trust his instincts outside the highly controlled environment of a Broadway show
• Moving from the note-for-note specificity of Hamilton to the longer leash of & Juliet
• Working with producer Max Martin
• Maintaining a "healthy ecosystem" of subs