Gregg Bissonette

About Gregg Bissonette

Gregg Bissonette—just a regular, down-to-earth guy who plays drums for the most celebrated musicians, directors, and producers of our time.

If you’ve ever wondered why people stand in long lines to meet Gregg, the answer is simple—it’s Gregg himself, and his love for and acceptance of everyone. His warm, easy-going manner is refreshing from a drummer that does the awesome gigs he does. More than that, it’s the way he teaches and the advice he gives. When he speaks, you can’t help but listen—it’s like he reads the questions on your mind and directs his answers right at you. You’ll always take away something that you hadn’t learned before—no matter how many other clinics by top names you’ve attended. Gregg Bissonette’s drumming expertise is legendary and he’s the professional that other professionals go to for advice.

Gregg has never forgotten the journey to where he is and how he got there. It’s for this reason that he’ll spend hours answering questions from inquisitive drummers at a clinic or a NAMM show. His appreciation for their loyalty, encouragement, and support is apparent, and his camaraderie and warm sense of humor comes across clearly whether he’s hanging with you after a performance, or recording or teaching at a drum clinic. His down-to-earth balance between professionalism, strong work ethic, and congeniality make him a wonderful teacher, colleague, session artist, and a much-respected name in the music industry.

A FAMILY MAN

Gregg is indebted to his family of talented musicians and is grateful for their influence and encouragement. A Detroit native, his father Bud was a drummer, mom Phyllis played piano and vibes, his brother Matt is a phenomenal bassist and producer who has touring and recording non-stop with the Elton John Band since 2012, and his sister Kathy is very musical and works in the Los Angeles concert promotion business. A very-present dad in the lives of his son, Noah, and his daughter, Mary, Gregg considers himself incredibly blessed by them and says he’s living his happiest life right now.

ENDORSEMENTS

Gregg is honored to endorse the following: Dixon Drums, Sabian Cymbals, DW Pedals, Remo Drum Heads, Vic Firth Drum Sticks, LP Percussion products, Direct Sound Headphones, Audix Mics, XL Specialty road cases, Beato Drum Bags, LT Lug Locks, and Sensaphonics In-Ear Monitors.

MUSICIANS GREGG HAS WORKED WITH

Ringo Starr And His All Starr Band
Maynard Ferguson’s Big Band
Gino Vannelli
Tania Maria
The David Lee Roth Band
Joe Satriani
Electric Light Orchestra
Santana
Andy Summers
Spinal Tap
Lou Rawls
Ray Charles
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Ryan Cabrera
Robert Downey Jr.
The Buddy Rich Big Band
Toto
The Mustard Seeds
Jason Becker
Duran Duran
Don Henley
Steve Lukather // Larry Carlton
Steve Vai
Rick Springfield
Robin Zander
Circus of Power
Glenn Hughes
Steve Bailey // Victor Wooten
Yarbrough & Peoples
Andrea Bocelli
Wolfmother

ALL ABOUT GREGG

The Detroit native comes from a family of talented musicians. Gregg’s dad Bud was a drummer and his mother Phyllis played piano and vibes. Gregg started playing on his dad’s drum kit from about the age of 5! His brother Matt is a bassist and producer, and their sister Kathy also lives and works in concert promotion in LA.

Gregg’s dad was his first teacher, and at age 10, Gregg started taking private rudimental snare drum lessons with Bob Yarborough, a local teacher in Warren, Michigan. By age 11, Bob had started Gregg on reading drum set music. At the same time, Gregg also started taking private trumpet lessons from Jim Ruffner. Proficient in both instruments, Gregg would trade off between drums and trumpet with the Warren Michigan Wildwood Elementary School Band, Beer Jr. High, and Mott High School.

At 14, Gregg and his brother Matt started a band called Today’s People, inspired by their junior high stage band/jazz band performances while at school under the direction of their teacher, expert drummer Jerry Hasspatcher. That same year, Gregg began taking drum set lessons from popular Detroit drummers Myron MacDonald and Mark Bertacchi.

