"We've been together since we were kids. So we like each other's company." Jimmy Brown

Growing up every teacher tried to make Jimmy Brown stop tapping. Even his mom tried. All of them failed. He is still doing it. I asked who tried hardest to get him to stop: "All of them."

Jimmy is a founding member of UB40, the band that took its name off an unemployment form. Why they take a bus on tour instead of flying? Simple, he hates airports. America was designed for being on the road, with truck stops and wide roads. A big comfortable bus beats a terminal hands down every time. These are old friends riding the bus, together since they were kids, and they sincerely like spending these bus rides together.

Who picks the movies on the bus? HE DOES! He is the film buff and the range of what they watch is immense. He did laugh when I asked him who had the worst taste in movies. "I'm the film buff and I made them watch obscure stuff, weird shit." When asked whether any film has ever gotten drumming right. His answer was definitive. What about Whiplash?? "they annoy me. All drumming movies annoy me." "...playing slower is a lot harder than playing really fast."

That idea comes back in the One Big Question. Reggae asks a drummer to hold back. Jimmy lays the drums down first, along with the bass, and he says you have to give space to other people to do their thing. He calls it discipline. "if you want to play reggae, you've got to be disciplined because you're not going to do much" but what you do has to be perfect.

The Rockin' 8 turned up some nuggets of gold including the best place to eat in Birmingham and the first thing he does after a tour is finding, well you'll have to listen to hear what. It's a Beyond the Mic Short Cut. It is short on purpose.

A good drummer knows when to leave space.