Born
in Rochester, NY, my musical journey started out at around
the age of four when I discovered the piano at my aunt's
house. Shortly after that my parents got an old used piano,
put it in our living room, and I started taking lessons. By the time I
turned eight my musical
focus had shifted (much to my parent's dismay) to the drums.
Actually, my fascination with the drums started very early.
One of my uncles was a volunteer fireman and he would march
with the fire department in all the local parades and my
family would always go to watch. I remember being excited by the fact that whenever a marching band paraded
by, the drummers were always playing. Even if the rest of
the band stopped and just marched, the drummers kept it
going. By the time I
reached the
seventh grade I was practicing several hours a day and
playing after school with my high school rock band.
It was around the age of
fourteen that I got my first studio experience which
eventually led to my
becoming an 'on-call' drummer of sorts for a couple of small local recording
studios. To be honest, it all started because I lived within walking
distance of the one of the studios and would go over and
just hang out whenever I could. I recorded a few tunes
there with my rock band and that led to me getting asked to
play on some other people’s songs. Nobody ever got
paid for any of the stuff I played on back then but that
didn't matter. I was getting the best hands-on training I
could get into the studio world. From there it just
grew.
The studio has always been a very comfortable and creative
place for me - I truly love it!
During high school my
musical opportunities continued to grow
and I branched out to fill
the roll of timpanist in a local symphony orchestra, played
in several pit orchestras for local theater groups, as well
as beginning to develop my writing skills. I also spent a
couple of summers playing in jazz workshops led by Jeff Tyzik.
With 30+
years of professional playing, my experiences
includes club gigs, orchestral work, studio recording, and
national touring. I don't consider myself a stylized
drummer. In other words, I am equally comfortable, and
enjoy, playing all styles of music - Jazz, Funk, Rock, R&B, Fusion,
Swing, Country, Pop, Classical, Symphonic, etc. It's all
about the music and I love just about everything. My
approach is simple - I strive to be a musician that plays
the drums.
I
spent the years from 1985 to 1990 living and touring out of
Nashville. This started out as a weekend visit and lasted
for just over 5 years. During that time my regular gig was
with Ricky Van Shelton. I have toured with Reba, The Judds,
Alabama, Randy Travis, Clint Black, Highway 101, Lee
Greenwood, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson and many others. In
addition to touring, I've had the opportunity to play on several shows for
The Nashville Network including Nashville Now (the old Ralph
Emery program), The Grand Ole Opry, and Hee Haw. I've also
appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Grammy
Awards, Austin City Limits, The Country Music Awards, The
American Music Awards, and
The Peoples Choice Awards programs.
In
1990, I was honored to have an article written about
me in Modern Drummer Magazine.
If you like, click on the
magazine cover at the right to view a PDF file of the
article.
Currently residing in Upstate NY, I am concentrating my
musical efforts on session work, live gigs, writing,
clinics, and
teaching.
In
addition to playing, I am a regular contributor to the
Drum Forum
as the writer of a monthly professional column. The Drum Forum
began in late August of 2005 as a replacement for the Drum
Center Forum run by Harry Cangany where I was also a
professional column contributor before it closed. The new
Drum Forum has over 5400 registered members, countless
guest visitors, and continues to grow as one of the premier
on-line drum communities.
OK -
that's enough about me. Feel free to
drop me a line
and tell me about you!
