Working Drummer

Ian Chang was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Jersey as a teenager to attend boarding school. He had studied classical piano and percussion in Hong Kong, but quickly became interested in all the other genres New York had to offer. He had begun a pre-college classical percussion program at Julliard, and was on track to attend there after high school, but decided against it at the last minute to...

For more than 24 years, Jeremy Roberson has been perfecting his precise, unpredictable, high-energy style of drumming. Using a combination of techniques, he has developed his own original style, which is as exciting to listen to as it is to watch. His ability to adapt to any genre of music while maintaining precision, timing, and his uniquely smooth style has earned him numerous accolades, and has...

In today’s music landscape, Kevin Kanner is a rare breed of drummer; focused intently and passionately on straight-ahead jazz. While many of his generation have looked for ways to widen the scope of the drumset and the role of the drummer, and cross breed jazz with other genres, Kevin’s musical ambition has remained simple and singular: to swing. Like his heroes, Philly Joe Jones, Mickey Roker, hi...

Finding a drummer with the chops and knowledge necessary to recapture a wide range of various styles authentically, is no small task. To make you believe you’re hearing the original recording is even more rare. Jason Harrison Smith does this and so much more. Currently playing simultaneously with Blues legend Albert Lee and guitar virtuoso Carl Verheyen, Jason’s a busy guy and likes it that way. H...

Doug Auwarter has spent most of his 40-year career in Kansas City and has been equally active as a performer and educator. He began his career playing across spectrum of American music – jazz, rock, funk, etc. In the 80’s he fell in love with Brazilian music and culture, and although he continues to play a wide variety of music, he is known and loved as Kansas City’s resident guru for all things B...

Based in Los Angeles but originally from Long Island, New York, Evan Stone (Drummer/Producer/Bandleader) currently fronts his original project the Translucent Ham Sandwich Band who released their debut album in 2016 entitled: ‘Music From The Future’ which has received airtime on numerous radio and cable television stations around the world.  Evan Stone has toured the United States with trumpeter/b...

Gintas Janusonis is the son of Lithuanian immigrants and grew up in Milwaukee. Berklee brought him to the East Coast and he soon made the jump to New York, where he has been active as a drummer and producer for most of his professional life. His list of credits ranges from jazz greats Branford Marsalis and Kurt Rosenwinkel, to hip hop royalty Wu Tang Clan and Kool G Rap, to singer/songwriter and A...

Kent Slucher was born in Louisville, Kentucky October 19, 1976. With an intensely musical ear he learned to appreciate music at a very young age. Some of the most influential bands for Kent growing up included; Led Zeppelin, KISS, Fleetwood Mac, Bad Company, and Journey. At 19, Kent got his first gig in his father’s band, Uncle Lijah. After that, he played in a top 40 house band hoping to be disco...

Matt Jorgensen was born and raised in Seattle and caught the jazz bug in high school. It sent him to New York in 1992 to study at the recently formed New School, after which he worked around town until 2002 when he returned to his hometown. He has since maintained an active performance schedule as a leader and sideman, playing with many modern jazz greats including Peter Bernstein, Reggie Workman,...

Robert Breithaupt is a veteran of over 40 years in music, as a performer, arts administrator, educator, author, musical contractor, entrepreneur, and visionary in the arts. Breithaupt has performed in diverse solo, small ensemble and orchestral settings and has appeared with a virtual “Who’s Who” of great jazz talents and scores of other noted artists. As drummer/percussionist for trumpet virtuoso...

Steve Fidyk’s career has been a balance between military service in the Army Field and Army Blues bands, civilian life as a member or leader of various creative projects, and academia as an author, clinician, and Artist in Residence at Temple University. The son of a weekend warrior sax player, Steve was encouraged to pursue music from an early age. He began sitting in with his dad’s band and by a...

Originally from upstate New York, Seth began playing drums at the age of three. By age nine, he was sitting in with local bands and even backing up his elementary school choir. He’s been in the Nashville music scene for 15 years and is currently the touring drummer for Keith Urban. Other artists Seth has worked for include Gary Allan, Joe Nichols, Phil Vassar, and Little Big Town. While with Littl...

Justin Chesarek has lived in Atlanta for almost a decade, where he has played with various jazz artists including Gary Motley,Joe Gransden, and singer/songwriter Sam Burchfield. Justin also teaches at two area universities, Kennesaw State and Emory. He grew up near Pittsburgh which, despite its rustbelt identity, has always had a rich music scene and has recently evolved into a more cosmopolitan c...

Kyle Wilkerson is a well-versed and highly versatile drummer/percussion and film composer based out of Nashville, Tennessee. He has played/toured/recorded with many national artists and bands such as Maddie and Tae, Joshua Scott Jones (of Steel Magnolia), Kristen Kelly, Jillette Johnson, Michael Alvarado (of the duo US), Justin Adams, Logan Mize, Adam Sanders, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, The Luck...

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...