Sam Merrick has been in the drum chair for the touring production of Hamilton since January 2018. Prior to that, he was a busy freelancer in New York, working a bartending job for some of that time, and playing a wide range of gigs from weddings to Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. When the pandemic shut down Hamilton, he relocated to the Washington, DC area and set up a home studio where he has done remote tracking and a sample pack which he has just released through The Drum Broker. In this episode, Sam talks about The random wedding gig that led to the Hamilton gig The various learning curves the show presented, from reading to energy How the show forced him to reckon with some physical issues Creating "normal" life away from home "De-Hamilton-izing" his playing over the break, and seeking out inspiration and motivation from others rather than waiting it for to come from within The sample pack partnership between drummer, producer (Jeremy Page) and platform (Drum Broker)