Excerpted from moderndrummer.com

When you meet with Abe Laboriel Jr., you can't help but smile the entire time. It's not just hearing about his success stories, it's that his presence exudes a glow and inner kindness that is both spiritual and contagious. That comes from more than the happiness of a successful career, one that's found the drummer employed by such artists as Paul McCartney, Sting, Chris Isaak, Melissa Etheridge, Jennifer Love Hewitt, k.d. lang, Manhattan Transfer, Natalie Cole, Duran Duran, Dianne Reeves, Justo Almario, Jonatha Brooke, and his father Abraham Laboriel. That kind of contentment comes from upbringing and an inner peace.

Laboriel is a self-admitted workaholic. But when you ask him what the down sides to that disease are, he says with a laugh and a sparkle in his eyes, "I haven't found any yet." Abe does concede, though, that he could use a vacation, having not taken one in about five years. But a career in music is what he's chosen, and it seems that it all just gets better and better.

Abe's enthusiasm and excitement is never-ending. And why should it? He's found himself in some cool situations. With a huge smile on his face, Laboriel recalls the night the band spent at McCartney's guest barn, awakening to the smell of bacon and eggs (probably veggie), then stumbling into the main kitchen to see Paul and his wife Heather cooking breakfast for the band.

Currently in the midst of a tour with the former Beatle, Abe can barely contain his excitement about the nearly three-hour set. What tunes does he get to play? Twenty-two Beatle songs, ten Wings classics, five McCartney solo selections, and a thirty-minute acoustic portion during which Abe gets to sing "Eleanor Rigby" background vocals alongside his hero.

"We huddle behind the curtain right before we're going to play and pray before the show," Laboriel reveals, "which is something Paul said he's never done before. He leads us in prayer and says something like, 'God, we want you to take over. Let us have a good time and let everybody out there have a good time. Thank you for letting us be here to do this.' Wow! What beautiful humility, handing it over that way. My dad has always said that music is all around us and it visits us. To be with someone who lives that same philosophy is beautiful."

Laboriel grew up with that philosophy in his household, as well as having music in abundance. His father, session master bassist Abraham Laboriel Sr., has worked with a mind-blowing list of artists and accompanied most of the great drummers of the past several decades. In turn, he infused his son with a respect and love for music--not to mention opportunities that could not be bought.

Abe Jr. began messing around on the drums at age four, and by ten he was taking lessons from drumming great Alex Acuña. Naturally, Abe was also able to watch his father's sessions in action. During his junior year in high school, he attended the now defunct Dick Grove School of Music, where he studied with Peter Donald. In 1989, his last year of high school, Abe had progressed to such a degree that he was honored by the National Foundation For The Advancement Of The Arts and Down Beat magazine. Shortly thereafter, again, following in his father's footsteps, Laboriel enrolled at the Berklee College of Music.