This past Sunday, I had an opportunity to take part is a truly cool experience. The Big Beat, a charity event I detailed in a post a few weeks ago, rumbled into the Family Arena in St. Charles, MO today. Fifty-five drummers pounded their kits and smacked their hand drums with hundreds of fellow drummers around the US, all to benefit the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

Because of my recent motorcycle accident, I was not able to play for the event, but I was there representing DrummBlog.com and handling the technical aspects of the day, which culminated it monitoring a UStream feed from Seattle where the local conductor there kicked off the country-wide event at 4:45 PM CST from Donn Bennett Drum Studio in Bellvue, WA.

The sound inside the Family Arena was amazing, the sound of all those percussive instruments reverberating off the high ceilings. It’s really hard to describe after the fact. It’s really something that you needed to be there for to experience.

And speaking of which, I put this video together to commemorate the event. It has the audio of the entire five minutes of The Big Beat with some additional video and photos I took from the floor of the arena.

I don’t have the final numbers as to the amount of money that was raised for the Mr. Holland’s Opus Fund, but I’ll be sure to post on it when I do.

This was a phenomenal event. Besides doing it for a good cause, it was a great excuse to hang out with fellow drummers and jam inside a great venue. I’d like to extend a personal thanks to Jim Uding and Drum Headquarters and the St. Louis Post Dispatch for leading the way in making this event happen. Also, thanks to all the industry and local sponsors who contributed their time and money they are all listed in my announcement post for this event).

We’ll see you next year in St. Louis for The Big Beat 2010!

So, it’s been awhile since I’ve done a Friday Drum launch. Hell, it’s been awhile since I posted regularly! The reason for this is pretty simple:  A few weeks ago, I was in a pretty bad motorcycle accident and it’s taken me a little time to get back into the swing of things again. In short, I’m back!

Today’s Friday Drum Launch features a guy I’ve long tried to emulate: Chad Smith. While certainly not the flashiest drummer to ever grace the stage, Chad’s sense of groove, time and unadulterated energy make him one of my favorite. Man, if I had a dollar for every hour I spent playing along to Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks in my studio, I wouldn’t need a day job any more.

While the RHCP’s sound has changed a great deal over the years, Chad’s drumming has remained incredibly consistent and nuanced. While I listened to albums like One Hot Minute and By The Way to check out Chad’s drumming, I didn’t really dig the albums. At all.

That is until Stadium Arcadium was released in 2006. I finally heard some of the magic of their earlier albums coalescing well with a mature approach to the songwriting. And, of course, Chad had some unbelievable tracks on it as well.

Which brings me to today’s Friday Drum Launch. This video looks to be from a clinic Chad did for Sabian in 2007 where he jams along to Readymade from Stadium Arcadium. Sure, there are some standard clinic embellishments in his playing, but the groove is just so slick, it doesn’t matter. Enjoy!

For those of you who frequent this little percussive corner of the interwebs, you might recall a post I put up last year about a charity event called The Big Beat. This event gathers drummers in several cities throughout the country to play the same groove at the same time. It’s a simple concept, but very cool and extremely fun. And most importantly the event raises money for a cause that should be near and dear to every musician’s heart:  The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a non-profit organization that donates musical instruments to underserved schools, community music programs and individual students nationwide.

The biggest difference from last year is that The Big Beat is rumbling into St. Louis this year! Our local Five-Star drum shop, Drum Headquarters, along with ten other shops around the country, will coordinate The Big Beat on Sunday, November 1st. The event will take place at the Family Arena is St. Charles, MO.

The festivities will kick off at 11:00 AM and there will be a ton of fun activities in which to participate throughout the day, including live music, opportunities for all participants to play along with a band at the same time, plus raffles and giveaways of more that $12,000.00 worth of percussion gear from some of the industry’s best-known manufacturers. Also, one lucky attendee in one of the eleven cities will win a kick drum head with the Rush “Snakes & Arrows” artwork and autographed by Neil Peart. Nice!

