Working Drummer

⁠Narada Michael Walden ⁠is an EMMY and multi-GRAMMY winner who has produced hits for artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Steve Winwood, Ray Charles, Wynonna Judd, Whitney Houston, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Barbara Streisand, Lionel Ritchie, Lisa Fischer, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones, Jeff Beck, The Temptations, and many others.  His music flows freely from pop, rock and soul, to the rarified re...

Dave Elitch has been teaching privately for over 20 years and has developed a reputation as the technique/body mechanic specialist for drum set. He has helped many of the world's best players as well as top educators "get out of their own way" by being as efficient as possible in regards to conservation of motion and energy. The more we’re able to remove our bodies from the equation and let the in...

Eric Somers-Urrea. Eric is a Chicago based drummer but also gets around to Nashville and LA, founding member of the band Marina City, and also plays with other touring acts including La Armada and Makeout. He was born and raised in the Chicago area and studied at the University of Illinois. In this episode, Eric talks about: The evolution of his band Marina City Getting a classical degree and expl...

Rob Walbourne grew up in North London and started playing drums at the age of 10 before working professionally at the age of 15. After his move to the U.S., he lived briefly in New York City before eventually settling down in Simsbury, CT where he found work at the Noble and Cooley drum company. He’s had the opportunity to have played with such luminaries as Shane MacGowan, Jason Isbell, St Etienn...

Jeff Kerestes is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and educator who spent most of his career in New York doing touring and session work and a handful of Broadway shows. During Covid, he left New York and stepped away from music entirely. He and his family eventually settled in Portland Oregon, where he rediscovered his love of music through the drums and the community there. He is a freelance dru...

Tom Hambridge is a Four-time Grammy™- winning producer, songwriter, & drummer for his production work on three of blues legend Buddy Guy’s most critically acclaimed albums: ‘Living Proof’ (2011) , “Born to Play Guitar’ (2016), ‘The Blues is Alive and Well’ (2018), and for his work on Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s Album ‘662’ (2022). Tom has also produced 9 other Grammy nominated albums. He has won...

Andrew Gilmore Barr is a drummer, composer, and producer based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada who is best known for his work with Mumford & Sons, The Barr Brothers, Feist, and The Slip. Barr is a founding member of the experimental rock band The Slip and indie folk group The Barr Brothers along with his brother Brad Barr. In this episode, Andrew talks about: How he now views touring as down time, awa...

Jared Shavelson was raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. His drumming journey stated early in life and got his first drumset at age seven. While playing in all of the local orchestras, marching bands, jazz bands, and theaters in southern New Jersey, he was taking weekly private lessons. During this time he was also starting to play out with his own bands, getting him he...

Eric Gardner has been on the LA scene for 25 years touring and recording with a wide variety of bands and artists over that time. These days, two in particular represent most of his activity - Melissa Etheridge and Tom Morello. He is a graduate of Steve Rucker's program at the University of Miami and has performed with Garbage, Iggy Pop,  Cypress Hill, Iggy Pop, Morrisey, Steve Vai, MC5, Slash, Be...

Colorado native, Taylor Friesth, is a drummer, producer, author, and educator who has delved deeply into drumming since the age of 6. He has performed on stages such as Red Rocks and Folsom Field and his drumming has led him to perform with various groups from GRiZ to New Orleans style brass band Guerrilla Fanfare. His versatility has given him a wide range of musical abilities that has resulted i...

Russ Gold has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia., performing with jazz, rock, fusion, and theater groups. Russ’ performing experience includes work with musicians as diverse as Gary Lyons (producer of Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead) Johnny Colla of Huey Lewis and the News, Seth Justman of the J. Giles Band, CBS Fusion artists Full Circle, and jazz greats Tom Scott, Sam Rivers,...

British-born and now Los Angeles-based drummer, Louie Palmer, has recorded and performed with some of the world’s best musicians including Mike Stern, Randy Brecker, Tom Scott, Luis Conte, Tim Lefebvre, Mitch Forman, Gary Husband, Jason Rebello and many more. In addition to performing, Louie also runs an online drum school (playbetterdrums.com) which has become a huge online resource for drummers...

