The Higgs’ Garrett Morris Shares ‘Drum Cam’ Cover Of Trey Anastasio Band’s ‘Drifting’ Featuring Russ Lawton: Exclusive Video Premiere

The Higgs’ Garrett Morris shared a drum cover of Trey Anastasio Band’s “Drifting.” JamBase is pleased to premiere the video, which features a reaction cameo from TAB drummer Russ Lawton and audio mixing aid from Goose’s Peter Anspach.

The journey for the “Drifting” drum cover — which sees Morris masterfully playing along to a live version of the TAB classic from November 3, 2017 at the Fox Theater in Oakland — started when Morris began a mentor/mentee relationship with Lawton. “I first reached out to Russ when he was in L.A. with TAB in January,” Garrett said. “But we weren’t able to connect.”

Even as Lawton navigated a busy Southern California schedule with TAB, he recalls Garrett reaching out fondly. “It’s funny,” Russ recounted in a statement. “I remember when Garrett and I were communicating and TAB was playing in L.A., I didn’t know what he looked like but I was like, ‘where’s that guy?’”

Russ would eventually connect with “that guy” when Morris returned from Mexico after seeing Phish’s 2020 Riviera Maya run. When stay at home orders went into place around mid-March due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, Garrett and Russ were both sidelined from their busy touring schedules and the two drummers began corresponding through Facetime.

“He’s got a drum set where he’s at and I have a drum set over here,” Garrett said. “So we can play back and forth. But a lot of our Facetime calls are just discussions. I’ll also send Russ some videos. For ‘Drifting’ I sent him a sample of me playing the groove and then he critiqued it and we went back and forth that way.”

It wasn’t long before Morris had mastered the feel of “Drifting,” as Lawton attests to. “It’s really close,” Russ said. “There’s a certain swing that it has to it, which is really important, and Garrett caught that. The time and feel is the first thing. Some guy might be able to play the beat, but it might be stiff. It’s the feel, and he had the feel down right. All the elements were good. It’s almost like, ‘okay, you go sit-in and play ‘Drifting’ with TAB.’”

After mastering the live version, Morris began filming “Drifting” on his latest percussion purchase: an early 90’s 4-ply maple red Ludwig kit set up at his secret practice spot on the Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. Morris used eight mics on the drums, which headed into a Behringer X32 console linked to Logic Pro. The video also features five different camera angles. Garrett then enlisted the help of Goose vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach to help mix the audio as well as help with the video, with Anspach sharing his expertise on the X32 — the same board Goose uses. The two up and coming jam scene musicians then went back and forth on Zoom to finalize the project.

Watch Garrett Morris’ drum cover of Trey Anastasio Band’s “Drifting” below: