Happy New Year everyone. This begins my 4th year as a full-time professional musician. This is my year for sure!! If you’re reading this and haven’t heard of me, you’re going to know about me soon enough. If you need a mature, versatile, dedicated, hard working drummer who is willing …
Picture courtesy of www.gratefulmusic.com (this photo speaks to my 2014 aspirations) Be Happy Today It has taken me a long time to realize how important it is to be happy with the current moment and be grateful for what I do have. I am always striving to be better and to …
Last night’s concert with The Papa John DeFrancesco Quartet at the MIM was epic for me. From the first downbeat to the last, I was smiling ear to ear for so many reasons; I was performing with an institution in the jazz world, Papa John DeFrancesco, I was performing with …
I had the coolest experience today. I walk into a drum lesson with a new student and I meet Connie. Connie is a 68 year-old flight attendant who has never played a musical instrument much less the drums. She says the drums just speak to her and so we start. …
I often tell my drum students that it is important to learn to play behind any drum set. You should not have to move a thing in order to get up at a jam and play a couple of songs. Remember, the house drummer was nice enough to bring …
I am on a constant journey to improve myself as a person but at the same time, I spend an exhaustive amount of time wanting to improve myself as a musician. In my quest to master some of these styles, I often look to my peers and even more so, …
Now that I have been able to live my passion of playing music fulltime for the past two years, the nagging question of “Why doesn’t everyone follow their passion?”, persist in my mind. Now I know making this too simplistic will come across as nieve and that isn’t my intention. …
Namaste… I was sitting with a dear friend over lunch this past weekend and we were talking about how intense I can be at times. We all know that some intensity is good but so often my intensity overshadows everything else including having fun. The conversation continued about how I …