John Doing is based in San Francisco and has compiled a deep resume of musical theatre experience, most notably being involved in the Hamilton world for many years. He has been a chairholder and sub on multiple tours, he did the show’s San Francisco residency, he’s done the drumset chair, he’s done the percussion chair. In addition to Hamilton and a lot of other musical theatre work, he has played...

Jay Weinberg is best-known as the former drummer of the band Slipknot as well as the son of Bruce Springsteen's longtime drummer Max Weinberg. But from an early age, Jay proved to all that he was his own drummer and artist who could create a career of his own. Along with subbing for his father on in 2009 with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, Jay stayed busy in many other projects that incl...

Greg Sadler is a Los Angeles-based drummer who keeps a relentlessly busy schedule both in the studio and on the stage. He has provided the rhythmic foundation for GRAMMY, Emmy and Tony winners, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, and many more.  He is a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he was a member of the six-time GRAMMY-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band in 2012. Greg also teache...

Currently on tour with rock legend Alice Cooper and the Hollywood Vampires Glen Sobel has played in a variety of genres including rock, hip hop, pop, metal, punk, and fusion. A seasoned pro with world tour experience, Glen has developed a reputation for being a quick study, known to learn an entire set of material in a day or record a CDs worth of songs on short notice. Glen subbed a week for Tomm...

 Shawn King. Shawn has been the drummer for the band Devotchka for over 20 years and has been based in Denver for longer than that. Over that time he has been tightly woven into the Denver scene and involved in all kinds of projects from experimental festivals to musical theatre. We are right around the 20 year anniversary of both Devotchka’s album “How it Ends” and the movie “Little Miss Sunshine...

Curt Bisquera is one of Los Angeles' top recording / touring drummers and producers. Curt has recorded and/or toured with the biggest names in music including Sir Elton John, Johnny Cash, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Josh Groban, Ricky Martin, Sarah McLachlan, Hans Zimmer (Superman / Batman), The Beach Boys, Lana del Rey, John Legend, Tina Turner, Celine Dion and countless others. In this...

Steve has headed up drumset studies at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and has countless alumni active in all corners of the music industry. In addition to teaching, Steve’s legacy as a player includes recording and touring with a huge range of artists including Gloria Estefan and Ben Vereen, and a stint of more than a decade as the drummer for the BeeGees. In this episode, Steve...

Adam Gust is the world's first Polyvagal-Informed professional drummer. Using his performance experience and knowledge of nervous system science, Adam has created the Somatic Drummer - a unique combination of science, wellness, and drumming. Adam's 'Science of the Groove' was the first talk about the Vagus Nerve to appear on TED.com, exploring how drummers sync their brains and bodies to find thei...

Growing up in a musical family gave JT an early start into sound and rhythmic exploration. He set on the path to becoming a working musician while playing in his father’s big band as a teen. Over the years he remained steeped in the improvised music scene, both as a performer and presenter. As a session drummer JT has appeared on Grammy record of the year “Folklore” (Taylor Swift) as well as the f...

Sterling Campbell was born and raised in New York City at a time when the music scene was rich with innovators like David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell and many others. Sterling would go on to work with David Bowie from 1992 until 2004. Other notable artist Sterling has worked for throughout his career include Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, Soul Asylum, Chic, Tina Turner, David Byrn and many oth...

In 2006, J-rod uploaded his first Youtube video, receiving positive feedback that reinforced his belief in using his musical talent to educate and inspire others. Committed to honing his craft, J-rod enrolled in the Atlanta Institute of Music, graduating in 2012, and later joined The 4 Korners band in 2013. With a growing online community of over 700K+ followers, J-rod’s brand transcends his talen...

Jorge Palacios is an in demand drummer based in San Diego, California. He’s been the drummer for iconic rock star Rick Springfield since 2010. Other artists he’s worked with include Paul Young, Tommy Tutone, Sammy Hagar, The Mustard Seeds and many others. In this episode, Jorge talks about: Embracing different genres Balancing local and touring gigs Making real connections Drumming for Rick Spring...

Kassandra is working with altadenamusicians.org to get instruments to musicians affected by the LA fires. Go to altadenamusicians.org and download the Instrumental Giving app to help. Kassandra Kocoshis was raised in a musical family and has been playing percussion since she was eleven years old. She received her Bachelors of Music in Percussion Performance from DePaul University and her Masters o...