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.
C&C Custom Drums - Maple/Gum Series
A timeless classic shell formula tailor-made for the stage or studio C&C Custom Drums is a custom drum shop based in Gladstone, Missouri. Despite claiming to be a small company, they boast an impressive and growing roster of endorsees from…
Ed Shaughnessy
For those fortunate enough to have grown up somewhere between 1965 and 1991, whose parents allowed them to stay up until 11:30 at least to hear the famous downbeat to Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, drummer Ed Shaughnessy had to have…
Van Halen’s Alex Van Halen
For over forty-five years, Alex Van Halen’s brilliant, forceful, grooving, and melodic drumming has been the driving force behind one of the truly great rock bands that ever existed. His bash has graced so many classic Van Halen radio staples,…
Jeff Porcaro
It’s About Time Initially, we were scheduling a short review of long-time MD contributor Robyn Flans’ book on Jeff Porcaro, It’s About Time: Jeff Porcaro, The Man and His Music. Then, we thought about it for a second. This is…
Remembering Scott Asheton
The Stooges’ Punk Rock Pioneer The Stooges first burst onto the national stage roaring out of Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1969 with a cutting-edge and revolutionary debut album, and the music world has not been the same since. At the…
Fred Armisen
The Multitasking Marvel ofLate Night with Seth Meyers If Fred Armisen was “just” the band leader, drummer, and former guitarist of The 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers, it would be a pretty monumental accomplishment. But Armisen is…
Eric Leiderman
Late Night with Seth Meyers Producer Puts Drums Up Front Why is the TV producer from Late Night with Seth Meyers featured on the cover of Modern Drummer, you ask? Eric Leiderman was a drummer first, and he has been…
David “Pick” Withers
Conjuring Mood Grooves with Dire Straits Called “the biggest British rock band of the ‘80s” by Classic Rock magazine—and with sales of more than 100 million albums and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018—the story…
Matt Chamberlain
Changing Things Up with Bob Dylan After joining Bob Dylan’s band in 2019, and playing on his latest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, Matt Chamberlain was supposed to be spending much of 2020 on the road with the legendary singer-songwriter.…
“Rocking with a Radio King”
Calgary teen isn’t precious about gigging with his 1960 Slingerland kit. Taylor Miles is just 15 years old, but he has already earned veteran status with his band, Exit Division. The Calgary, Alberta, alternate-rock group has played tons of gigs…
Who Are the Hippest Drummers to Watch in 2021?
It looks like Daru Jones is the right answer. — Sam Brewer Ruy Adrián Lopez-Nussa is definitely a drummer to watch. He and his piano-playing brother have blended Cuban music with jazz improvisation and the dynamic compositional elements of orchestral…
Give the Drummer Some!
Hi, everyone! Welcome to the April 2021 issue of MD. I was hoping by the time I would be writing this editorial we’d be back to some sort of normalcy. Unfortunately, such is not the case yet. Fortunately, day-by-day, it’s…
Trixon: Reborn!
This vintage white marine pearl Trixon kit comes to us from Chicago-based reader Jim Murray, who explains that the set was custom-built for him by superior craftsman Bain Creasy, of Huntington, WV, who has been restoring drums for over fifty…
CRITIQUE
RECORDINGS Oz Noy Snapdragon The exploratory guitarist and composer calls upon three drumming legends to cultivate this colorful crop of groovy, multicultural material. This smorgasbord of styles and sounds on Oz Noy’s Snapdragon—jazz, R&B, funk, rock, Latin, boogaloo—provides a bounty…