The day will reach its summit at 4:45 PM CDT when all the drummers in each of the eleven participating cities begin playing the same beat in unison at exactly the same time. This will be coordinated via streaming Internet video with each local conductor following the primary conductor who will be in Seattle. This will be the largest collection of drummers ever assembled to play in unison like this, so you’ll want to be there!

What’s more, the event is open to everyone:  Experienced, novice and non-players alike. Even if you’ve never played drums before, you can register for the Big Beat, bring a hand drum and participate in the event from the seats of the Family Arena.

Here is the complete schedule for the day:

• 11:00am: Drum Set check-in / load-in opens at the loading dock entrance at the rear of the Family Arena. Raffle table opens.
• 12:00pm: Take part in the Big Beat Band sound check. The first raffle drawing follows the sound check. World’s Fastest Drummer competition opens.
• 12:30pm: Play along with the Big Beat Band, followed by raffle drawings.
• 1:30pm: Play along with the Big Beat Band, Drum Set Big Beat rehearsal, followed by raffle drawings.
• 2:00pm: Hand Percussion check-in opens in the front lobby of the Family Arena.
• 2:30pm: Play along with the Big Beat Band, followed by raffle drawings and fundraising awards presentation.
• 3:00pm: Hand Percussion Big Beat rehearsal.
• 3:30pm: Drum Set / Hand Percussion Big Beat rehearsal. World’s Fastest Drummer competition closes.
• 4:00pm: Final raffle drawings and World’s Fastest Drummer awards presentation.
• 4:45pm: Perform the Big Beat with over 1200 drummers in 11 cities in the world’s largest multi-city drum set event via an internet video connection.
• 5:00pm: The Big Beat STL 2009 comes to a close. Tear down and load out.
• The schedule of events can change without notice. Watch DrumHeadquarters.com and your email inbox for updates

How do you register? It’s easy. You can register online today by visiting the Drum Headquarters online store or download the registration form and drop it off with your $10 registration fee at Drum Headquarters in Maplewood, MO.

If you’re not interested in attending The Big Beat but would like to make a donation to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, you can make it via a FirstGiving web site setup for this event.

The Big Beat St. Louis is presented by Drum Headquarters, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Five-Star Drum Shops. Other sponsors include DW Drums, Sabian, Mapex, Pro-Mark, Istanbul Cymbals, Regal Tip, Direct Sound Extreme Isolation Headphones, Dream Cymbals and Gongs, Computer Solutions, Shirts Anytime and Whitney Design Works.

If you have any questions about the event, be sure to check out these great FAQs, or you can contact me or Jim Uding and the crew at Drum Headquarters.

As far as drumming events go, it doesn’t get more fun or more impactful than The Big Beat. Rather than spending a Sunday afternoon lying around watching football, why not spend $10 and come hang out with your fellow drummers, do some playing, win some cool gear and make a difference for young musicians all over the country.

Steve Jordan is one of those guys you’ve probably heard play on a hundred recordings, but just didn’t know it. You just knew you liked it.

The first recording of Jordan I ever heard goes back a few decades. My parents purchased Briefcase Full of Blues by the Blues Brothers. (This is, by the way, a terrific live blues album if you’re ever looking for one.) I remember, even way back then, thinking “Who is that guy on the drums. That groove is so sweet!”

Jordan’s had an illustrious career to be sure, joining Stevie Wonder’s band when he was just a teenager, playing with Paul Shaffer in both the Saturday Night Live band as well as the original incarnation of The World’s Most Dangerous Band in the early days of Late Night With David Letterman. He’s also performed and recorded with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys, Sonny Rollins, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Neil Young and the John Meyer Trio.

It is from this last project that I’m pleased to present you with this week’s Friday Drum Launch. This live recording from the John Meyer Trio is a giant grooving pile of guitar and drumming deliciousness. Notice how Jordan’s actually got two kits merged into one so he can completely change his sound depending on the needs of the song.

Featured in this video are two of my favorites from this group, Who Did You Think I Was and their cover of Hendrix’s Wait Until Tomorrow, and the subject of a tutorial I wrote last year on Jordan’s playing with JMT. Check this out and then tell me you don’t want to go and jam on your kit for a few hours.

