Apr 26, 2018 3 min read

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From left are Jay Weaver, Olga Watkins and Subha Das.

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Jay Weaver and Olga Watkins perform at NOLA on the Square in Pittsburgh.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Subha Das performs with the Olga Watkins Band at NOLA on the Square in Pittsburgh.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Jay Weaver performs at NOLA on the Square in Pittsburgh.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

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Harry Funk / The Almanac

Olga Watkins leads her band during a NOLA on the Square performance.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

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Music school is, of course, the optimal place for aspiring musicians, and that certainly was the case for percussionist Subha Das at Duquesne University.

“What I realized my junior year of college was: Oh, man. How am I going to get a job in this field? What in the world am I going to do?” he said. “The first two years, you don’t think about that.”

And so the Bethel Park native sent résumés to local school districts, hoping to land a summer job even though he hadn’t work in education before. Richard Minnotte, director of percussion studies for nearby Mt. Lebanon, contacted him and set up an interview.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

“He was giving me a tour, and I said, ‘Wow! This is a great opportunity. I hope I get this gig,'” Das recalled.

That was in 1998, prior to his senior year at Duquesne. Twenty years later, he still is working for Mt. Lebanon.

Now serving as principal assistant director of Mt. Lebanon’s percussion program, he leads two ensembles and also teaches 30 hours’ worth of private lesson per week. Believe it or not, his workload with the school district once was even more substantial.

“For about 10 years, I was doing a lot of different things. I was young and had a lot of energy, and it was a great experience,” Das said. “But as you get older, you have more responsibilities. There’s family life. And you figure out what you really want to do, and you do it.

Harry Funk / The Almanac

“It’s a nice balance right now between teaching, directing my own ensembles and my own performing with the various projects I have,” he continued. “At this point, I want to work with artists who have something to say, who are passionate about their craft, and where I share their passion and their love for music.”

One of his projects is playing percussion for the Olga Watkins Band, which he has been doing since the powerhouse blues-jazz-rock vocalist formed the group 15 years ago this month.

“Eighty-five percent of what we’re doing is original, and I’ve been a part of writing all of those songs,” he said. “It’s hard to get bored with that.”

Harry Funk / The Almanac

The band will perform as the Olga Watkins Acoustic Trio at 8 p.m. April 27 at Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills, 1240 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon. Guitarist Jay Weaver completes the three-person configuration.

“It’s a pretty basic setup. As much as I love playing the drum set,” Das joked, “it’s nice not to carry all that stuff.”

He also plays in Resonance, a percussion ensemble founded by steel drummer Dan Meunier, and works as a freelance percussionist, including musical theater performances in Pittsburgh.

“You have to keep busy doing different things,” he said. “And I like the diversity.”

For more information, visit www.sunnyhill.org or www.olgawatkinsband.com.