Working Drummer

Latest Episodes:

396 - Mona Tavakoli: Playing with Jason Mraz, Centralizing the Cajon in Her Setup and Voice, Inspiring the Next Generation of Girls Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

Mona Tavakoli is a Los Angeles-based drummer, singer and performer bets known for recording and touring with Jason Mraz. While Mona is equally comfortable performing as a drummer and a percussionist, she is especially known for adapting the cajón to unexpected genres such as rock and pop.

Mona and Mraz have been collaborating for nearly a decade. She toured worldwide on Mraz’s 2012 album, Love is a Four Letter Word, and they performed together as a duo on programs such as The Today Show, The David Letterman Show, Ellen, Dancing with the Stars, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

She is a co-founder and co-director of the Rock n’ Roll Camp For Girls Los Angeles, a nonprofit that encourages girls to find their voices through music during an intensive, weeklong summer day camp. Mona also promotes music education by hosting rhythm workshops at elementary schools and colleges around the country.

Mona has been featured in DRUM!, Tom Tom Magazine, judged and hosted the Hit Like A Girl drum contest and awards show and is the recipient of the 2016 She Rocks awards “Inspire Award” for her work with the Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls.

In this episode, Mona talks about:

The new album she recently tracked with Jason and Raining Jane
Her hybrid setup and her history with the Cajon
Her unlikely combination of influences from Neil Peart to Jay Belerose
Her background in economics and how that informs her music career
Her #1 piece of financial advice for musicians
Her role with the Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls

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395 - John Dittrich: Singing and Drumming for Restless Heart, Working in Nashville in the 1990’s, Retirement Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

John Dittrich is the well known drummer, singer and founding member of the band Restless Heart who had numerous hits in the country and pop genres. John is originally from Syracuse, New York and moved to Nashville Tennessee in 1981. By 1984, Restless Heart released it’s first recording and continued to record and tour for over thirty years.

After a successful and extensive career, John now enjoys retirement.

In this episode, John talks about:

Stories with John’s longtime friend & co-host with George Lawrence
Studying with Ed Shaughnessy
Working in Nashville in the 1990’s
Singing on stage with Toto
John’s country train sticking rlRl rrLr rlRl rrLr
The origins of Restless Heart
Retirement

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394 - Pat Petrillo: His New Record, Instrument Selection in the Studio, Networking vs. Relationships, Product Design Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

NYC based drummer, educator, and product inventor, Pat Petrillo has been a leader in the drum industry for years. He has backed a wide array of artists from many genres, including Patti LaBelle, Gloria Gaynor, Glen Burtnik, Oz Noy, and numerous Broadway shows. His popular video lessons on Drumeo.com and numerous others have inspired millions of drummers over the years. He now leads his own group, the NYC Big Rhythm Band, which has just released a new record called The Power Station Sessions. Pat also has man product designs to his credit, including the very popular 21" K Custom Organic Ride, and the new Drumeo P4 Practice Pad.

In this episode, Pat talks about

The drumming styles and tones on the new record
His earliest influences - Ringo and Jabo
Studying with Peter Erskine at the Drummer's Collective
His unusual audition for Patti LaBelle
His experience on Broadway
The evolution of the P4 practice pad

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393 - Shawn Pelton: Drumming on SNL, Shawn’s Physical Presence Behind the Kit, Attitude Over Chops Nov 03, 2022

Show notes

Shawn Pelton has recorded with a wide range of artists and has been a first call player since moving to New York in the late 1980s.

Shawn has recorded with artists such as Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, Natalie Merchant, Ingrid Michaelson, Billy Joel, Van Morrison, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Pink, Shakira, Kelly Clarkson, Five For Fighting, Michelle Branch, Regina Spektor, Tears for Fears, Citizen Cope, Matisyahu, Jonatha Brooke, David Byrne, Edie Brickell, Marc Cohn, Richie Havens, Joan Osborne, Hall and Oates, Odetta, Pavarotti, Phillip Phillips, George Michael, Carly Simon, Dixie Chicks, Chris Botti and Buddy Guy, and has played on several Grammy winning albums for artists including Ray Charles, The Brecker Brothers, Shakira, Shawn Colvin, Les Paul and the Hank Williams tribute album with Bob Dylan.

Shawn is also the longtime drummer in the house band for Saturday Night Live.

Since 2007, Pelton has been regularly appearing as the drummer on Daryl Hall's internet concert series Live from Daryl's House.

Pelton also served periodically as the substitute drummer in the CBS Orchestra on Late Show with David Letterman during regular drummer Anton Fig's absences.

Pelton is also a founding member of the NYC-based band The Cringe.

