Burlington musician lands gig with 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' band

Urian Hackney plays drums for Rough Francis, one of Burlington’s most high-profile bands. This week he’ll be raising his profile a few notches.

Hackney will sit in Monday-Thursday, March 6-9 with The 8G Band on the NBC talk show “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” The shows are taped at 4 p.m. East Coast time and will technically air in the early hours of the following day, at 12:36 a.m. Tuesday, March 7-Friday, March 10.

Hackney will fill in for band leader Fred Armisen, the comic actor and drummer who founded The 8G Band, named for the studio where the show is taped at Rockefeller Center in New York. According to Hackney, drummers are brought in when Armisen leaves to work on other projects.

The four-day gig came about through Ludwig Drums, a brand Hackney endorses. He said a manager at Ludwig had been keeping Hackney in mind for one of those fill-in jobs.

“My name was in the hat for a little while, which is pretty wild for me,” Hackney said.

He’s been told he’ll play intro and outro music, which the band typically performs as guests walk in, as well as music leading into or coming out of commercial breaks. Hackney said he’ll watch the show from his seat behind the drum kit and the band will be given cues on when to play.

“All the drummers that come on add their own little spin to it, and I plan to do that, too,” Hackney said. “I’m going to do my best to sneak in some wild stuff.”

Sharing the bill with Hank Azaria, Diane Morgan, Margaret Atwood

Hackney is already getting attention for the gig. Notices on websites such as TV Guide and DirecTV mention that he’ll be sitting in with The 8G Band. He’s listed with guests including Hank Azaria of “Hello Tomorrow!” and “The Simpsons,” Diane Morgan of “Cunk on Earth” and author Margaret Atwood.

“It’s a nice little spotlight for me who doesn’t really want to be in the spotlight,” said Hackney, who’s used to sitting far in the back when Rough Francis is on stage.

He’s glad the stint on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” will call attention to the bands he’s in. He and his brothers, Bobby Jr. and Julian Hackney, make up the core of Rough Francis. Urian also plays with a similarly hard-rocking, punk-inspired band, Detroit-based The Armed.

Though he drums for bands that veer lively and loud, Hackney, who is also a record producer, isn’t worried about being able to play more-nuanced percussion. He noted that he’s worked on quieter records including songs by Burlington singer-songwriter Henry Jamison.

Hackney is apprehensive, however, about possible on-air interaction with guests. “I have a little bit of a pirate mouth,” he said, so he’s worried staffers on the show might have to bleep him out.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.