Drummer a honky-tonk hero after bar-window tumble

NASHVILLE — Stan Saxon has hammered out a career as a professional drummer spanning nearly 30 years. He’s toured the world and played in support of country stars like Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, Darryl Singletary and Joe Diffie.

And yet, the thing that brought him fame was falling through a window at the famed Nashville bar Robert’s Western World one night in January.

“I was just laying on my back looking up at the shards of glass dangling from the window and I went, ‘How’d I get here? How in the world did this happen?’” Saxon said.

When he rolled his stool off his face, dusted off the glass and made sure the bar patrons standing on the street were OK, Saxon reemerged to a bar full of fans standing an d applauding.

Drummer falls out window at Nashville honky tonk

“I just said, ‘Tell me somebody got that. Tell me somebody was recording,’” Saxon said.

As it turns out, one fan was recording, and the ensuing YouTube video has made Saxon a real life honky tonk hero. As Saxon stood on Broadway in front of the boarded up front window, fans walked up to shake his hand and offer support.

“I’m known in the industry, but nothing like this. I’ve never been popular until I went out the window,” Saxon said. “It’s insane to me.”

A hospital visit that night revealed a broken rib, but Saxon, 46, has plowed through, continuing to play through the pain. He maintains a rigorous honky-tonk schedule, playing for the legendary Don Kelley Band and with the Kelley’s Heroes band, which features the supporting musician in Kelley’s band. Kelley told The Tennessean he doesn’t do media and politely declined to be interviewed.

Saxon said he remembers watching the Don Kelley Band play as a teenager and aspiring to one day join the long list of Nashville superstar musicians who have done stints in the band.

“I remember as a kid going, ‘If I ever make it to that level and play with that guy, and that style of playing, and with those players, I’ll have made it,’” Saxon said.

His journey to becoming a professional drummer began as a boy in Oklahoma. He was born into a musical family with a mother who was a member of various Gospel music groups. Saxon said he played in his first band, a Gospel group, at age 7.

He came to Nashville and earned his way up — something Saxon said younger musicians seem less willing to do — by playing unheralded, low-paying gigs and working on his craft. Saxon said he’s played bands covering jazz, rock, soul, metal, and just about every other genre.

With his burly beard, colorful vest and well-worn cowboy hat, Saxon certainly looks the part. But Joe Fick, bass player in the Don Kelley Band, said there’s substance behind Saxon’s style.

“Stan is definitely an original, from the way he dresses to the way he grooves,” Fick said. “He has real knack for finding harmony parts and listening to others onstage.

“He takes direction well and is always easy-going and easy to get along with. Stan is always quick to give a compliment and always has a joke or a one liner that breaks the ice and lightens the mood.”

Saxon called drumming in the Don Kelley Band the best gig in Nashville. He remembered when playing regularly on lower Broadway didn’t necessarily represent a way to make a full-time living. As Nashville has entered its tourism boom, Saxon said work in the Don Kelley Band, combined with his production and session gigs, keeps him well-employed.

The band has become its own draw on lower Broadway, with a historic roster that includes some of Music City’s top professional musicians — Brent Mason, David Byrd, Paul Cook, Sid Hudson and Johnny Hiland.

“Don Kelley has been called ‘the professor’ of honky-tonk music for good reason,” Robert’s Western World owner Jesse Lee Jones said. “He has paved the way for so many musicians that have gone on to become hugely successful in the music world.”

Saxon said he doesn’t mind that the video has brought him newfound popularity. He said the video shows his love for playing in the Don Kelley Band. Even as his ear monitor, which became wrapped around his stool, pulled him backwards as he stood up during the grand finale of “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” Saxon can be seen pounding his sticks into the air, still trying to finish the song’s dramatic conclusion.

“This just happened to be in the world famous Robert’s, and not every musician in town is going to be playing in the Don Kelley show,” Saxon said. “Every musician I know has fallen, tripped, slipped onstage. But not everybody had it end up on YouTube that night.”