Working Drummer

Rafael Pereira was born and raised in Sao Paolo, Brazil. As a kid he began playing piano, guitar and percussion, and along with his brother, fell in love with the traditional Samba and Choro music of Brazil. He first came to the U.S. as an exchange student in high school, and spent a year in Idaho. After he returned to Brazil, his father got a business opportunity in Atlanta and Rafa made the move...

Brian Ferguson is a studio and live Musician/Drummer/Producer based in Austin, Texas. He began playing drums and percussion at the age of 10 and has never looked back. A consummate student of the instrument and it’s significance to American Music, Brian can be found touring, recording and producing a wide variety of acts. His deep knowledge of drumming and music allow him to contribute to any musi...

Adam Goodhue has been busy on the Atlanta scene for the last four years. Before that, he spent 16 years in San Francisco where he played just about every type of music it had to offer. Adam grew up in Massachusetts where he was the beneficiary of a small but active high school music program. By his late teens, he was hooked on two things; drumming and snowboarding. For short time, he thought compe...

There are drummers and there is Sarah Tomek. With the rumbling authority of a John Bonham and the razor precision of a Keith Carlock, she has become one of the most in demand drummers today. Currently playing for Steven Tyler, Gretchen Wilson and the fast rising Americana band Loving Mary, Sarah Tomek commands a front row seat in the new class of top tier musicians. Born and raised in Asbury Park,...

L.A. drummer Kevin Stevens recently completed two tours of Europe with David Brighton’s Space Oddity, a David Bowie tribute show. He is the drummer and bandleader for three groups (Rumproller Organ Trio, Brass Monkey Brass Band, and The Deep Cuts) under the umbrella of his company, Grits n’ Gravy Music. Kevin grew up in Denver, studied music at the University of Miami, cut his teeth as a pro on cr...

Kasey Todd is a professional drummer, percussionist, vocalist, and an all around musician and entertainer. Along with being a performer, he also has credits as a producer, arranger, and bandleader. Kasey grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and was involved in music at a very young age. His father is the Co-Owner and front man of 50’s and 60’s show band, The Van-Dells. This has allowed Kasey to be around t...

Go-Go Ray has been a Kansas City fixture since he moved there in the early 90s. He grew up in Dallas where he played in every possible school ensemble from 4th grade on, and got his first professional experience in a local funk/R&B cover band. He studied music briefly at North Texas but was drawn to the rock, punk, and other music scenes that were happening outside of school. Mike Dillon‘s band Bi...

Milton Sledge is a session drummer best known for a string of sessions in Muscle Shoals, Alabama as well as several albums with country super-star Garth Brooks. With Garth, Milton wrote and played drums on several key albums including the self-titled 1987 Capitol release, “No Fences,” “Ropin’ The Wind” and “The Chase.” Milton can be heard on many recordings including those of: John Anderson, Barba...

Evan Pazner is a native and life-long resident of New York City. For the last six years, he has been the touring drummer for Lee Fields & The Expressions, a truly old-school soul band. It’s not old school just because they got the right gear and the right sound, it’s old school because Lee Fields has been doing it for over four decades. Evan got into drums playing in bands with friends as a teenag...

Since the age of three, Derrek C. Phillips has had a deep passion for music. From that time he has carved out an exciting musical career as a performer, educator, and composer While attending high school, Phillips played snare drum for the Concord Blue Devils drum and bugle corps from 1990-93. In 1998, he received his bachelor’s degree in jazz studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J....

At the helm of The Equinox Orchestra are tenor saxophonist and bandleader Jeremy Davis, lead vocalist Clay Johnson, and trumpet player, musical director and tour manager Tommy Brinson. Their combined efforts have gotten the 11-piece group on the road for a 2 month, 18,000 mile U.S. tour, the most ambitious undertaking in the band’s 15-year history. The three talked with their drummer and Working D...

Angie Lese always wanted to be a drummer since she could remember. Growing up in Fort Wayne Indiana, she took to music early and studied flute throughout high school. It wasn’t until her college years that Angie decided to follow her drumming passion, bought a kit and taught herself how to play. After graduating and starting a career in meteorology, Angie moved to Louisville Kentucky and heavily p...

