
Anton Fig

With Kiss, his primary function is, and has always been, to support the band and to put on the best show possible.

Bill Stewart, Raymond Herrera, Claude Coleman, Jason Bonham, Clyde Stubblefield, Omar Gongora, Brian Frasier-Moore, Ray Yslas, Andy Narell, Zutty Singleton, Vinne Colaiuta, Anton Fig, Gerald Heyward

Anton Fig, Mike Cosgrove, Butch Vig, John Dolmayan, Danny Carey, Marko Djordjevic, Steve Di Stanislao, Paul English, Billy English, Asa-Chang, Mike Fasano, Chris Adler, Roy Porter, Chris Vrenna, Peter Erskine, Aaron Comess

John Otto, Tito Puente, Nasheet Waits, Dom Famularo, Anton Fig, Ed Blackwell, Tico Torres, Samantha Maloney, Pat Mastelotto, Billy Conway, Jerome Deupree, Eric Bobo, Lou Dog, William Goldsmith, Paul Leim, Russ Miller, Tony Royster Jr.

In this Issue: David Garibaldi, Fred Coury, Ralph Peterson, William Calhoun, Larrie Londin, Tony Williams, Joe Morello, Ed Shaughnessy, Anton Fig, Alex Acuna, Jonathan Mover

Anton Fig, Connie Kay, Jerry Kroon, Neil Peart, Elvin Jones, Billy Cobham, Susan Evans, Steve Jordan, Kenny Washington, Buddy Williams, Barrett Deems, Gary Wallis, Butch Miles, Steve Smith

Gregg Bissonette, Gary Husband, Woody Herman, Rod Morgenstein, Walter Keiser, Pedro Haldemann, Bryan Holmes, Anton Fig, Vinny Appice, Gina Schock

Carl Palmer, Derek Pellicci, Bill Goodwin, Charli Persip, Bobby Rosengarden, Anton Fig
Posted: February 3, 2023

2023 Jazz Fest Music Lineup Announced!
Dead & Company, Ed Sheeran, Lizzo, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Santana, Jon Batiste, Jill Scott, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Kane Brown, H.E.R., Steve Miller Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gary Clark Jr., Leon Bridges, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Plus Hundreds More! To Appear at the 2023 New Orleans …
Posted: October 3, 2022

MODERN DRUMMER & YURT ROCK ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP
Modern Drummer Magazine today announced an exclusive distribution partnership with Yurt Rock, a widely-recognized producer of loops, samples, and more featuring the world’s leading musicians. As part of this exciting collaboration, Yurt Rock will be releasing a series of custom drum libraries from Modern Drummer’s digital catalog. The first release planned will …
Posted: September 7, 2022

LAMB OF GOD Takes Fans Behind The Scenes Of New Album Omens
Watch the The Making Of: Omens Premiere Live Stream Event October 6 Omens Album Drops October 7 The Omens Tour Kicks Off September 9 Photo by Travis Shinn at Henson Studios LAMB OF GOD announces The Making Of: Omens, a short film documenting the recording of their forthcoming album. The documentary will premiere with …
Posted: December 11, 2020

Chemical Reactions – Album by Gavin Harrison & Antoine Fafard – Review – 12/11/20
Review by Rob Coen Chemical Reactions – Album by Gavin Harrison & Antoine Fafard Chemical Reactions – Released on Dec 11, 2020 – The latest Prog-Fusion meets orchestral music collaboration between Antoine Fafard and Gavin Harrison, UK virtuoso musicians. Add Jerry Goodman on acoustic and electric Violin, and the orchestral …
Posted: April 30, 2019

Producer Mark Hudson and Molly Tentarelli
The reason I’m here “On The Beat” is because I just finished producing a great singer/songwriter, Molly Tentarelli, and she has five of the greatest drummers in the biz on her record as well as one of the world’s best percussionists.
Posted: January 29, 2019

Anthony Citrinite of The Collective and MeetHook in On The Beat
Dear MD! My name is Anthony Citrinite and I have been lucky enough to play drums professionally for many years with a number of great bands including Boston, Coheed & Cambria, and currently with Embers Only.
Posted: May 17, 2018

