The Lil' Drummer Girl

As we go through one of the most stressful, chaotic times in our history, it's important that we try to stay  on track where our health is concerned.   I don't know about you, but, this is one area I've been having a difficult time.  One of the ways I like to exercise in the pool.  At first, the closed the pools at our complex for the first three months.  Then, they re-opened them with limited hou...

Today's guest on the Lil' Drummer Girl podcast is Zakiya Hooker.  She made her debut performance in 1991 with her infamous dad, John Lee Hooker , at the Kaiser Center Theatre in Oakland, CA.  Since that time Zakiya has gone on to perform on shows with the likes of Etta James, Charles Brown, John Hammond, Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite and many more. Zakiya’s music is as broad as the multitude of g...

Conga Kurty (Curtis Parsons) the conga player of the HIRIE Band is here with us today.  Conga Kurty shares with us: How he handled receiving some bad news about his gig with HIRIE and how he handled it without jeopardizing his relationship with his bandmates. The importance of persistence and how to gain influence with affluent folks in the industry. What to do when you hear "no" and how not to le...

I'm sorry I have been MIA for the past several weeks.  I was finishing up the last touches of the book and I'm thrilled to say, it's finally done!!! Woot, woot, where's the champagne??? Since this pandemic has struck, I keep thinking about what's around the corner for us.  Are you thinking about new ways that you can reinvent yourself and your career? Today's episode is here to help you think abou...

Greetings My Drumsters, I hope everyone is healthy and staying safe during these unknown and chaotic times. Today's episode is a quick but important one.  It's about getting yourself one step closer to reaching your goals. Do you ask for what you want?  Or, do you think that possibly the universe will secretly know and bring it to you?  Knowing what you want is the first step to getting it.  Somet...

Everyone talks these days about the importance of goal setting.  Yes, of course, it's important, but, just as important is that we should also acknowledge them when they occur.  Writing them in a journal is an excellent way to do this.     A few years ago, I learned the importance of not only setting our goals but, also keeping a separate journal where you can actually acknowledge those achievemen...

Today's show is a reminder of the importance of finishing what you start. Do you have a plethora of projects sitting out there looking to be completed? Or, is there something that might've been very important to you that's fizzled it's lackluster and you tossed it aside like an old shoe? If that's the case, today's episode will help you get back on track.  Here's some #MondayMotivation to help ins...

Greetings my Drumsters, A couple of weekends ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the Oprah 2020 Vision Tour kickoff in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  I've been to many motivational seminars and conferences, and, I've never experienced anything like this one. She spoke about "intentions" and, since we're in the beginning of a new year.  This is a quick episode on the importance of setting them. I hope you...

Happy New Year.  Can you believe it's 2020?  Sounds strange doesn't it?   Since it is a new year, I'm hoping you have all of your new year's resolutions in place.  Is playing your A-Game one of them?  If not, why not? Today's episode is a quick little reminder that in order for us to be our best and to have our best lives, we need to step up our game and put our A Game into action.  This may mean...

Happy New Year!!!!  It's 2020 can you believe it?  We have a brand new decade to make all of those pesky changes in our lives that maybe we didn't quite get to last year. One of my resolutions, is to do more video for you guys.  I've learned all of my video technical skills and know-how from the man I'm about to introduce to you today, our guest, Lou Bortone is in the house. Lou has worked as a br...

Are you passionate about your purpose in life? Do you know what your purpose is? I recently read a book called Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone and I must say, everything he discusses in this book rang true to my belief system.  When you have a purpose, a passion, your life's ambition to do xyz, whatever that project or passion may be.  Do you believe  deep down in your heart of hearts t...

  Welcome my fellow Drumsters, thanks for stopping by!  Today we have a special guest, Judah Holiday is here with us from Miami, F.L.A.  He is a singer songwriter whose breed of pop music is infectious with his melodies and hypnotic beats  and, his warm and breezy sounds will quickly captivate you. Judah is here with us to talk about: His songwriting process. How he had to battle his addiction wit...

Today is National Love Note Day.  It's that time where you can send the one you love a nice little note to remind them that you care. When was the last time you did something special for your loved one (without it being their birthday or an anniversary). In honor of today, I am sharing two secrets from my upcoming book:  151 Musically Inspired Secrets to Master this Thing Called Life and they have...