I found out this week that a band I performed and recorded with a couple years ago, the Meteor Pilots, finished their debut CD last week and I finally got my hands on a few copies today. Even though I don’t play with that band anymore, it did cause me to pause and think on the accomplishment.

Many of you reading this have probably recorded and seen your name on the inside sleeve of a CD before, so this is old news for you. But this is the first time its happened to me, and even though it’s with a small indie band, it’s something that I’ve wanted to accomplish since I was eight years old. Seeing as it took me thirty years to get here, it feels good to check that one off the list of things I wanted to accomplish before I die:

Fall in love and start a family. Check.
Visit the Taj Mahal. Check.
Work in the software business and end up at Microsoft. Check.
Record and wind up a credited musician on an album. Check!

And I’m hoping it doesn’t take another thirty years to do it again! Trust me, I’m working hard to make sure it doesn’t take that long again.

The name of the album is Kiss My Asteroid and you can order a copy from the Meteor Pilots’ web site or, in a few weeks, on cdbaby.com. Have a look at their web site and you can stream some of the tunes to your computer.

I’m all with Lake 32 right now, but I really had a lot of fun playing for the Pilots and wish those guys the best of luck in selling their album and getting their music out there live for audiences to hear and enjoy.

July is shaping up to be a busy month for Lake 32 with three performances scheduled over the next three weeks in the St. Louis area. Here’s a quick rundown on the dates, places and times:

Frankster’s Birthday Bash: We’re playing a birthday party in Warrenton for a good friend of the band and everybody’s welcome to come. Bullshed will be joining us in the celebration. Here are the details:

Backstreet Blues and Jazz Club:  In a new foray into original music, Backstreet has invited us to play on a Thursday night in Westport plaza. This is a big opportunity as there are very few clubs in St. Louis country that offer original bands a place to play, so we would love to see a big turnout in the hopes that we can do this again at Backstreet in the future. Update: Well be playing with Red Card Royale, also out of St. Louis:

Cicero’s:  Our debut at St. Louis’ Central West End premier original music club. We’ll be sharing the stage with Morgan Nusbaum. Yeah, it’s another Thursday night show, but it’s the Central West End. Come out and have some fun:

Help keep live, original music in St. Louis alive and kicking. Come check out one of these shows. We appreciate your support!

I hadn’t really heard of MiGGS until my band, Lake 32, opened for them on their tour stop in St. Louis a few months back. They played right after us in the evening’s line-up, so I was able to sit back with a cold beer and listen to their set. As I did, I found myself wondering why the hell more people haven’t heard of these guys.

Put simply, MiGGS, made up of front man and guitarist Don Miggs, Bassist Michael Lombardo and drummer Ryan Scarbrough, is a fantastic band with some extremely solid songs. And what’s more, they’re three of the nicest guys you’ll ever want to meet and I’m glad we’ve been able to stay in touch with them as they’ve toured the country. In fact, Ryan and I had a great, in-depth conversation about drumming after their set that night and I hope to get the chance to talk with him again sometime.

If you want to checkout MiGGS, you’ll have your chance tomorrow morning on ABC’s Good Morning America when they perform “I Believe” from their new album, Unraveled. This will be a pre-recorded clip as the guy were supposed to be on live last Tuesday, but got bumped because of the seemingly ubiquitous MJ coverage. GMA will broadcast their performance tomorrow morning at around 8:00 AM. If you’d like a sneak peak, ABC has already posted the performance on their website—you can check it out here.

Unraveled is available on iTunes and Zune Marketplace. I highly recommend the whole album and encourage you to go pick it up and give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

The bass player in my band Lake 32, Jeff Laird, introduced me to Tool about twelve years ago. At the time, I’d heard Sober plenty of times, but hadn’t really kept up with what the band had done after their breakthrough album, Undertow. Jeff lent me AEnema and that was it, I was a Danny Carey fan boy.

