New beat on Water Street

Check out Chris Bowman’s custom CHBO Drums in New Paltz

Drummers aren’t always as appreciated by their audiences as are the performers playing up front; almost out of sight onstage, half-hidden behind the drum kit, the drummer rarely sings lead or takes the spotlight, so their contributions aren’t as obvious. The reality, of course, is that the drummer is actually holding the entire group together, and any guitar-player can tell you that without a great drummer he won’t sound as good. So it’s nice to know that there are places where drummers can get catered to and get their due, like the newly opened CHBO Drums in New Paltz.

The box stores may have all the basics, but this is pretty much an ultimate drum shop for discerning players. Take a trip to Water Street and walk downhill, all the way past the retail market there, and look for a warehouselike structure beside the Rail Trail and the Wallkill River. Inside, owner Chris Bowman is manufacturing drums there, like the beautiful set made of bird’s-eye maple with a gorgeous matte fine-furniture finish that some drummer is going to come in and fall in love with. Bowman’s making his own line of sticks and percussion instruments like “bell-blocks” (for the non-drummer reader, those are just what that sounds like); and with all the equipment there for fabricating, CHBO Drums offers all facets of drum and percussion repairs from replacing parts to total customization. A soundproof studio is in the building, too, to test everything out.