In this episode, Shawn talks about:

Powerful insights from his teachers
Utilizing multiple styles in his day to day
Shawn’s chart writing tips
Reading the room and acting accordingly
Managing the back and forth with remote tracking
When to employ your unique voice and sound
Shawn’s physical presence behind the kit
Attitude over chops

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392 - Willy Rodriguez: Playing On the New Mars Volta Record, His Puerto Rican Roots, Becoming an American Drummer Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

Willy Rodriguez is a Latin GRAMMY-winning drummer, percussionist and bandleader. He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and began playing drums at age thirteen. He received his musical start playing throughout Puerto Rico in rock and pop bands. When Willy was twenty-one he started working as the Musical Director and drummer for Latin American Idol’s touring group. Following his experience at Idol, he was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in 2007. His reputation as a skilled musician spread quickly in the Boston area and he began playing extensively with musicians such as Jason Palmer and Andre Heyward. At Berklee, Willy studied with a host of famed teachers such as Terri-Lyne Carrington, Yoron Israel, Ralph Peterson and Greg Osby.

In 2014, Willy graduated from New England Conservatory with a Master’s degree in Jazz Drum Performance. At NEC, he studied with Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Miguel Zenon, Jerry Bergonzi and Bob Moses, among others. He has performed alongside some of the premier musicians in jazz and Latin jazz including Jason Palmer, Papo Vasquez and Dave Liebman, with whom he has recorded and played with extensively. In addition to his work in jazz, he has performed and/or recorded with an extensive list of genre-spanning artists including Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Mon Laferte, Domino Saints, and more. In 2019, he won a Latin GRAMMY for his work on Mon Laferte's 'Norma'. Willy recorded the self-titled seventh album by The Mars Volta, released in 2022 after a ten-year hiatus.

In this episode, Willy talks about

How he got into The Mars Volta's circle, and how his style fit the more intimate feel of the new record
Wanting to make his own name as an artist, as opposed to becoming known as "so-and-so's drummer"
His experience as an older student at Berklee
Understanding the American pocket and shedding his "Puerto-Rican-ness" in pursuit of it
How he got into jazz through metal and math rock

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391 - Gary Husband: New Record - The Trackers: Vaudeville 8:45, The Early Days with Allan Holdsworth, Videocast Lessons Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Gary Husband is one of a rare breed of musicians in that his expression is divided equally in his capacity as a drummer and a pianist and keyboardist of international repute. His classical roots, his quest and development in the improvisational, jazz and jazz/fusion areas – not to mention his tenure in the pop, rock, funk and blues circuits – are all evident inside Gary’s distinct and far-reaching musical personality. His solo album and DVD output has also reinforced his status as a critically acclaimed writer and arranger in the contemporary music world.

For close to four decades Gary has worked alongside a vast and eclectic range of celebrated musicians including John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce (Cream), Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy), British pop/funk band Level 42, Billy Cobham, Al Jarreau, Mike Stern (Miles Davis), John Wetton (King Crimson), Chris Squire (Yes), Andy Summers (The Police), Steve Hackett (Genesis), Robin Trower (Procol Harum), and with producers Sir George Martin (Beatles), Trevor Horn (Grace Jones & Art of Noise), Quincy Jones (Michael Jackson), Jerry Hey and James Guthrie (Pink Floyd).

Further associations and performing/recording credits include his work with Randy Brecker, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, fusion/jam band Gongzilla, Germany’s NDR Bigband, Soft Machine, Maria Schneider, Christian McBride, Eddie Van Halen, Dean Brown, Bob Berg, Nguyên Lê, Joe Lovano, Charles Tolliver, Bireli Lagrène, Peter Erskine, Ron Sexsmith, drum n’ bass protagonists Lemon ‘D’ and Dillinja.

As an internationally established drum clinician he has performed alongside Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta, Terry Bozzio, Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, Omar Hakim, Ricky Lawson, Todd Sucherman, Paul Wertico, Denny Seiwell and Bernard Purdie, and most recently has been developing a series of motivational videocasts in drumming.

In this episode, Gary talks about:

An early influence: John Von Ohlen
Knowing how to relax and slow down to benefit the performance
Videocast lessons on Gary’s website
The early days of working with Allan Holdsworth
His newest recording with The Trackers: Vaudeville 8:45

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390 - Clint de Ganon: Playing with Paul Shaffer, The Changing World of Broadway, "A Groove is an Agreement" Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

To date, Clint has played on over 1,000 recording sessions and over 75 tours with artists including The Blues Brothers Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chuck Loeb, Art Garfunkel, The New York Voices, Mitch Forman, Cornell Dupree, and Edgar Winter. On television, Clint has appeared with the Saturday Night Live Band, and has performed with various artists on David Letterman, MTV, Bravo, Good Morning America, & The Today Show. He also played on the soundtrack for Stephen Spielberg's West Side Story.

