Working Drummer

Leonard “Pudge” Tribbett is currently the touring drummer for R&B legend Anita Baker. Pudge hails from the Philadelphia area, where he came up in the family business of Gospel Music under the leadership of his cousin Tye Tribbett and Greater Anointing. After attending college on a football scholarship, Pudge went straight into full-time playing and hasn’t looked back. In addition to Anita Baker, P...

Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada Jay Tooke grew up playing bass, drums, guitar, and piano. Before his eventual move to Nashville, TN he spent 15 years dividing his time between traveling the world playing and singing with many artists like Michelle Wright, Chad Brownlee, Doc Walker, Dean Brody, Jodi King and One More Girl as well as writing songs and honing his craft of producing records.  Loo...

Louis Newsome moved to Atlanta in 2012. In addition to church gigs in Atlanta, his bread and butter has been a weekly Thursday steady at Suite Lounge, where he is part of a house band backing a different touring artist every week. Highlights of the long list of artists he’s played with in this capacity include Nathan East, Jeff Lorber, and Keiko Matsui. Louis spent the first part of his career wor...

Following on the heals of his older brother Rick, Jerry Marotta jumped right into the music scene at a very young age finishing high school a year early and hitting the road with a band with a top 40 hit. For the next three decades Jerry divided his time between recording and touring with Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Tears for Fears, Indigo Girls, Paul McCartney, Sarah McLachlan, John...

Jason “JT” Thomas, is a drummer/producer/singer/writer in high demand for both live and studio work for an array of artists such as Snarky Puppy, Phillip Phillips, CeCe Winans, Fred Hammond, Forq, and many others. JT’s high level of preparation for each artist he works with, along with being a consummate professional on and off stage, is what continues to keep him busy performing on stages and in...

For several years, Michael Grando held the drum chair for national recording artist Chris Knight. He appeared on both his “Heart of Stone” album, produced by Dan Baird formerly of the Georgia Satellites (2008) and on Chris’ 2012 release titled “Little Victories” which was produced by Grammy award-winner Ray Kennedy and featured performances by Buddy Miller and John Prine. After seven years, two cr...

Brendan Buckley is best known for touring and recording with Shakira. He grew up in New Jersey and attended the University of Miami. In 2004, Buckley moved out west to Los Angeles and has since amassed an impressive pop resume that includes Miley Cyrus, Tegan & Sara, Leehom Wang, Perry Farrell and many, MANY others. In this episode, Brendan talks about: * Why LA is a good home base for him and why...

Todd Sucherman is one of the most in-demand drummers on the planet. In addition to a 20+ year tenure with the legendary rock band Styx, Sucherman is a leading clinician and session artist. In 2018, the readers of Modern Drummer magazine named him “#1 Progressive Rock Drummer” plus”#1 Recorded Performance” for “The Mission” (Styx). His Methods and Mechanics instructional DVD series has won multiple...

Larry Wilson grew up in Jacksonville, FL and studied music at Florida State in Tallahassee with Leon Anderson. He moved his young family to Atlanta in the fall of 2017 and has gotten busy with a variety of Gospel, R&B, and jazz artists, as well as hosting what has quickly become one of the city’s most popular weekly jam sessions. He has recently released a jazz album called Our Thing, a tribute to...

Jim Rupp has done extensive touring with the bands of Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, and Glenn Miller. Jim spent close to ten years with Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Diane Schuur, and has also performed and toured with artists such as Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Joe Lavano, Hank Marr, Buddy DeFranco, Maria Schneider, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, John Fedchock, Natalie Cole, the...

Robert Boone recently graduated from Florida State University with his Masters Degree in Jazz Studies and is currently drummer for The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. He has collaborated with leading artists such as Eric Reed, Marcus Roberts, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Scotty Barnhart, Marcus Lewis, Lester Walker, Rodney Jordan, Bill Peterson, and Leon Anderson. Boone received an undergraduate degree i...

Dave McAfee has been the drummer for every one of Toby Keith’s tours since 2000. Shows with Toby include stadium shows and festivals topping 80,000 fans, televised performances, country awards shows, USO tours as well as a Super Bowl performance for Super Bowl XXXVIII. Other artists Dave has performed and/or recorded with include Wade Hayes, Bryan White, Scotty Emerick, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Wi...

Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1963, ‘El Negro’ Hernandez has been a force on the international scene since 1990. Whether performing with jazz legends like McCoy Tyner or Michel Camilo, rock stars like Carlos Santana and Stevie Winwood or in notable Latin American ensembles like the Tropi-Jazz All Stars of the late Tito Puente, ‘El Negro’ has also shown himself to be one of the most versatile musicians...

Daniel Glass is an award-winning drummer, author, historian and educator. He is widely recognized as an authority on classic American drumming and the evolution of American Popular Music. Daniel was a member of the pioneering swing group Royal Crown Revue from 1994 to 2014. He has recorded and performed all over the world with many top artists, including Brian Setzer, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli,...

Johnny Radelat has been touring and recording with Gary Clark Jr. since 2012. Born to Cuban immigrants in Jersey City N.J., Johnny came of age in Miami, FL, and currently resides in Austin TX. Prior to teaming up with Gary Clark Jr, he honed the skills and subtleties of playing/touring with reggae, R&B, soul, and Funk bands, while still embracing a bombastic/caveman-ish approach to drumming. In th...

Rick Brothers has performed with over 40 artists at events such as the GRAMMYs, Billboard Music Awards, CMT Music Awards, the AMAs and the Super Bowl XXXIX pregame show.  During his decade and a half in Nashville Tennessee, Rick worked with various national artists including Ty Herndon, Jo-El Sonnier, Sarah Johns, Doug Stone, Gretchen Wilson, Colt Ford and most recently Bad Company’s former lead s...

A professional musician for over twenty five years, Chad Gamble grew up in Tuscumbia, AL in the Muscle Shoals Area. Upon graduating from the University of Alabama, he made moves to Shreveport, LA and Memphis, TN gaining valuable experience along the way, including being nominated twice as “Premier Drummer” by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Memphis Chapter. He has toured inter...

Megan Jane brings a simple stylistic philosophy to her playing – “less is more.”   After attending Berklee College of Music for two years, Megan moved to Southern California and began getting as much experience playing live and working with varied artists as possible.  She decided to make the move to Nashville in order to gain more opportunities in her musical career. Since moving to Nashville, Me...

Clayton Craddock’s drumming career spans decades and numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals. Clayton is currently the drummer of the Broadway Show Ain’t Too Proud-The Life AndTimes Of the Temptations now playing at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. Clayton has also held the drum chair and recorded the cast albums for the musicals Altar Boyz, tick…tick… BOOM!, Memphis the Musical and Lady Day...

Harry McCarthy has offered his technical skills­­ on the road and in the studio for major artists such as Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Mark Knopfler, Carly Simon, Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Madonna, Toto, James Taylor, Keith Urban and numerous others. He was raised in the same metro New York neighborhood as successful drummers, Rick and Jerry...

Mathieu Gramoli is a French-American drummer, composer, teacher and producer, who is best known for recording and touring with the band Her. Born in Paris, his musical talent became apparent at the age of fifteen when he picked up drumming during high school to play rock and funk with some friends. After high school he went to the Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III to study Applied Foreign Languages for...

After his thoughtful move to Nashville from his home state of California in 2012, Jarred Pope has found strong and steady work in the heavy rock world. Throughout his career, Jarred has and continues to earn respect among a highly reputable group of musicians within many genres that includes rock, hard rock, country and pop. Jarred has worked with Gene Simmons, Whiskey Falls, Hannah/McCuen, Julian...

Dame Drummer lives in Oakland, tours with Fantastic Negrito, and is about to release his latest original project, a double-length album called Loveolution. Dame grew up in Cleveland where he cut his teeth on the local scene playing funk, R&B, and whatever else came along. He moved to Oakland in 2012 at the urging of some friends who already lived there. His Rust Belt work ethic quickly and creativ...

For the last few years, Derek Mixon has been the drummer for country singer and songwriter Chris Stapleton. Derek played drums on all of Chris’s award winning solo albums to date. Originally from West Monroe, Louisiana, Derek drew inspiration from his surroundings that included his father who was a professional musician. The musical sensibilities he learned early in life as well as his time in Nas...

Damian Erskine is known for his ability to fit into most any musical situation, extraordinary reading and improvising skills as well as being an educator and columnist. He has played in the studio or on the stage with Peter Erskine, Gino Vannelli, The Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Bob Sheppard, John Beasley, Jeff Lorber, The Buddy Rich Alumni All-Star Band, Antonio Hart, Charmaine Neville, and many oth...