LONDON, Ont., (CUP) - If the road to success is paved with failure, Max Weinberg wants people to know that it's alright to lay as much asphalt as you need to achieve your goals.

Weinberg made his name as the drummer in one of rock 'n roll's most successful acts, Bruce Sprinsteen's E Street Band, and later as the leader of late night television's most respected musical ensemble on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Last week Weinberg addressed a packed Forwell Hall at London's Fanshawe College where he played clips of his career with both Springsteen and O'Brien.

"Over the past 40 years there has been plenty of good and plenty of bad. It is so hard to make your dreams come true but if you look deep within yourself you'll find a hunger," he said. "If you want that thing to come true you can't just dream about it - you've got to keep working at it and believe that one day you'll get there."

Weinberg said his family was instrumental in both supporting his dreams and showing him how to achieve them.

"My dad used to say if you pound the pavement enough you'll get opportunities and that for every door that closes another opens."

Weinberg put these lessons to use early by following his love of the drums.

"All I ever wanted to do was play the drums; I felt good about myself when I played the drums," he said. "So I worked anywhere and everywhere I could lug my drums in."

Anywhere and everywhere included weddings, bar mitzvahs, bars and banquets.

"My father wasn't a very good lawyer. He thought the law was sacred and something that was meant to help people," he said. "He didn't charge people like he should have ... which is why I was allowed to play bars and strip joints when I was 14.

"I still can't believe I hooked up with Bruce Springsteen through a want ad. At the first rehearsal he said, 'How ya doing, I am Bruce, let's play.' They were the best band I'd sat in with," Weinberg said. "After all those years of searching for the right connection, I'd found it. I knew when I saw their dedication.

After 15 years, Weinberg received the biggest shock of his career when Springsteen called and told him he was going to go out on his own.

"My whole world seemed to be shattered," he said of the experience.

Weinberg decided to return to Seton Hall University where he was only two semesters away from completing his degree in communications. He later went on to law school.

"At this transition point the last thing I wanted to do was play the drums," he said. "Everyone in my family had law degrees so I thought it would be a good way to ... help young up and coming musicians."

But in the middle of class one day Weinberg felt something give. He left his seat, went to the registrar's office and withdrew from law school. A short stint working on the business end of the recording industry provided him with an education on the music industry but ultimately led him back to his spot behind the drums, where he said he was meant to be all along.

"My career is proof that if you just hang in there, have faith and a stiff wind at your back, you can achieve your dreams," Weinberg said.

Source: www.brockpress.com