Most grandmas play instruments like the piano or cello. They are old school like that.
Back when they were kids, it was extremely rare for females to take up drums as their instrument of choice.
In fact, playing the drums as a girl was actively discouraged by most parents and family members. Although, not everyone likes to play by the rules of society. Some people prefer to break from the mold and follow their own path.
For example, the grandma who was caught on video recently jamming out on the drums in public in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin.
She shatters pretty much every stereotype that exists about drummers.
When looking at her, she appears just like your everyday grandmother.
She does not have long hair, tattoos, or anything that makes her really stand out from the crowd. There is no reason for anyone to expect that she is anything other than a typical grandma. However, put a set of drums in front of her and she tears it up just as good as the younger rockers.
The video of her playing on YouTube has accumulated almost 150,000 views and people can’t stop talking about how impressive she is.
For starters, at the time the video was taken, she was 64 years old. Yet, she shows no signs of slowing down. Her endurance and dexterity are just as strong as ever.
According to WKBT, her name is Mary Hvizda and this isn’t the first performance she has wowed the Internet with.
Just a year prior, she recorded another drumming video where she can be seen twirling drum sticks in the air while she bangs out even more epic beats.
That one has received over seven million views!
“I was having a lot of fun. I really was,” said Hvizda.
It turns out, she has been drumming pretty much all of her life.
She picked up her first pair of drum sticks when she was just 15 years old. After seeing her brother play the drums, she decided that she wanted to try it also.
“He was a drummer and I thought I’d really love to play and drum, and that was my chance,” said Hvizda.
Shortly after, she joined an all-female rock band in La Crosse which was extremely out of the ordinary at the time.
The industry was almost completely controlled by men.
“It really took a lot of tolerance with the customers, or other male musicians, to hang in there and to just keep going if they laughed at us or made fun of us,” said Hvizda.
Almost 50 years later and she is still playing.
Hvizda has had a lot of time to perfect her craft over the years and now, she ranks among the coolest grandma drummers in the world. It includes a very small group of people. After all, how many women in their sixties do you know that like to play the drums?
Throughout her drumming career, she has played in almost a dozen different bands with diverse sounds ranging from rock to country.
Now, people on the Internet know her simply as the “Grandma Drummer”.
It’s a little odd for Hvizda. To her, she doesn’t feel like a grandma at all.
“It’s different… I can’t get used to being called Grandma. I’ve never had children of my own and I never got married, but I am 63 and that is certainly grandma’s age,” joked Hvizda.
Even in her golden years, she jams just as hard as ever.
She can often be spotted playing down at the Coalition Drum Store where several of her drumming videos were recorded. We would love to see her perform live one day. There is no doubt in our minds that she is one of the best grandma drummers on the scene.
Watch the full video of the grandma playing the drums in downtown La Crosse below.
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