Studio drummer for Garth Brooks helps make promotional video at Scout House

Milton Sledge joined the band at Clements High School, which encouraged him to seek music as a career. He has performed with several artists, and is the studio drummer for Garth Brooks.

Milton is a supporter of music programs for students and recently filmed a promotional video segment at the Scout House to support Athens Arts League and its efforts to provide arts and music for the community.

Here is a memory Milton shared during a Listening Lounge event at High Cotton Arts that highlights how music and art can make an impact. 

Two men in a Datsun tried to use shear willpower to force the compact car up a hill on U.S. 43 in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., as they fought to overcome the static on their radio.
   
Driver Milton Sledge and passenger Mike Chapman knew if they could breach the hill by Crockett Hospital, the crackle of the static would transform into country music group Alabama's new song "Roll On." The duo, who met at Clements High School west of Athens, Ala., were on their way back from Nashville when they heard the DJ announce that Alabama’s new release "Roll On" was coming on next. Alas, they started downhill and lost the signal.
 
Once the Datsun crested the hill and the signal returned, Milton stopped the car on the highway. They had made it...not just to the top of hill...but to the burgeoning of their professional music career. Milton and Mike heard themselves playing on that recording, their music traveling the airwaves of radio.
 
Milton and Mike traveled their musical highway many years until Mike's death from cancer in 2016. They went on to become part of the G-Men, studio musicians for Garth Brooks, with Mike playing bass and Milton playing drums.
 
These are the stories that honor Limestone's musical legacy and inspire new generations of musical talent. This is why the Friends of the Scout House project matters.