Do you procrastinate?  I think we all do.  One way or another we let days go by and not work on the important things we know we SHOULD be working on.  So, in honor of Fight Procrastination Day why not work on a couple of things that you've been putting off.  You never know, it just might change your year.   Best of luck to you, I know you got this!   Let me know how it goes.   Love,   Dawn-Marie

 In honor of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, we are pleased to share this intimate interview with Gerardo "Jerry" Velez, the conga player with  Jimi Hendrix in  The Gypsy Sun and Rainbows Band .    Gerardo is best known for playing the congas while performing at the original Woodstock with the infamous Jimi Hendrix in 1969.  This month marks the 50th Year Anniversary of Woodstock and Gerardo “J...

How do you handle rejection?  Do you feel when you don't get whatever it is that you want, you immediately feel  defeated and ready to throw in the towel and give up? For those of us in the entertainment industry, artists and entrepreneurs we will inevitably face rejection one way or another.  Whether it's a personal one (say a rejection with a loved one), or going on that big audition and we didn...

I met Lawrence "Lipbone" Redding the night he played at my friend Kathy’s backyard concert.  I hadn’t heard of him before and promised her I’d be there to catch the show.  Well, I sure was glad that I did because, although I only had an hour to catch a portion of his show, I was enthralled by his playing and what he can do vocally with his mouth, I mean the sounds he can make are unbelievable, and...

I recently was at my 3rd annual Reggae Rise Up Festival in downtown St. Petersburg when I had the chance to see the band HIRIE live in person (finally), I’ve been trying to catch them since I learned of them about 3 years ago.    Today we have a special guest, Kurtis Parsons, A/K/A “Conga Kurty” is in the house.   In his interview we talk about: How to survive on the road when you have severe food...

Are you going on a tour with your band soon?  Do you have a tour manager?  If not, you might need to do all of the work yourself. Do you know what to put into a tour rider?  If not, today I'll cover some of the main points to a tour rider and you will learn what you should add to it  and will allow for a smooth and seamless tour.   Having all of your important descriptions and details included wil...

Today we meet with Harvey Drouillard.  Harvey is known for photographing nudes in public. He wasn't always a photographer.  He's done all sorts of jobs from his beginnings with his entrepreneurial family, working in their family-owned gas station, or, working as a welder, realtor or even a supervisor of Zingermans Delicatessen in Anne Arbor, Michigan.  He even had a stint as a commodities broker a...

If you love tropical, Soca music, Steel Pan drums, you're going to love Nelson Rivera's work with the Bickley Island Chill.   Nelson has been playing music from a very early age, he began playing as a bassist and percussionist in over 10 bands which covered rock and roll, heavy metal, fusion, bilingual pop, smooth jazz and now in the Caribean vibe for the past 20 years.   Nelson's origin in music...

Oliver loves building startups from the ground up.  He was co-founder at nRelate, a content recommendation engine used by over 100,000 publishers and bloggers.   He co-founded  SpareMin in 2015, for those of you who may not be familiar with SpareMin was an app to help podcasters and guests connect for interviews, after moderate success, the company rebranded and Headliner App was born.  It is now...

Victoria Canal is with us on today's show.  She is currently on tour with Michael Franti.    Victoria was born in without her right forearm due to amniotic band syndrome. Noone or nothing can stop Victoria.  Her sheer will and determination will prove that her musical talent as a songwriter, singer and keyboardist will carry her to the top and stay there for years to come. Victoria has lived all a...

I heard that the Villain Arts Tattoo Convention was being held at the Tampa Convention center and I knew I had to take a little peek-see.   Dr. Carl Blasphemy who is the Emcee of the show was so nice to give me some of his time for an interview.    I'm sure as you may already know, putting on any type of event, especially a convention of this size is no easy task, but he was gracious enough to giv...

Do you have a marketing calendar for your business?  If not, why not?   A marketing calendar is important to your business because if you don't schedule it on the calendar it will probably never get done. Having a marketing calendar is a very important tool for your business.  And, if you think because you are an artist or a performer that you're not a "business person" think again.  Your art IS y...