I’ve spent countless hours studying Carey’s playing and believe him to be one of the most skilled musicians working today. He is truly one of the most musical drummers I’ve ever had the privilege to listen to. Let’s face it, drummers tend to be relegated to carbon-based metronomes, keeping the time of a song for the guitar player and lead singer. Carey is able to fulfill that role and simultaneously add significantly to the music. There isn’t a single song that Tool has ever recorded that would sound the same with another drummer at the helm. This is because there are few drummers who could think as musically as Carey does behind his kit and deliver on in the playing department.

And thus, I offer you Danny Carey to kick-off your drumming weekend. This is one of my favorite clips of Carey playing the conclusion of the title track of Tool’s 2001 release, Lateralis. Two things to watch for in this sadly short clip:  The double crash cymbal hit on the right side of the kit and the gong hit right in the middle without missing a beat. Carey is one of the best. Enjoy!

Wow, where does the time go?

One weekend last summer, while sitting around banging away on my practice pad, I discovered something about playing about which I thought it would be cool to write an article and share with my drumming brethren. But alas, I’m not a writer for Modern Drummer, nor had I received any invitations from other popular online drumming forums to contribute.

So I decided to start DrummBlog.com, and today it turns one.

I’d like to thank all of you who faithfully read my posts here and for all the great feedback you’ve given me over the past three hundred sixty-five days. I’ve enjoyed our conversations and the new contacts I’ve made along the way. It has been fantastic trading information and ideas about playing with you and I’m looking forward to another year of the same.

To celebrate, I’m happy to present, for the first time anywhere, the new DrummBlog logo. It will adorn the site from this day forward.

As I’ve said all along, I consider this an interactive forum, so please feel free to send ideas and suggestions along via the comments section or the email link above. I’m always glad to hear from you and will incorporate your ideas into the site whenever possible.

Again, thanks for reading.

Arguably one of my most important drumming influences, Stewart Copeland has had a huge influence on my playing over the years. Like just about everybody else in the US, the first time I heard him play was on the Roxanne single. Copeland’s style was so unique and powerful, I went immediately to my tiny Ludwig kit in my basement and tried to learn the song, playing the 45 on my parents’ record player over and over until I could do it.

The thing that has always amazed me about Copeland is his backbeat. Few drummers in the history of rock hit like he does and that backbeat is undeniable the minute you hear it. That particular characteristics has been a part my own style for years and shows no signs of going away. Of course, it helps that I play a Stewart Copeland signature snare from Tama on my all Gretsch kit!

So, to honor one of my drumming idols, I picked this video from what none of us at the time knew would be The Police’s farewell tour:  The Synchronicity tour of 1983-1984. There aren’t a lot of great videos of Copeland playing with The Police online (most of them focus on Sting and, this one in particular, has some annoying shots of audience members dancing around), but I think this one has enough cuts that demonstrate the raw, earthy power of his playing to make it worth watching.

Enjoy watching this remarkable drummer hit some drums really, really hard. Happy Friday!

The astounding Ronald Bruner Jr. will be appearing live on DrumChannel.com on Thursday, June 25th at 8:00 PM CDT. As if that wasn’t enough, Bruner will be chatting with some of his drumming idols:  Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Will Kennedy, Terry Bozzio and his father, Ronald Brunner Sr.

In addition, Brunner will also be performing with The Bruner Brothers during the broadcast.

If you have questions of anyone on the broadcast, be sure to tune into DC Chat during the show.

What last week’s conversation with Neal Peart, Terry Bozzio and Doane Perry was for prog rock drumming, this live event will be for jazz drumming. Be sure to check it out.

I was first introduced to Peter Erskine, like many people, by listening to Weather Report’s self-titled 1982 release. I’ve always admired Erskine as a player, band leader and and teacher (he currently serves as a member of the percussion faculty at the University of Southern California.

So this week’s Friday Drum Launch features Peter playing one of the most tasteful drum solos I’ve ever heard. Recorded at PASIC 2004, this is a shining example of playing a truly interesting solo without it all being about how fast he can play. Certainly he uses his impressive chops in this clip, but only to serve the melodic aspects of what he’s playing. Yeah, I said “melodic.” I think that particular adjective is very suited to Erskine’s playing here.

