You'd think the life of a rock star would be all bottle-popping and pretty girls. This might be the case for some, but not for the likes of Stellar Revival's drummer, Andrew Koussevitzky.
The Miami-based music man lives a simple life in a Brickell high-rise with bills, high gas prices, and bad restaurant experiences like the rest of us.
But what piqued our interest about the man is his blog, the Hungry Drummer, which chronicles his touring life through the food he eats around the world.
Blogging about everything from Nutella pastries in Italy to Southern-style fare in Kentucky, he's perfected the art of globetrotting with a fork in hand.
Koussevitzky has lived his whole life in South Florida, with the exception of a few college years out of state. A jack of many trades, Koussevitzky is not only a professional drummer for a local band-gone-big, and not only an aspiring Anthony Bourdain, but also a lawyer. Having grown up with parents in the restaurant industry, he's always reveled in the curiosity for new or undiscovered places.
A quick browse through the Hungry Drummer reveals that, like all aspiring successful food bloggers, he brings his appetite and iPhone wherever he goes. "Traveling, eating, and drumming are big for me," the steely-eyed musician says as he sips a latte one afternoon. Where his band's tour bus takes him, he'll eat.
Most recently on the blog, he retold the story of a tour stop in Chicago where he visited Hot Dougs with his family. "The sausages here are aggressive, creative, and clever," the post says of the local sausage-centric restaurant that serves elk and rattlesnake.
It takes no stretch of the imagination to see that Koussevitzky has a way with words when it comes to describing food. That, paired with good grammar and quick wit, makes for fantastic reads that make you hungry just as much as they make you thankful that he proofreads his content. Koussevitzky, of couse, does it all out of habit -- he's not a professional writer on top of everything else.
While we at Short Order have weekly editorial meetings to discuss our plans of attack for local food coverage, lists, and news, the Hungry Drummer follows a similar game plan, but without all the "professional" formalities.
Case in point: "Andrew's Top 20 Dishes of 2012" is a list of his favorite meals from London to Paris to New Orleans to back home in Miami. Pork-neck gravy from the Purple Pig (a restaurant Koussevitzky swears by); a redneck taco from Martin's BBQ in Nolensville, Tennessee; and a striped bass with avocado, cucumber, and raspberries from Paris are just a few picks that make his list.
He may not get paid for his words (and perhaps that's better), but the man can do what he wants, when he wants, when it comes to his blog. As a drummer, he answers to the record label and his managers and agents, and as a lawyer, he answers to a judge, but as a food blogger, "I'm my own boss when it comes to that," he says.
If one profession fails, he has two backups and a bottomless stomach to help him along the way.
The Hungry Drummer is the kind of site you'd want bookmarked throughout your travels. Where local bloggers such as FatgirlHedonist have made it their business to keep you apprised of what's going on in Miami, Koussevitzky uses the Hungry Drummer to share what's going on everywhere else.
But, for the record, as a Miami boy, he practically lives off Enriqueta's.
To follow the Hungry Drummer's chronicles, visit his Facebook page and Twitter. For Koussevitsky, follow @AndrewSteller.
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