Working Drummer

Latest Episodes:

217 – Dame Drummer: Touring with Fantastic Negrito, Coming up in Cleveland, Opportunity & Creativity in Oakland May 09, 2019

Show notes

Dame Drummer lives in Oakland, tours with Fantastic Negrito, and is about to release his latest original project, a double-length album called Loveolution. Dame grew up in Cleveland where he cut his teeth on the local scene playing funk, R&B, and whatever else came along. He moved to Oakland in 2012 at the urging of some friends who already lived there. His Rust Belt work ethic quickly and creative spirit put him in high demand Oakland and he’s been busy ever since, both as a collaborator and a leader.

In this episode, Dame talks about:

* The drum chair with Fantastic Negrito, and sharing it with other drummers* Combining drumming, singing, and rapping* How drums and rap influence each other* Why it’s important to be “more than a drummer” * The underdog identity of his hometown of Cleveland, and how it gave him a strong work ethic* His move to Oakland and working his way onto the scene there* The history and legacy of Oakland Funk, Hip-Hop, and R&B* Viewing each gig as a point on the arc of your career, rather than a make-or-break single event* Getting creative and proactive about building and targeting an audience

Dame Drummer endorses Regal Tip sticks.

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216 – Derek Mixon: Drumming for Chris Stapleton, Supporting the Song May 02, 2019

Show notes

For the last few years, Derek Mixon has been the drummer for country singer and songwriter Chris Stapleton. Derek played drums on all of Chris’s award winning solo albums to date. Originally from West Monroe, Louisiana, Derek drew inspiration from his surroundings that included his father who was a professional musician. The musical sensibilities he learned early in life as well as his time in Nashville over the last 20 years has been the preparation that was needed to play the role of drummer supporting one of the most prolific writers and modern country music.

Derek has also worked with Sam Lewis, Jedd Hughes, Rodney Crowell, Tracy Bird, She daisy, Jack Pearson, Sarah Buxton, Sam Bush, Jamey Johnson, Jace Everett, Jim Lauderdale and Al Perkins

In this episode, Derek talks about:

* Performing on Austin City Limits* Derek’s intro to music through his dad* His start in Nashville * How to support the songwriter * Derek’s drum tunings in the studio

Derek endorses: Ludwig Drums, Remo drumheads, Vic Firth, Zildjian, Winding Wheel Supply

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215 – Damian Erskine: The Portland Scene, Playing with Uncle Peter, The “Strength of Ego” to Play Simply Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Damian Erskine is known for his ability to fit into most any musical situation, extraordinary reading and improvising skills as well as being an educator and columnist. He has played in the studio or on the stage with Peter Erskine, Gino Vannelli, The Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Bob Sheppard, John Beasley, Jeff Lorber, The Buddy Rich Alumni All-Star Band, Antonio Hart, Charmaine Neville, and many others as well as being featured on the GospelChops.com “Shed Sessionz Vol. 1” DVD.

Damian is an adjunct professor at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. In addition, he regularly teaches abroad with JAE (Jazz Education Abroad) in Shanghai, Beirut, Cyprus, and Bangkok as well as teaching camps in the US at • Gerald Veasley’s Bass Bootcamp, the National Guitar Workshop, and Berklee College of Music’s Guitar Week.

Damian has written for Bass Player Magazine, Bass Musician Magazine, as well as continuing to maintain a popular weekly column at NoTreble.com.

Damian has also authored two books, “Right Hand Drive” and “The Improvisor’s Path”

In this episode, Damian talks about:

* The Portland/Pacific Northwest scene, and what keeps him busy there* Starting on drums, moving to bass* How the competitive environment of Berklee didn’t inspire or motivate him* Growing up and playing with Peter Erskine, and how Peter influenced his bass playing* The pros and cons of having a “drummer brain” as a bassist* His take on Peter’s “tough love” style of mentorship* Staying up on the Portland scene and forming new relationships with younger players

Damian Erskine endorses Skjold basses, Aguilar amplification, Groove Gear, MXR pedals, D’Addario strings, Reunion Blues gig bags, and Pig Hog cables.