Enjoy!

This coming Thursday, June 18th, drummers around the world will have the opportunity to see a live interview with three legendary percussionists.

Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio and Doane Perry will give a live interview at 8:00 PM CDT Thursday evening on DrumChannel.com. Details on the broadcast are sketchy at this point, but with a lineup like that, it’s sure to no be boring.

Don’t miss it.

When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I often got depressed listening to the radio. Electronic pop music was at the height of its popularity and was ubiquitous. I listened to the radio looking for great drummers and, with a few notable exceptions, I found mostly drum machines droning in my ears.

So I decided I would step back a decade or two and found a treasure trove of rock drummers to listen to, and one of my favorites was Danny Seraphine, the drummer for the band, Chicago. Of course, at the time, he was on the radio all the time, but it was “You’re the Inspiration” and “Hard Habit to Break.” I’ll never forget the first time I listen to Chicago’s debut album, “Chicago Transit Authority.” I couldn’t believe some of the drumming Danny did on that album. I was really drawn to the way he took his obvious jazz roots and incorporated them into the somewhat psychedelic music the band was making. Danny had a lot in common with Mitch Mitchell, but seemed more in control, maybe more focused on serving the song.

Twenty-five years later, I still have trouble nailing down exactly what it is that makes Danny Seraphine such a great drummer, but ultimately that’s not important. The music is. And so, for today’s Friday Drum Launch, I chose Danny performing with his new band, CTA (California Transit Authority), at the 2006 Modern Drummer Festival. In honor of the impact Chicago’s first album had on me, I picked a song I must have listened to a thousand times because it had a long drum solo in it:  “I’m a Man.”

Enjoy!

As I mentioned in my post last week, the Zildjian on Tour event came into St. Louis yesterday. It was held at Drum Headquarters in Maplewood and Jim Uding and his team did a great job putting it together.

Craigie Zildjian

As I walked in the door of Drum HQ, I was greeted by CEO Craigie Zildjian. I stopped and chatted with her briefly about the how the tour had been going and the previous day’s stop at Explorers Percussion in Kansas City, Missouri.

Craigie joined Zildjian in 1976 and joined her father, Armand, and grandfather, Avedis III, in running the company, the first time in the company’s history when three generations of Zildjian’s were working together. She became Zildjian’s first female CEO in 1999. She sits on the Board of Directors of NAMM and the Board of Advisors for the International Association of Jazz Education.

I ordinarily don’t get too excited about meeting executives from hardware manufacturers, but this was actually an extremely cool opportunity. I’ve been playing Zildjian cymbals since I started playing in 1978. In fact, I still have a 16” crash cymbal on my kit that I bought from a graduating senior in high school in 1984 – it still sounds as good today as it did back then and is one of the reasons I still play only Zildjian cymbals. Meeting Craigie gave me not only the opportunity to share my great experience with her, but to also learn about some of the many prototypes that were on display at the event.

Steve Gorman

Standing near the front table with Craigie was Steve Gorman, drummer for The Black Crows. I’ve been listening to this cat’s playing for years and it was very cool to get the chance to meet him and talk drumming for a little while. Steve is a very cool and personable guy and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with him in such an informal milieu.

Cymbal Prototypes

Zildjian brought about a dozen or so cymbal prototypes with them that were on display throughout Drum HQ for attendees to try out. The prototypes ran the gambit of styles and sizes and there were some pretty exciting innovations.

My favorite was a 24” thin ride cymbal. It was very dry, but had great overtones and wash. The most compelling feature of this cymbal was the pre-set rivets every couple inches around the circumference of the cymbal. This gave it a sound very reminiscent of Elvin Jones. This wouldn’t be the right cymbal for playing with Lake 32, but if I had a steady jazz gig, I would definitely be investing in this cymbal. There were also some outstanding heavy crash cymbals on display as well. I’m looking forward to seeing the final shipping versions of these cymbals!

