‘A dream come true’: Acclaimed Lexington drummer played Railbird. Days later, he died.

A devoted father. A musical brother-in-arms. A boundless enthusiast for any project he was involved in. Ask friends and collaborators about their experiences with Todd Copeland, they will reveal he was all those things – usually, at once. Mostly, though, they will tell you how unprepared they were to say goodbye to him.

The veteran Lexington drummer, known most recently for ongoing work with the grassroots groove troupe Magnolia Boulevard, died in his sleep on Sept. 2 at the age of 51. He last performed with his bandmates on Aug. 28 at Railbird and rehearsed with them as recently as Sept. 1.

“Todd was always very outgoing,” said Magnolia Boulevard vocalist and co-founder Maggie Noëlle. “He constantly had a positive outlook on everything – not just music, but life in general. For the past five years or so, he really honed in on how to be a good adult, how to be a good father. He always had an optimistic outlook. If there was anything going on, he was the first to have a plan.”

A Lexington native, Copeland was born into a musical family. His father was a bandleader during the 1970s while his mother was a longtime pianist and church organist. But it was the drummer’s uncle, Phil Copeland, who enjoyed considerable visibility during the 1960s as a member of the popular Lexington band The Torques.

“You could say I was Todd’s earliest musical co-hort,” said brother Eric Copeland, a composer and arranger now based in Orlando, Fla. “We were musical partners as soon as he began beating on pots and pans and I was playing the piano. You start at home with your brother before you go out anywhere else. He had some kind of drum kit set in our bedroom and I had some kind of keyboard, but that was just one part of who we were. We were very close. We were best friends since we were young and have always been best friends.”

Drummer Copeland’s own musical legacy extends back several decades. During the 1990s, he served as the percussive force behind the G-Funk All-Stars, a consistently top-drawing soul/funk ensemble in Lexington music clubs. That’s where Billy Quinn of the bands 10 Foot Pole and Rebel Without a Cause first played with him, although the two knew each other since childhood.

“We were kind of kindred spirits, in and out of each other’s lives since we were kids,” Quinn said. “Todd’s family lived one house away from mine when we were growing up.

“Todd got out. He did stuff. As a result, he had a lot of friends. I was one of many, many friends. He became this genius guy with a crazy positive attitude and energy.

“He didn’t have an ego. It seemed like he could do anything – art, logos, record music, mix music. He could build instruments, repair instruments. I think he even built the drums he played. But he was never really tooting his own horn. He just seemed happy.”

Bassist Roddy Puckett, formerly of The Wooks and currently a member of the bluegrass ensemble Wolfpen Branch, began a musical friendship with Copeland when they became the rhythm section for the Lexington groove band Green Genes.

“I got to know Todd after seeing him perform with G-Funk toward the end of 1996,” Puckett recalled. “I was playing guitar with Green Genes at that point. Our drummer and bass player decided to do other things, so I started playing bass and reached out to Todd to handle drums. As soon as we started playing, I felt like I had known him forever. Todd had such an impact on us musically. In Green Genes, he was like a conductor.”

It has been with Magnolia Boulevard that Copeland’s already established profile in the Lexington music community began to gain more notice. The band was formed after Noëlle relocated to Central Kentucky from Asheville, N.C.

“I was trying to think of the exact moment Todd and I met,” Noëlle said. “I moved to Lexington in late 2013, but I have no recollection of our actual first encounter. He was always so welcoming, though. I had played music in different bands, but I was just a little baby putting my toes in the water. He really helped me put my foot in the door and also have confidence. Todd just knew music. He knew the ins and outs of it. He just did it all.”

“Todd was a gifted musician who loved playing music, loved being a father and would do anything for his friends and family,” said Paul Reed Smith, guitar maker and owner of PRS Guitars, by email. Smith served as producer for “New Illusion,” Magnolia Boulevard’s 2020 four-track EP disc. “He just finished playing drums at a huge festival (Railbird), which for him was a dream come true. He will be deeply missed.”

All of Magnolia Boulevard summed up their fondness and respect for Copeland in a group statement issued last weekend.

“From the first notes we played together, it was obvious that we had something special both musically and personally. It’s a very rare thing to find someone you jell with on such a profound level from the get-go. Often, almost every show, in fact, we would be in an improv situation. One of us would come up with an idea and it was like Todd had already thought of it.

“His face would light up when he talked about his son Ollie and the love of his life Jenn. We shared countless laughs, jokes - some good, some awful - but we always had the time of our lives together. He was a source of confidence in times of insecurity, always looked on the bright side of things and was always the first to lend a helping hand. To say we will miss him is a vast understatement.”

A public memorial service for Todd Copeland will be held at 3 p.m. Sept. 12 at Rock House Brewing, 119 Luigart Ct. In lieu of flowers, Copeland’s family suggests donations to his son Ollie’s college fund. Info at facebook.com/magnoliaboulevardband.

“Todd’s heart was happy just playing,” Eric Copeland said. “You could see it in his face. That was his happy spot.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 6:00 AM.