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214 – Rick Marotta: Bringing Your Personality to Music, Recording w/Steely Dan, James Taylor Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

Rick Marotta is known for his recordings and touring with such luminaries as James Taylor, Jackson Brown, Steely Dan, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Aretha Franklin, Larry Carlton, Warren Zevon and Bette Midler.

Rick began playing drums at 19 when a friend went into the army and left his set of drums to Rick. It wasn’t long before Rick began playing with R&B bands in the New York area, recording with David Spinozza and the group Giant as well as The Riverboat Soul Band.

Rick’s current activities include writing music for movies and television, recording jingles and producing.His scoring for TV can be heard on Everybody Loves Raymond, Yes Dear, and the Hank Azaria Show.

In this episode, Rick talks about:

* His master class at Drum Paradise in Nashville* Staying open to input and fresh ideas* Skills that are needed to record in the studio * Bringing your personality to your playing * Playing gigs with his brother Jerry* Composing music * Cutting “Hour That the Morning Comes” for James Taylor * Recording with Steely Dan * Double drums with Steve Gadd* Changes in the music industry

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213 – Nick Ruffini: Our Annual Roundtable Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

Once a year, we get together with our buddy Nick Ruffini of Drummer’s Resource to catch up on developments in our lives, podcasts, and careers.

In this episode, Zack, Matt, and Nick talk about:

* Los Angeles: Nick’s first impressions, Zack’s memories, the good, the bad and the ugly

* Nick’s new company, Revoice Media

* Playing drums vs. other music-related jobs, and how ego and identity plays into that mix

* Insecurity surrounding money

* Matt’s outlook on the Nasvhille scene

* Examples of drummers who had amazing gigs, then took a step back from music to do something different

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212 – Steve Sinatra Part 2: Working with Hunter Hayes, Source-Science-Sound, Rediscovering the Love of Music Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

Accomplished drummer and spiritual teacher Steve Sinatra has dedicated fifteen plus years to making his living as a full time professional studio and touring musician. He’s toured and shared the stage with many nationally recognized artists such as Sarah Buxton, Pat Green, Richard Marx, Vertical Horizon, Billy Gilman, Joe Nichols, Little Big Town, Hunter Hayes and many others.

After spending ten plus years performing with these notable artists, he had achieved the dream that he embarked on as a child. Still feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled, he was inspired to dig deeper as to why. That tough question lead him to spending the last four years examining and finding answers to some of life’s tough questions. As he refines and organizes the information, he roots to it through self experience and teaching it to others. The unique blend of experiences and teaching modalities he uses are all linked to three categories, Source, Science, and Sound.

www.sourcesciencesound.com is also the website where Steve can be found offering a resource for those asking the same tough questions.

In this 2nd episode, Steve talks about:

* Asking the question, “Am I a session player or am I a live player?”

* Working with Hunter Hayes

* Explaining the “perspective paradigm” and how t effects us

* Rediscovering the Love of Music

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211 – Steve Sinatra Part 1: Achieving Your Dreams & Still Feeling Unfulfilled, Creating Source-Science-Sound, Choosing How We React to the Good and Bad in Life Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

sourcescincesound.com is also the website where Steve can be found offering a resource for those asking the same tough questions.

This episode is sponsored by Shure. Enter here – https://drum-mastery.shure.com to enter the Shure drum solo contest by April 15th, 2019.

