Read Exclusive Interviews written for Drumhead, Modern Drummer and Off Beat: Troy Luccketta – Steve Goold – Daniel Glass – Garrett Goodwin – Steve Smith – Dan Needham – Kelly Keagy – Scott Pellegrom – Brandon Scott – Mike “Woody” Emerson – Ben Barter – Rich Redmond  – Sean Fuller – Jason Hartless – Robert Sweet – Keio Stroud – Tommy Taylor – Frankie Banali – Bobby Z – Danny Seraphine – Dino Sex– David Abbruzzese – Marisa Testa – David Thibodeau – Robert Perkins – Sarra Cardile – Bill Stevenson  – David Cola – Ran Levari – David Raouf – Eric Selby – More to Come

Steve Smith’s Rig Rundown

Steve Smith gave a rundown of his historic Sonor kit for the 40th Anniversary Tour of Vital Information. These are the same drums he used for Journey’s first live album “Captured” in 1980 (released in 1981). He continued to use these drums for subsequent Journey albums including the Escape album which featured the hit songs “Don’t Stop Believin”, “Who’s Crying Now” and “Open Arms”. He later used the same drums in different configurations for the first Vital Information album, and continued using them throughout his career.

RIP Dom Famularo

Sorry to share such sad news. Dom Famularo has passed after a long battle with cancer. Dom wrote a Foreword in the new edition of our book FUNdamentals of Drumming for Kids and I am still very proud of his validation.

Rich and I both feel personally touched both personally and professionally by Dom’s inspiring words to our readers.

He will be missed but he leaves behind an extraordinary legacy.

“I didn’t have a gift. I had an incredible desire to learn a craft and I’ve put thousands of hours into from practice to research. That gave me the confidence and skill.” – Dom Famularo

New Book

Our friend Rich Redmond just released his new book…

Rich Redmond, drummer for superstar Jason Aldean, provides a shot of inspiration for those interested in jump-starting a music career.

Any successful musician will tell you the most common question asked of them is, “What does it take to make it?” Rich Redmond is no different. He moved to Nashville more than twenty-five years ago with his drums, a cat, and a vision, and he’s made his dreams come true. Over one too many lattes, he decided to put all of his advice in one place.

Making It in Country Music is filled with practical advice, stories of how Redmond did it himself, and insights from a chorus of other musicians. This is the ultimate behind-the-scenes and fun-to-read book looking at the country music industry and music careers.

Redmond takes you on a tour of Nashville and many other country music meccas: from the massive stadiums to the honky-tonks and the wide variety of jobs that make the industry go. You’ll learn the various skill sets needed to become successful in the industry as well as predictions for the future of country music among many other things. There is no better guide to the country music business than Redmond with his unique blend of encouragement, detailed advice, humor, and experience.

Gospel of Goold

Our good friend Steve Goold hosted what I consider to be one of the best drum clinics I’ve ever watched. There is a 15-part video of the clinic posted here. I also interviewed Steve for DRUMHEAD magazine a few years ago. Read here. Steve has backed some really big names including Sara Bareilles and always brings his unique approach to the kit.

FREE eBook

Head on over to my sister blog The Naked Historian and download a free copy of my eBook on the Civil War Drummer Boy titled “The Long Roll.” GO HERE

Off the Field

Thomas performing in his high school band

Today is the day after the Super Bowl. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at a professional football player who is also an accomplished drummer:

Andrew Thomas started 41 games in three seasons at The University of Georgia, missing just the Sugar Bowl in 2019 after declaring for the NFL Draft. Thomas spoke with SI.com’s Connor Orr in February of 2020 how an obsession for the classic movie Drumline ultimately helped him read and react to defenses. Some may not know, but Andrew Thomas fancies himself a musician. The 6’5, 320-pound, first-round tackle is actually a first-class drummer as well. And it’s something that he accredits to the movie Drumline: 

“Funny story, when I was in daycare my favorite movie was Drumline but it was rated PG-13 so I would have to have the daycare call my parents so they could let them know it was okay for me to watch it. That was my favorite movie growing up so I picked the drums.”

His ability to play the drums and read and react to musical notes is something that Thomas told Connor Orr, translates to football: 

“It definitely does. When it comes to instruments it takes repetition and that’s the same thing with football and offensive line. It’s the same techniques over and over and drilling them into your head. Reading music is the same thing as recognizing plays. And one of the things we’d do in high school band was called a site read we would go to a concert and then we’d have to site read a piece of music we’d never seen before and react to it. It’s kind of like when you’re on the field and you see a play called but something happens that you’ve never seen before. You just gotta react to it.”

Thomas was drafted by the New York Giants in the 1st round (4th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.

New Sampling Package from NSC

Our good friend Garrett Goodwin’s venture Nashvillesamplingco.com has a new package coming out. Nashville Sampling is excited to announce a collection of bombastic drum loops, fills and samples from Manchester Orchestra’s Tim Very. This massive sound pack includes over 250 loops, 200 fills, and thousands of samples all captured in multiple microphone arrangements. NSC aimed to create an exciting and inspiring drum writing experience with Tim, easy enough for beginning producers to work with while offering advanced tools to satisfy the most technically-demanding drum productions. Built for Kontakt 6, Slate Trigger 2, Logic Sampler, Maschine, and WAV files. The collection will be officially releasing February 1, but people can pre order now. Go to https://nashvillesampling.com/pages/tim-very-drums. Garrett is the drummer for Carrie Underwood. Read our interview with Garrett for Drumhead magazine.

Happy Holidays

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here’s looking forward to a great 2023! Lots of great posts and guest posts planned.

RIP DH Peligro

Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Dead Kennedys’ drummer DH Peligro has died at the age of 63. The musician, real name Darren Henley, suffered a head trauma after hitting his head in a fall at his home in Los Angeles and died shortly after on Friday, October 28th.

The drummer enjoyed a brief stint with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in 1988, but was best known for being a member of The Dead Kennedys. Peligro replaced the original drummer of The Dead Kennedys in 1981 and stayed with the group until their break up in 1986. He then joined the rock band Red Hot Chilli Peppers in 1988 – taking over from drummer Jack Irons.

Due to his ongoing drug and alcohol issues, the band decided to fire Peligro in November of 1988. Chad Smith replaced him a few weeks later and has been with the band ever since.  Anthony Kiedis said firing Peligro was one of the toughest things the band ever had to do, although he became a major part of Peligro’s road to sobriety.

A sober Peligro was the frontman for his own band called Peligro (Spanish for “Danger”) and released three albums: Peligro, Welcome to America and Sum of Our Surroundings, which won Rock Album of the Year from the American Independent Music Awards.