Drummer keeps teaching into his late-50s
At 59 years old in February 2011, Randy Roth was going strong, educating all ages of drum students and playing with dozens of bands. In short, he made a living by making music.
“One night it's rock ’n’ roll, jazz, blues,” he said. “I love all music … opera, musicals.”
Roth grew up in Butler, the eldest of eight children, all of whom live no farther away than Clarion.
“I just love it around here. It’s beautiful,” he said.
There was a brief time when Roth thought he might want the life of a traveling musician.
“In the early days I thought I would go on the road,” he said. “I was a junior in college, working six nights a week for nine months down in Pittsburgh. That was the best.”
He and his bandmates would study in a club’s kitchen and drive back and forth to Indiana (Pa.) University.
“We played two weeks here and two weeks there. That was the early ’70s.”