Jermal Watson is a native of New Orleans and like so many musicians there, got his musical start playing in church. Growing up in New Orleans, he explains, young musicians learn songs and styles by ear and by the time you’re grown, all of the city’s musical languages – the swing feel of Preservation Hall, the street beats of the brass bands, the funk of The Meters and The Neville Brothers – are la...

Around The Kit with Joe Gansas For close to a year and a half, Joe Gansas has been hosting an online radio show focused on drummers and all things drums. This show is called Around The Kit. Joe digs deep into the life, career and background of each guest whether it’s a well known drummer like Kenny Aronoff or a lesser known drummer with important and relatable storys to tell. Joe has surrounded hi...

Carter McLean has been a New Yorker for most of his adult life. From his home base in Brooklyn, he commands a multi-pronged career as the drummer for The Lion King on Broadway, playing regularly with 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, and running his own educational website, Four Hands Drumming. In this podcast, Carter talks about: His first experiences in NYC – working at Manny’s Music, driving 1...

Russ Miller is internationally known as one of the top drummers of today. As a Multi-Platinum recording artist, he has played on multiple Grammy award winning recordings with combined sales of over 26 million copies. His musical versatility has led him to work with an incredible list of over 50 international artists from legends like Ray Charles, The Fifth Dimension, Natalie Cole, Tina Turner & Bo...

Yonrico Scott has been a fixture on the Atlanta scene and in Southern music in general for decades. He was born and raised in Detroit, where he began touring and recording as a teenager. His interest in percussion brought him to The University of Kentucky where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in classical music. After college, he moved to Atlanta and quickly felt like he was home. In the late 90’s h...

Rob Mitchell has built an impressive resume list of gigs throughout his decades in Nashville, Tennessee. Currently, Rob continues to hold down the drummers chair with the band, Sixpence None the Richer. Due to their light touring schedule, Rob finds time to work with singers like at James Otto, Chuck Wicks, Wes Cunningham and Chris Carmack from the TV show “Nashville”. Rob stays busy in Nashville’...

Wayne Salzmann has been at the top of the Austin scene for nearly a decade. Even before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a Master’s degree in jazz performance, he was working his way into the many musical circles Austin has to offer. He has since compiled a long list of performance credits including Steve Miller, Kris Kristofferson, Joe Satriani, Mike Stern, Joe Bonamassa, Bo...

In this episode Working Drummer hosts Zack Albetta and Matthew Crouse have a unique opportunity to join forces with Nick Ruffini from Drummer’s Resource to have a “host-full” conversation. We take a break from our normal interviews and spend some time to talk about ourselves and some major transitions all three of us are going through. In this podcast, Nick, Zack and Matt talk about: Adapting to m...

Tony Austin was born and raised in Los Angeles. He is one of two drummers (the other being Ronald Bruner Jr.) who are part of The West Coast Get Down, a collective of LA musicians making their mark on the modern jazz scene. The collective’s flagship is saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s recent release, “The Epic,” a three disc set of compositions involving dozens of musicians and ranging from free ja...

In this episode we have the opportunity to share the unique perspective of a group of talented black musicians who make their living in Nashville, Tennessee. They share stories of resilience and realism in an unpredictable work environment. Our guests include Keio Stroud, Derek Phillips, Jeremy Roberson, Marcus Finnie and Hubert Payne. Their respective artist gigs include Big and Rich, Chase Rice,...

Andy Sanesi is a New York native who has spent the last decade in L.A. His time in New York was highlighted by playing with saxophonist John Zorn but the quality of life in L.A. and the opportunity to do better than just scrape by drew him west. He got busy soon after moving, thanks to a few friends in L.A.’s latin, jazz, fusion and rock scenes, and eventually landed the gig with Missing Persons,...

When not out touring with country duo Trick Pony, Wil Easterwood spends his time as a freelance drummer and vocalist for live performances and studio sessions in Nashville, Tennessee. He also has several years of experience as an audio engineer live/studio. Originally from Cedartown, GA, Wil moved to Nashville in 2008 and quickly began working steadily as a drummer on lower Broadway. The exposure...

Gary Hobbs resides just outside Portland, OR, literally steps from the house he grew up in. His father and grandfather were both semi-pro drummers, but the drum bug didn’t bite Gary until his senior year in high school. He attended a Stan Kenton Jazz Camp where he studied with legendary jazz drummer and educator John Von Ohlen, who convinced him to pursue drumming professionally. After a stint in...