He has been walking to the beat of his own drum for 80 years.
When 94-year-old Patrick Kinney — a resident at Mountain View Village — received his own drum set at age 14 his nickname ‘‘The Rhythm Man’’ soon followed.
‘‘To make the drums talk you really need the rhythm. It is far from humdrum.’’
Mr Kinney said the drums, which were purchased in Dunedin, were bought for the family’s enjoyment.
Covered with vellum, they created a softer sound than the drums of today.
With music always in his home, it was only a matter of time before the family created a dance band called the Kinney Band.
Mr Kinney’s family lived on a farm in Hyde — about midway between Middlemarch and Ranfurly.
The family played throughout Central Otago, leaving Mr Kinney on the back seat — obscured by his drum set for hours — as they made their way to venues.
He said he loved seeing ‘‘all the ladies in their long dresses’’.
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Over the years they covered ball season and played for the fire brigade, even playing at a 21st birthday party for wellknown singer John Hore (who later became known as John Grenell).
In the early 1940s the family played at leaving parties for young men going off to war.
‘‘They were sober occasions.’’
One of the more memorable places he played was Dunback.
He said if the band did not arrive by 8.30pm the organisers would get anxious.
Some of those guests had gone the extra mile . . .with women collecting pine cones, which they burnt to become a charcoal, and using the charcoal in the gas producers on their vehicles, they would arrive at the event in style.
Those balls in Dunback would finish at 2am.
‘‘There is nothing like music.’’ In those days, children were not distracted away from the table by television, but rather, in the Kinney household, they hurried off to play their instruments.
Their shared passion for those instruments helped immensely when problems arose. When his sister — the pianist — became unwell before a night at Dunback, Mr Kinney worked out how to vamp on the piano.
He said it was a matter of timing.
‘‘It worked.’’
Remnants of those glorious years were still on his beloved drum set, with the acronym of the band’s name still painted there.
He still had the very same set of drums, which he played weekly at the happy hour at Mountain View Village.
He also performed at various places, including mass at the Sacred Heart Basilica and St Thomas’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations and with the Mountain View Village choir.
Fleur Kinney said her husband also played alongside well-known Timaru musician Sheryl Blanchard recently, who was amazed at his ability to play off the cuff with her and not miss a beat.
‘‘The encouragement you get from people is great,’’ Mr Kinney said.
He said his playing when he was recently receiving respite care in Geraldine had ‘‘staff waltzing their way through the room’’.
Despite medical difficulties in the last six years, he said the drums kept him going.
He played with his son (whose stage name is Steven Jaymes) whenever he was in New Zealand.
The two would have performed together on his last visit if it were not for ‘‘Covid-19 getting in the way’’ — and he accompanied his granddaughter Mali while she danced for Mountain View Village residents.
He also played at family members’ special celebrations.
Mrs Kinney — Mr Kinney’s biggest fan — said her husband’s love for playing the drums ‘‘has never dimmed, but invigorates him’’.
