Features
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Catching Up With... George "Funky" Brown
Five decades on, the legendary dance band Kool & the Gang was recently honored with a Soul Train Legend Award and given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One drummer has been there from the start. by Bob…
Aaron Sterling
In an era when the concept of the studio drummer is constantly being redefined—and even questioned—the player who’s tracked for artists including Taylor Swift, Sara Bareilles, the Civil Wars, and John Mayer has made no bones about embracing the role…
Dirk Verbeuren
Features Dirk Verbeuren He describes himself as meticulous. Anyone who’s a fan of his remarkably detailed drumming with Soilwork or the Devin Townsend Project—and there are many of you—will find no surprise there. But what you might not know is…
Jamie Miller
Features Jamie Miller …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead is a drummer’s dream gig, largely defined by tribal tom pounding, unexpected rhythmic devices, and a sense of drama unrivaled in modern rock. Judging from his previous…
What Do You Know About... Barry de Souza?
What Do You Know About…? Barry de Souza He was ubiquitous in British studios during the ’70s, a favorite of producers and artists for his elegance and efficiency—and occasionally for his ability to navigate some weird and wonderfully ambitious art-rock…
Joey Waronker
There’s nothing about the Los Angeles–based drummer/mixer/producer Joey Waronker that screams for attention, musically or otherwise. But check out this ridiculous track record: Tegan and Sara, Dwight Yoakam, Norah Jones, Danny Elfman, Thurston Moore, M83, Pink, Nelly Furtado, Doobie Brothers,…
Up & Coming: Justin Brown
He's made quite a name for himself on the NYC jazz scene—largely by absorbing the intricacies of styles well outside the idiom. Twenty-eight-year-old, Oakland-born Justin Brown plays jazz with a universality and maturity that have made him one of the…
Influences: Al Jackson Jr.
It’s almost unbearable. Otis Redding’s immortal recording of “Try a Little Tenderness??? sustains a nearly paralyzing groove tension, helping make it perhaps the quintessential record by the soul legend and a perennial entry on “greatest songs of all time??? lists.…
Clutch’s Jean-Paul Gaster
After initially coming together on the 2001 album Pure Rock Fury and again for the 2004 fan favorite Blast Tyrant, Clutch and producer Machine have joined forces once again on the Maryland-based band’s tenth studio album, Earth Rocker. TO READ…
Portraits: Pierre van der Linden
He’s a free-jazz drummer playing in a Dutch progressive rock band. He finds inspiration in the work of French philosophers and twentieth-century classical composers. And he’s probably the only drummer you’ve heard trade fours on an international rock hit made…
Carter Beauford
A full fifteen years after the Dave Matthews Band drummer’s last MD cover story, he and his mates remain as popular as ever. In that time, much has changed in Carter’s world—but much has not, including an unceasing dedication to…
Influences - Billy Higgins
The year was 1959, and in New York City, Ornette Coleman’s quartet was creating a bona fide controversy with its six-week run at the Five Spot. The music was rhythmically loose and had at its core a melodic and harmonic…
Brian Chippendale
Portraits Brian Chippendale by Hank Shteamer Pretty might not be what he’s aiming for. But when Lightning Bolt’s drummer sits behind the kit, people move, and they think. What more could you ask for?When you think of a drummer playing…
Zigaboo Modeliste
Zigaboo Modeliste Story by “Pistol” Pete Kaufmann Photos by Jay Blakesberg How is it that his drumming approach is so unusual yet so fully representative of the breadth of New Orleans’ remarkable rhythmic legacy? In his first-ever Modern Drummer cover…