What I Bought

Once the conversations were had and the pictures were taken, it was time for me to look around as all the Zildjian cymbals in the place were on sale. I’ve been wanting to purchase a Zil-Bel bell chime to use in a couple of Lake 32 songs. I’ve also wanted to add a heavier crash cymbal to my current kit. I’m currently playing a set of 16” crashes, including an A Custom Fast Crash and a K Custom Dark Crash. These are more appropriate for a classic rock kind of sound, but Lake 32’s sound is evolving into a heavier, modern sound and I need a crash that can double as a ride during the louder choruses.

I was considering the 18” A Custom Projection Crash when I was approached by one of the Zildjian reps working at the event. I told him what I was looking for and he suggested I try one of the A Custom Rezo Crashes. I hadn’t heard of this brand before and learned it’s the newest of the sub-brands under the A Custom series. We setup the 18” version of both the Projection and the Rezo on some stands and I hit both. The difference was subtle, but definitive. While the Projection Crash had solid, metallic sound, the Rezo displayed all the power of the Projection Crash but had a much better high end and a beautiful wash. And at just $200, it didn’t take long to make the buying decision on that.

I also purchased a 6” Zil-Bel, one of the only effects cymbals I have on my kit, and again, I got a great event price for it as well.

This was a great event and a hell of a way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. Thanks and a big shout-out to Jim and the crew at Drum Headquarters for continuing to bring quality drumming events to our part of the country.

The thing that originally attracted me to the music of John Mellencamp was his growly vocals or down home guitar licks. It was the drumming, executed by one of the most dynamic, exciting and hard-working drummers in rock today, Kenny Aronoff.

Kenny is no longer with Mellencamp, but makes an excellent living as a hired gun playing with some of rocks biggest artists, including The Smashing Pumpkins, John Fogerty, Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morrissette, The Rolling Stones, Puddle of Mudd, Avril Levigne and many, many more.

While perusing the internets earlier this week, I happened up upon this video of Kenny apparently at a clinic playing along to Philip Sayce’s tune, Powerful Thing (the title on the video is mistaken). I think this video captures Kenny’s innate sense of groove and features some startlingly complex fills that also work very well in the context of the song.

So here you go. Enjoy Mr. Kenny Aronoff and Happy Friday to you all!

My day job as a technical evangelist for Microsoft keeps me right on the bleeding edge of technology all the time. I spend a good portion of my time talking to software developers all over the country about how technology can help them do their jobs better and more efficiently and improve their lives overall. I’m about as “in the thick of it” as you can get.

And yet, I often find myself humbled by just how interconnected the world is these days. This revelation usually comes from the most unlikely of places.

This week, I was contacted through DrummBlog by a young drummer from the UK named Seamus who has a relatively new drum blog called Beatgeek. He found DrummBlog and wanted to get some input from me on blogging about drums. As this was a refreshing change of pace from the seemingly endless litany of spam I get, I gladly replied and told him that being a successful blogger about any topic is about knowing why you’re writing in the first place.

His reply named the following three reasons (paraphrased):

• The drumming world can be a very expensive place to young players
• Needed to find inexpensive yet good quality drums and accessories
• Get tips from experienced players about good prices for quality gear

Reading this reply from Seamus got me thinking about my early years as a player. My primary source of information for anything related to drumming was Modern Drummer magazine. While highly informative, a magazine is a static piece of content, locked for all time the minute it gets spit out by the printer and shipped to the news stand. If I had questions, I could always write a letter to the editorial board of the magazine, but it was highly unlikely I would ever get a worthwhile response (I did try on several occasions). This was not the fault of the editorial board. It was simply that the medium itself didn’t encourage interactivity. It was a loudspeaker for broadcasting the news and information that the folks at Modern Drummer thought their audience wanted to know.

Think about that for a minute and contrast it with today. Online, right now, there are thousands of drummers, myself and Seamus being a couple of them, publishing content about their favorite drummers, tips for playing better, reviews of hardware and publicizing events that might have easily been missed before. Yes, this wellspring of information is almost common sense in our everyday lives in this era, but when you compare it to the way drummers of my generation and the generations before obtained the same information, it kind of blows your mind.

