Being a drummer, Brandon Hensley definitely wants you to enjoy music.

But he wants you to do so safely.

Hensley is only 27 years old, but he already suffers from hearing loss. The reason, he says, was long-term exposure to extremely loud music during his youth.

Hensley, who now serves as drummer for the country music duo Bulls Gap, says he began to learn how to drum when he was just seven years old.

"My method for learning to play drums was to set a huge stereo behind me, turn it up as loud as it would go, and play drums," he said.

Because Hensley is a right-handed drummer, most of his drum set is positioned on his right side.

"The left side is sort of vacant, so that's where I would stack the stereo speakers," he explained.

Because the music was hitting his left ear the loudest, Hensley said the hearing loss on that side is particularly severe.

"I've got hearing loss in the right ear, but the left ear is the one that's really bad," he said.

"Basically I have about 20 percent (of normal hearing) in my left ear," Hensley said.

By his 40s or 50s, Hensley said he has been told by hearing experts that he will likely suffer total hearing loss in his left ear.

"When I was a kid and I first started playing drums, everybody told me that I needed to wear ear protection. But I ignored that," he said.

Hensley said he didn't realize that he was suffering from hearing loss until he turned 18 and went to take a hearing test to enter the military.

"I was told that I had almost profound hearing loss in my left ear," he said.

Hensley said he was "floored" by the news.

"I guess I didn't notice it. Maybe it happened so gradually that I had just sort of gotten used to it," he said.

Today, Hensley said he has renewed respect for the importance of hearing protection.

"As far as I'm concerned, hearing protection is the number one piece of advice that I would tell to any musician or drummer -- or anyone who likes to go to concerts," he said.

"When I talk to kids who play any type of instrument at all, I tell them, 'You need to wear your hearing protection,' " he said. "I can't stress that enough."

While some individuals -- especially teenagers -- may balk at the idea of wearing ear plugs to concerts, Hensley said they are important.

He explained that ear plugs are made with varying decibel ratings. The decibel is used to measure sound level.

When a person notices a difference between loud sounds and quiet ones, for instance, the ears are perceiving changes in sound pressure level, according to Vater Percussion on its Web site, www.vater.com.

Intensity (or volume) is measured in decibels, the site explains. A zero decibel "is the softest sound that can be heard. Normal conversation is around 40dB to 60dB," the site says.

A rock concert, on the other hand, can average between 110 and 120 dB, the site says. If you are at a rock concert in front of the speakers, however, the decibel level can be as high as 140, which is extremely dangerous, the site says.

To protect your hearing, the site recommends using earplugs when playing drums or attending concerts.

"Rolled up tissue paper or cotton balls provide no protection," the site says.

If you are a musician, especially a drummer, the site recommends the use of custom molded earplugs.

Earplugs are also recommended for those who attend concerts.

"You can get a 20-decibel (dB) rated ear plug, and you can still hear music just fine. It's just not so loud, and that's what you need," Hensley said.

Hensley will be on the Main Stage tonight at the Greene County Fair with the other members of the Bulls Gap band, beginning at 7 p.m.

Hensley, who is a 2001 graduate of North Greene High School, said he's particularly excited about taking the stage at the Greene County Fair.

"When I was a kid, the Greene County Fair was the first place that I ever got to hear live music," he said.

He remembers attending shows as a young boy and standing beside the fair's Main Stage watching such country performers as Mark Wills, Wade Hayes and Gary Allen.

"Those were the times that really just made me say, 'That's really what I want to do. I want to be on that stage one day playing,' " Hensley said.

Headed up by the duo of Scott Arnold and Jerry Vincent, Bulls Gap has been performing at various venues in the region since their last performance here in April.

The band's current single, "(It Don't Get Any) Countrier Than This," is No. 61 on the Billboard country single charts.

Some of the group's shows this summer have included the Blue Plum Festival in Johnson City, the Country Music Roundup in Angola, Ind., the Rogersville Fourth of July Celebration, and the Bele Chere Festival, in Asheville, N.C.

"We're working with a new management agency now, and we're starting to book shows at casinos across the country," Hensley said.

In addition to the Greene County Fair tonight, Bulls Gap is scheduled to perform at the Archie Campbell Days Celebration, in Bulls Gap, on Sept. 7 at noon.

On the web: www.bullsgapmusic.com