Drummers
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.
Tommy Harden with Reba McEntire
Hi, fellow modern drummers! Life has been incredibly busy in Nashville lately, so I’ll try to give a short version of what’s going on in the “hamster wheel.” First, session work has been crazy! August was record month; I was…
Kurt Reil of the Grip Weeds
Greetings from New Jersey! I sing and play drums for the Grip Weeds, and last year we released the double CD Strange Change Machine. We’ve received many great reviews and notices for it, along with lots of back-slapping from our fans,…
Navene Koperweis and Animals as Leaders launch second in-the-studio video exclusively on moderndrummer.com (UPDATED).
The January 2012 issue of Modern Drummer magazine will feature an interview with Navene Koperweis, drummer of the progressive instrumental band Animals as Leaders. AAL is gearing up for the release of their Koperweis-produced second album, Weightless, which hits shelves…
John Robinson The Time Machine
DVD LEVEL: ALL $24.95 It’s been a good number of years since JR’s last instructional video, but this project is well worth the wait. Robinson is widely regarded as the world’s most recorded drummer, playing on records that have…
Gene Markiewicz
Hello, MD! It is a great honor to tell you that I will be inducted into the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Hall of Fame. I am truly humbled. There are so many people to thank, especially my mother. That’s right, mom!…
Nia Lovelis of Cherri Bomb
When I was really young my parents took me horseback riding, and the sound and feel of the rhythm got stuck in my head. It was then I knew I wanted to play drums. I come from a musical family:…
Rock & Jazz Clinic: Brush Workshop, Part 2 (VIDEO)
December 2011 Rock & Jazz Clinic Brush Workshop Part 2: Half-Circle Motion by Florian Alexandru-Zorn A goal of mine has been to play with brushes and think not in terms of patterns but in a more musical way, transferring all…
In the Studio: A Lesson in Sight-Reading (VIDEO)
December 2011 photo by Mike Monseur In The Studio A Lesson in Sight-Reading Fifty Big Band Arrangements in Four Days by Michael Dawson Army Blues drummer, and MD contributing writer, Steve Fidyk makes his living playing big band music, so sight-reading…
J.P. "Thunderbolt" Patterson: Punk Rock Renaissance Man
From copping Cozy Powell’s licks as a youngster in Afghanistan—where his father worked for the U.S. embassy—to carving out a dual career for himself in New York as both a drummer and an actor, it’s been a colorful life for…
Ian Paice: Influence
by Daniel Glass The first time I heard Ian Paice play the drums, I was a wide-eyed nine-year-old, just getting my musical sea legs under me. At the time, my best friend was three years my senior, and like an…
Tony Allen: Afrobeat Innovator
Tony Allen, who along with vocalist/activist Fela Kuti created one of groove music’s most glorious subgenres, Afrobeat, deserves a place on the list of the greatest funk drummers of all time. For more than forty years he has been honing…
Rick Steel
Hello, MD readers! It’s BooM (Rick Steel). I still remember the last time I spoke with Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi. After receiving a copy of his latest drum book at the time, I called to thank him. We talked…
Back Through The Stack: Bill Rieflin
by Jon Wurster “Honestly, I don’t remember, sorry to say,” replies R.E.M. drummer Bill Rieflin when asked what it felt like the first time he counted off the band’s smash hit “Losing My Religion” before a paying audience. “On those…
The Invisible Drums of Demian Kappenstein and Marc Bangert
Drummer Demian Kappenstein and scientist Marc Bangert, Ph.D., from Dresden, Germany, have developed an invisible drumset, fulfilling, they say, all the needs of a professional drummer. The set even features invisible foot switches that one can use to apply effects…
