I just had the distinct pleasure of seeing the Charlie Hunter Trio at Tip Top Deluxe in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Despite the title here, the music was by no means “simple” – and if you’re at all familiar with Charlie’s playing, you know just how technical and impressive it can… Read More »The Power of Simplicity
For all the stupid drummer jokes out there (literally jokes about drummers being stupid), we have an awful lot to deal with – and that takes brain power. Where we don’t have key signatures and modes to keep track of, we do have limb coordination, setting the feel and tempo,… Read More »The Meticulous Drummer
My baby… The first “good” ride I ever bought, and the one that taught me all about what ride cymbals could be. Somewhere between a dry ride and a big crash, the 20″ K Custom Dark Ride has crisp stick definition on top, and a big, washy sound if you… Read More »Gear Review: Zildjian 20″ K Custom Dark Ride
I hail from a small(ish) town called Muskegon, Michigan. We’ve got a few “claims to fame,” but for the drumming community, one of the proudest is being the hometown of Derico Watson. Derico is a powerhouse of a player with plenty of chops and super deep pocket, but even more… Read More »A Clinic With Derico Watson
I’ve been a little lost on what to write about lately. I’m not a pro drummer, I’m just working on it – so who the hell am I? Why does it matter what I have to say? …But oh so gradually, I’ve been starting to figure it out. From the… Read More »Authenticity: Social and Musical Currency
[This was originally written as an internal blog for my day job at LongerDays, but seemed fitting for here too… This goes for way more than drumming! Let me know what holds you back.] Putting yourself out there can be scary… Even more so when you’re sharing a creative work.… Read More »Creative Confidence
I’m no music theater pro. Not even close… I’ve done a grand total of two (Hands on a Harbody and the Seussical), but they were both such massive learning opportunities, I almost feel obligated to share some of the experiences here – and encourage you to explore it yourself. It’s… Read More »Lessons From Drumming In Music Theater
This PSA is brought to you by all of the people who’ve ever lost an important piece of gear. Thieviery of any kind sucks, no bones about it – but instruments are something else, another level of treachery. Plenty of stealable objects have monetary value… Plenty of others have sentimental… Read More »PSA: Fight Back Against Gear Theft
Oof, I haven’t even drafted anything for this blog in weeks, maybe longer… I’m sure that’s familiar to many of us – the old “put a project down for a little while” break that may or may not mean abandoning it entirely… That’s precisely what I’ve done here. I’m not entirely sure… Read More »An Unintended Hiatus
People seem unhappy. There are things happening in the forefront of public discourse that spark a lot of disagreement. Anger and fear, even just mild disgust, seem all the more common. As usual, it’s that much more visible too (thanks internet), but it’s hard to ignore a pervasive sentiment of… Read More »Transform Your Anger to Art