After I talked to the three punk rock drummers for this month’s Punk Rock Drumming Roundtable, I was amazed at how great drummers know their drumming history. A while back I interviewed drummer Gene Hoglan and he gave me a history lesson on speed metal, double bass drumming, and blast beats. A few months later I interviewed Megadeth’s drummer Dirk Verbeuren and learned about the history of European Progressive metal and its drummers. Another of this month’s features, New Orleans’ Herlin Riley is a walking history book of New Orleans drumming. In fact, many of the best New Orleans drummers are versed in the drumming legacy of their hometown. I interviewed the great Smokey Johnson many years ago and we had fun talking about the history of all the New Orleans drumming that came before him. Some of my closest drum friends (Steve Smith, Daniel Glass, Kenny Washington, Jimmy Chamberlin, […]