I remember being a kid constantly scouring the TV Guide trying to find out if any of my favorite drummers were going to be on the tube any time soon. Hell, the old Friday Night Videos was good for at least one Van Halen video where I could watch Alex pound away on Jump or Hot For Teacher or something. Today, if I’m listening to a Tool album and want to check out Danny Carey laying down the final part of Lateralis, all I need to do is visit YouTube and voila, there it is.

The point is, the Internet is chock full of vital information for drummers of all ages, but especially for young drummers. Obviously, the accuracy of information found online must always be evaluated, but honestly, I’ve found little in the drumming sites I’ve visited that would make me think that anyone was trying to mislead or misinformation through their sites. Granted, it’s not always presented in the most polished or professional format, but that’s actually cool as well. It gives the information a realism that you don’t always get from “official” sources.

Drummers have always had a tight-knit community. Maybe its from being the target of the ubiquitous jokes about having a sub-par intellect or not being able to keep consistent time that brings us together. But whatever it is, we can leverage the reach of the Internet to bring us all together in ways that simply didn’t exist before, no matter where we are, and share ideas, information and wisdom.

So go visit Beatgeek. See what Seamus has to say and send him your opinions. Because at the end of the day, we’re all here to learn from each other and make ourselves better drummers. Take full advantage of the incredible resources we have right under our fingertips to make it happen!

Technorati Tags: Beatgeek,Drumming,Percussion,Danny Carey,Lateralis,Alex Van Halen,Hot For Teacher,Jump,Friday Night Videos

Jim Uding and the crew from Drum Headquarters in St. Louis will be hosting Zildjian on Tour this coming Sunday, June 7th from noon until 5:00 PM. This will be a phenomenal opportunity for your to:

• Meet company CEO Craigie Zildjian and other factory experts
• Play and buy one-of-a-kind Zildjian Sound Lab prototypes (these will be available only on the day of the event)
• Enjoy great prices on Zildjian cymbals, drums sticks and other accessories
• Get a free pair of sticks and a classic black t-shirt with the purchase of a Zildjian cymbal
• Register to win other great Zildjian prizes, including the nationwide grand prize:  A trip to the Zildjian factory
• Local rock station KSHE will be broadcasting live from the event from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

As if that wasn’t enough, you’ll have the opportunity to meet and chat with Zildjian artist Steve Gorman, drummer for the Black Crows who will be there from 12:30 to 3:30.

All in all, this will be a great afternoon. You get the chance to meet the people who make Zildjian cymbals, meet a famous drummer who plays them and even get the chance to walk away with some new hardware and a great price. Not doing anything on Sunday afternoon. I can think of worse ways to spend it.

And, just to wet your appetite, here’s a quick video of Steve Gorman in action. Check out these groove chops and tell me you don’t want to meet this guy.

The Drum Channel recently announced that the memorial concert held last year for the late great Buddy Rich is now available for purchase on DVD with over five hours of content. This was a historical concert held in late 2008 which featured the likes of Neil Peart, Chad Smith, Tommy Igoe, John Blackwell, Terry Bozzio, Efrain Toro, Nick Rich, Peter Erskine and Will Lee.

I caught the concert during Drum Channel’s live simulcast last year. It was awesome. The disc costs $39.95, which sounds like a lot of a DVD, but based on the amount of additional content, including an interview with Buddy’s daughter, Cathy Rich, and rehearsal, pre-show and backstage footage, in addition to the cornucopia of live performance drumming talent, it’s not a bad price at all.

If you want to order yourself a copy, you can get in the Drum Channel Store.

What helps kick my weekends off with a BANG? Watching some incredible drum work. It just gets me juiced and ready to play on the weekend. So, each Friday, I’ll find some tasty tidbit to share with you and see we can help your weekend get started right as well.

This week, I chose an amazing little video featuring one of my favorite drummers of all time, Dave Matthews Band drummer Carter Beauford, displaying some absolutely amazing chops and musical taste as they jam to the tune, “Two Step.”

Let the summer begin!