On The Beat with Dan Needham of Michael McDonald: Talks Making Yourself Valuable
Hello fellow MD drummers! We recently returned from an amazing two-month American/European tour with the great Michael McDonald and I’m excited to be home with my family again.
Posted: August 10, 2017

On the Beat with Ralph Rolle of Chic: Passion and Persistence
Hello Modern Drummer family. One of the birthplaces of hip-hop, the Bronx River Houses, East 174th Street, Bronx, New York, is where I grew up. Why would I start an article with this? When I was eighteen years old and growing up in the projects, I dreamt of being on …
Posted: March 31, 2017
Anton Fig On Tour With Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band
From 1986 to 2015, few drummers were more visible than Anton Fig. You could find him on network TV practically every weeknight backing the World’s Most Dangerous Band—later rechristened the CBS Orchestra—on David Letterman’s former NBC and CBS late-night programs.
Posted: February 19, 2016
A Different View: Gary Clark Jr.
Gary Clark Jr. By Frank Maddocks by Will Romano The last time I talked with Gary Clark Jr., it was over a decade ago and he was fitting a harp into a harmonica rack at Antone’s blues club, in Austin, Texas, where I was doing research. Gary was quiet …
Posted: November 2, 2015
Dom Famularo’s Teachers List
Over the course of his forty-year career traveling the globe to teach, perform, and conduct clinics, Dom Famularo has interacted with some of the finest drummers and drum instructors in the world. The following list contains many of those names, organized by country/continent. If you’re looking for top-notch drum instruction, …
Posted: October 14, 2015
Evan Burrows of Wand on 1,000 Days
The Los Angeles–based group Wand, featuring drummer Evan Burrows, singer and guitarist Cory Hanson, and bassist Lee Landy, are among the most prolific of the current crop of galaxy-gazing garage-rockers, producing three full-lengths in just over a year. Burrows makes the most out of the group’s ambitious music-world view, muscularly …
Posted: June 30, 2015
VIDEO LESSON! Samba Independence Tips With Jazz Great Antonio Sanchez
In this short video lesson, supplied by Drum Guru and Hudson Music, August 2015 cover artist, Antonio Sanchez, shares his favorite exercise for developing complete creative freedom with the left hand in a Brazilian samba style….
Posted: February 4, 2015
Modern Drummer Education Team Weighs In On: Learning Other Styles
We asked the members of the Modern Drummer Education Team if they felt that it’s important for all drummers to study Latin music and other musical genres, even if they don’t intend to ever perform those styles. Here’s what they had to say….
Posted: December 31, 2014
Album Review: Anton Times Two
A pair of recent recordings, Eric Johnson and Mike Stern’s Eclectic and Joe Bonamassa’s Different Shades of Blue, reveal what Late Show drummer Anton Fig is up to when he’s away from the TV cameras—namely, making some famous guitar slingers very, very happy.
Posted: December 8, 2014
Drummer Blog: Big Something’s Ben Vinograd on the Real-World Education of the Road
I graduated with a music degree from Catawba College, and before that took drum lessons in MD where I grew up. When I turned twenty-one, I began touring with Big Something. From that point on my conventional education ended, and my real-world education began….
Posted: August 14, 2013
Anton Fig Signs With Evans and PureSound
Longtime Late Show With David Letterman drummer Anton Fig recently joined the artist rosters for Evans drumheads and PureSound accessories. Fig has appeared on the nightly CBS program since 1986, and during this tenure he has played with dozens of renowned artists, including Miles Davis, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Steve …
Posted: August 12, 2013
Patrick Wheeler of the Wheeler Brothers
My name is Patrick Wheeler, and I play drums in a little family affair called Wheeler Brothers. We just released our sophomore album, Gold Boots Glitter….
Posted: January 23, 2012
Jan Web Update News
Ringo Starr’s seventeenth solo studio record, Ringo 2012, will be released on January 31 in the United States and January 30 internationally. The album, which was produced by Starr, was recorded in L.A. and mixed in England by Ringo and Bruce Sugar. For more, visit www.ringostarr.com. Kenny Aronoff is still …
Posted: December 9, 2011
