Vermont veteran still keeps the beat on drums in his 70s

SAINT ALBANS, Vt. (Aging Untold) — At Taylor Park in Saint Albans, the Nobby Reed Project is getting ready for an evening of the blues. Nobby Reed is the lead singer, and Kent Blackmer keeps the beat.

Blackmer picked up the drums for the first time at age 7 and has played for most of his life.

From the Navy to New England

The Massachusetts native took his drumsticks to sea when he was shipped off to Vietnam and served in the Navy from 1969 to 1973. He spent most of that time going up and down the Vietnamese coast looking for contraband. He said the enemy would take aim at their ship.

“Still, a lot of, a lot of pain, a lot of misery,” Blackmer said. “And it was just suppressed.”

Blackmer says it was PTSD.

After the Navy, he tried college, but said he felt “really out of place.”

“I was a veteran, and there were a few veterans on campus, but you could always tell who they were. They just looked different,” Blackmer said.

He left after a year, feeling lost, and headed to northern New England to ski, work and play his drums.

“I try to keep my mind open and my mouth shut and learn as much as I can,” Blackmer said.

Still keeping the beat at 73

Blackmer, now 73, is still doing that at home, where he has been fine-tuning another passion: mixing sound.

He mixes recordings from Nobby Reed Project gigs, including one from the Saint Albans event.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Blackmer said. “It’s something to keep my brain active. And the end results are nice to share with the other band members.”

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