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210 – Tarik Abouzied: Creative Projects in Post-Grunge/Post-Tech Boom Seattle, Cultivating a Global Audience Online Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Tarik Abouzied has played and traveled with a vast array of incredible musicians. His groups have collectively produced seven original albums: two from Pocket Change, an instrumental funk septet in the vein of Tower of Power, three from Hardcoretet, a modern instrumental jazz quartet, one from McTuff, an incredible funk/jazz Hammond organ trio, and one from his current project, Happy Orchestra. Happy was awarded 4Culture’s Arts Project Grant and its debut album, Baba, reached #5 on the KEXP NW Music Chart and was nominated NW Recording of the Year by readers of Earshot Jazz. Aside from these groups, Tarik has performed with Victor Wooten, George Porter Jr., John Medeski, Chris Wood, Jeff Coffin, Brian Haas, Jessica Lurie, Nigel Hall, Mike Stern, Bob Franceschini, Damian Erskine, and many more.

As an educator Abouzied has led clinics and classrooms at universities and schools internationally. He was a coordinator and teacher for the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra’s Jazz Scholars Program, which provides free music instruction for low-income students, and was the Musical Director for Kentridge High School’s drama program, where he led a pit orchestra comprised of student musicians and professional section leaders. He maintains a private studio of drum set, guitar, bass, piano, and music theory students.

In this episode, Tarik talks about:

* The creative projects he’s involved with in Seattle

* Playing bass on pop/cover gigs, and drums on original gigs

* Seattle’s support for original/creative music and art at the government/corporate level

* Attending University of Washington, which was not a top-tier music school, but perfect for him at the time

* “The Amazon Effect”

* Amassing an audience online first, THEN booking and marketing a live show

* His blog posts and the role writing plays for him

* His take on the “low-paying-gig” debate

* An influential night with Dennis Chambers, Victor Wooten, and Bob Franceschini

This episode is sponsored by Shure. Check out their drum solo contest at

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209 – Petar Janjic: Drumming for Cory Wong, Subbing for Michael Bland, Moving to the U.S. from Serbia to Study Music Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

Petar Janjic was born in Kraljevo, Serbia, also known as Kingstown. At 5, his father, a well known Serbian drummer, gave him a drum set and at the age of 10, Petar began studying with legendary a Serbian drummer Slobodan Stojanovic. In high school, Petar toured all over Europe before his eventual move to the United States. In 2008 he studied Music Performance & Percussion at the McNally Smith College of Music and eventually became one of its percussion instructors.

During his time in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota, Petar’s passion for learning and persistence won the trust of Prince drummer Michael Bland and the music community that surrounded him. Petar eventually became Michael’s first call sub. Currently, he continues to tour and record with Cory Wong and just moved to Nashville in pursuit of more music and recording opportunities.

In this episode, Petar talks about:

* Moving to the U.S. from Serbia to study music

* Becoming the sub for Michael Bland in Dr. Mambo’s Combo in Minneapolis

* Overcoming the challenges of learning “popular western music” in Serbia

* How he approaches live drumming vs. drumming in the studio

* Being asked to play on a Prince record by Prince

* Working with Cory Wong

* His approach to soloing

Petar endorses Paiste Cymbals and Vic Firth sticks

This episode is sponsored by Shure microphones. Apply online by April 15th 2019 at drum-mastery.shure.com for the Shure Drum Contest.

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208 – Jordan Manley: Touring with Mattiel, Making the Jump to Atlanta, Setting Big Goals, Being a “Band Guy” Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

Jordan Manley made the move to Atlanta in 2014, after growing up and spending the early years of his career in the small town of Columbus, GA. Since moving, he has been a member of several Atlanta-based groups including Black Linen, Lightning Orchestra, and Mattiel, with who he has been touring the U.S. and Europe, opening for the likes of Jack White and St. Paul & The Broken Bones.

In this podcast, Jordan talks about:

* What Mattiel and her band have learned from each other

* The early years of his career in Columbus

* Breaking into the Atlanta scene

* Struggling with his musical identity

* The West African influence in his childhood church

* How playing in hip-hop bands made him more attuned to accompanying vocalists

* Focusing on the role of the drummer in a given situation, not just the content of the drumming

* A different approach to teaching at Meta Music

* His goal-setting philosophy

This episode is sponsored by Shure Microphones.

Enter the Shure Drum Mastery Contest by April 15th!