National Music Workshop’s 2012 Pat Metheny Summer Music Workshop
For intermediate and advanced jazz musicians, all instruments (limited enrollment) — Event to be held August 20-24, 2012, The Spa at Norwich Inn, Norwich, CT– The National Music Workshop is proud to announce the 2012 Pat Metheny Summer Music Workshop. World-renowned guitarist, composer and bandleader Pat Metheny will return to …
Posted: November 22, 2011
Paul Motian: Embracing The Past, Forging the Future
An interview with post-bop master Paul Motian, which ran in the April 2005 issue of Modern Drummer magazine.
Posted: November 22, 2011
November Web Update News
Drumming news for the month of November complied in one place.
Posted: October 31, 2011
Freddie Gruber
Right up until his passing on October 11, Freddie Gruber was a source of deep and important knowledge for many top drummers.
Posted: July 1, 2011
MD Readers Poll 2011 Results
Welcome once again to the MD Readers Poll, where the greatest drummers on the planet are honored by the most educated drum fans around. Let’s get right to it: the envelope, please….
Posted: May 2, 2011
Danny Seraphine: Update
by Bob GirouardIt seems that since Danny Seraphine made a comeback of sorts of the 2006 Modern Drummer Festival, he’s kicked the current phase of his drumming career into high gear, appearing at events like Drummers for Jesus, the 2009 Chicago Drum Show, and a Terry Kath tribute, and making …
Posted: April 29, 2010
Jason Hartless – Crüe Fest Veteran And More
Hey everyone in Modern Drummer land! My name is Jason Hartless, and I come from The Motor City. I am fifteen years old and have been a drummer for all of my life. I have been fortunate enough to, by the age of fourteen, have already toured or performed with …
Posted: October 20, 2009
A Different View: Paul Shaffer
The longtime Letterman bandleader and keyboardist chats with MD about some of his favorite drummers.
Posted: October 20, 2009
Drumming On TV
In celebration of the great, sometimes groundbreaking drumming performances of TV’s golden age, we present to you highlights along the illustrious Drumming On TV timeline…
Posted: February 19, 2009
J.J. Johnson: John Mayer’s Right-Hand Rhythm Man Brings A Jazzer’s Ear To Big-Beat Rock
Among today’s pop stars, John Mayer is unique. Despite his fame and frequent appearances in the tabloids, a deeper listen reveals that the singer/songwriter/guitarist is a real musician. If he hadn’t have been lucky enough to be picked up by a record label and thrust in front of the public …
Posted: May 29, 2008
Seven Antonopoulos
We've been out with Filter and Ours for about four days now. It feels so good to be back out on the road again after almost two years off. (continue reading)
Posted: April 10, 2008
Tony Nesbitt-Larking with The Most Serene Republic
With our new CD, Population, hot off the press, and with the backing of Yaris and Arts & Crafts, we hit the road last October for a two-month mega-tour across Canada and the US.
Posted: January 16, 2008
Best Of ’07
I’m convinced that, ten years from now, we’re going to look back at 2007 as an unusually fertile time in music and in drumming.
Posted: December 15, 2007
Antonio Sanchez
Best known for his multi-timbral, multi-textural, orchestral jazz drumming with The Pat Metheny Group, Antonio Sanchez spreads his solo sticks wide for his debut as a leader, Migration….
Posted: May 12, 2004
Anton Fig
For the past four years, Anton Fig has been hard at work conceiving and creating his first solo effort, Figments. Thanks to a bank loan (so he could record a good portion of it at home with Pro Tools) and his consistent work on The Late Show With David Letterman, …
Posted: January 5, 2023

Holiday Special
A special Holiday episode of “Live From My Drum Room” with John’s old friends dropping by to spread some Holiday Cheer! Steve Gadd, David Garibaldi, Jack Bruno, Eddie Tuduri, Steve Smith, Todd Sucherman, Jeff Hamilton, Gregg Bissonette, Anton Fig, Joe Franco, Dave Mattacks, Rob Wallis and Robyn Flans all stopped …
Posted: September 15, 2022

Episode 88: Live From My Drum Room Remembering Charlie Watts – Part 4
Part 4 of John DeChristopher’s series Remembering Charlie Watts. John’s guests were Jim Keltner, Vinnie Colaiuta, Charley Drayton, Pete Thomas, Anton Fig and Aaron Comess. They shared some beautiful stories about Charlie and even turned to Ringo, as drummers often do. Hold on to your hats because this is one …