For seven years, Clint played drums with Hiram Bullock's band, a power trio that featured the singing and playing of Hiram, legendary bassist Will Lee. The band made 5 recordings, and toured no less than 25 times. On Broadway, Clint has played for 13 shows, creating the drum books for four of them, including the Grammy Award winning Hairspray.

In this episode, Clint talks about:

The romanticization of session work
Creating a career out of patchwork, and the fragmentation of the record industry
How theatre work is a fusion of a live approach with a studio approach
Getting experience in a given genre on "regular gigs" before playing that genre as part of a musical
Playing with Paul Shaffer, and the unique position of playing drums with a symphony orchestra

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389 - John Geiger: Multi-Decade Career in the Music Product Industry, Drumming with the Scotty Mac Band, The Business of Endorsements Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

John Geiger began his love for music and drumming at an early age and spent his early band years playing 80’s rock on the Sunset Strip and later moved on to country and classic rock. John pursued his music passion by creating a multi-decade career in the music product industry. John has spend over 30 years working in this industry with iconic brands such as Yamaha, D’Addario, KORG USA and Zildjian.

John currently plays in the Scotty Mac Band who’s regional success led to opening slots for national touring acts like Brett Young, Tyler Farr, Phil Vassar, Lee Brice and Chase Rice. The band performs at festivals around the country including Night in the Country, Country Fan Fest, Oregon Jamboree, Country Thunder, Coastal Country Jam among others. In 2016 McLaughlin released his first EP Messin’ Around which was followed in 2018 with a sophomore album Starts With A Girl, both recorded in Nashville. The band won California Country Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 2017. Today, fans can see the band playing in Nashville at bars such as Tin Roof, Winners and Ole' Red.

In this episode, John talks about:

Major changes in the retail industry over the last 40 years
His job title and responsibilities at Zildjian / Vic Firth
John’s history in the music product industry
The communal nature of drummers
The business of endorsements
News about supply chain issues

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388 - Chris Parker: Decades on the New York Scene, Playing with Dylan, Stuff, and G.E. Smith, Performing on SNL Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

Born in Chicago, Chris was playing drums at age three and began performing his first professional gigs at eleven. At nineteen, Parker began recording and touring with blues great Paul Butterfield and then broke into the New York studio scene in 1970,doing records, movie scores and filling the drum chair at Saturday Night Live. Toph, as friends know him, recorded platinum, gold and Grammy winning albums and CDs with many artists, including, Bob Dylan, Cher, Natalie Cole, Donald Fagen, Ashford and Simpson, Aretha Franklin, Freddie Hubbard, James Brown, Stuff, Miles Davis, Patti LaBelle, Michael Bolton, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Tony Bennett, and Quincy Jones who has written liner notes for the latest cd, ”Blue Print.”

Currently leading his own band, the Chris Parker Trio with Kyoko Oyobe, piano and Ameen Saleem, bass, Parker has just recorded “Blue Print,” a new cd dedicated to Arif Mardin and produced by Arif’s son, Joe. This new work features Randy Brecker on three tracks as well as Parker’s original compositions.

In this episode, Chris talks about

New York scene in the 70s, when he was getting serious about music
His 50 year association with bassist Will Lee
His work with Stuff, and playing double drums in the band with Steve Gadd
Seeing numerous drum legends over and over at New York clubs, and receiving mentorship from them in different ways
How an impromptu rehearsal/jam with Bob Dylan unknowingly served as an audition
Adapting to the many different ways Dylan wanted to interpret songs in the moment
How his passion for drawing and painting has informed his musical approach

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387 - Steven Wolf: Creating Emotional Reactions in Programming, Connection Between Mind and Body, Advice for the Young Player Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

Steven Wolf (also known simply as Wolf) is one of the world’s most in-demand studio musicians. His discography includes numerous #1, Gold, Platinum, and Grammy winning records.

A virtuoso drummer and world class programmer, with an encyclopedic musical vocabulary spanning every musical genre, his distinctive skill-set and versatility have made him the "go-to" rhythmic solution for a long list of the world's top recording artists and producers. In addition to drumming and programming, he's also an accomplished producer, songwriter, and remixer.

Wolf’s credits include: Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Annie Lennox, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Celine Dion,Cher, Joss Stone, Britney Spears, The Bee Gees, Natalie Imbruglia, Leona Lewis, Johnny Cash, Rufus Wainwright, Daryl Hall, Macy Gray, Grover Washington Jr, Oz Noy, Hiram Bullock, Tribal Tech, Larry Coryell, The Gil Evans Orchestra, Lenny Pickett, The Saturday Night Live Band, and many others…

In this episode, Wolf talks about:

Advice for the young player
Transitioning from a touring to session drummer and programmer
Getting the right sounds in the studio
Managing a sample library
Creating an emotional reaction in programming
Staying current with musical styles
The connection between mind and body

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