At 15  years old, Gregg won a scholarship to attend the Interlochen School of Music summer band program in Michigan. By this time, both Gregg and Matt were performing professionally in and around Detroit with their dad’s band The Buddy Blair Band, a name their dad chose because he thought Bissonette was just too hard to remember! (Bud’s band when he was young was called Buddy Bissonette and His Bouncing Bulgarian Bean Band!)

Soon after, under the direction of Bill Baker, Gregg became the drummer of the Warren Mott High School Jazz band. With Bill’s recommendation, Gregg got to play with many professional groups in the area, including The Brookside Jazz Band, The Austin/Moro Band, and a progressive big band called Concertjazz. Gregg also played in a great Detroit local family singing group and band called the Sharette Family.

The following year, Gregg and Matt started Grand Circus Park, named after a park in downtown Detroit. This band featured their high school friends — Brian Biggs on guitar, Doug Burns on lead vocals, Sante Bologna on keyboards, Rick Kastruba on trumpet, Burt Snover on trombone, and Eric Kott on saxophone. Grand Circus Park started as a band that primarily played tunes by one of their favorite bands, Chicago (formerly Chicago Transit Authority). The band even had the same exact instrumentation! They originally named their group Chicago 2…but changed the name after realizing more creativity was needed.

After high school, Gregg left Detroit for North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). He became the drummer for the famed NTSU One O’Clock Big Band. Under the direction of Leon Breeden, Gregg recorded two albums with the One O’Clock Band, Lab 80 and Lab 81. He joined one of his favorite R&B bands in Dallas called The Buster Brown Band. He also was a member of the Dallas-based band Network with his brother Matt on bass and vocals and Paul Ventimiglia on keyboards and vocals.

In 1982, following his graduation from NTSU, Gregg made the move to Los Angeles. In his new home of LA, he made friends with three of his favorite drummers: Myron Grombacher from the Pat Benatar band, the late Mark Craney from Gino Vannelli’s band, and Doane Perry from Jethro Tull. They started a fun drummers club called The Woodland Hills Drum Club with friends Jay Rubin, Barry Schnider, Dean Zimmer, Tony Pia, and many others.

Gregg’s trumpet hero was always Maynard Ferguson and his dream was to play drums for Maynard’s band someday. This dream became a reality in 1982, when Gregg became the drummer for Maynard Ferguson’s Big Band. An added bonus for him was that the band already included his brother Matt on bass! The band toured the world and recorded a live CD called Live in San Francisco.

After the Maynard gig, Gregg joined The Brandon Fields Band and recorded The Other Side of the Story. The members on that CD included Brandon Fields, saxes, Walt Fowler, trumpet and keys, David Garfield, keyboards, John Pattitucci, bass, and Gregg on drums. Later that year, Gregg went on tour with Tania Maria’s Latin/jazz group with Luis Conte on percussion and John Pena on bass.

Gregg’s next gig was also with his brother Matt, playing with one of their heroes, Gino Vannelli. After their audition, the band became Gregg and Matt on drums and bass, Gino Vannelli on vocals, Joe Vannelli and Karen Childs on keyboards, and Mike Miller on guitar.

Gregg’s big break came in the summer of 1985, when David Lee Roth left Van Halen and started his own band. Gregg landed the gig playing drums, with Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Brett Tuggle on keys. The band recorded the albums Eat ‘Em & Smile and Skyscraper, both of which went multi-platinum. Gregg’s brother Matt joined the band for the Skyscraper tour and the next studio album, A Little Ain’t Enough. The videos for “Yankee Rose,” “Goin’ Crazy,” “Just like Paradise,” “Stand Up,” and “That’s Life” got plenty of airtime on MTV.

In 1989, Gregg had the great experience and honor to perform with The Buddy Rich Big Band on the Buddy Rich Memorial Scholarship Concert video. This video also featured Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, and Louie Bellson.

In 1992, Gregg and Matt recorded with Joe Satriani on his CD The Extremist, produced by one of Gregg’s favorite engineers/producers, Andy Johns, who also engineered lots of Led Zeppelin tunes. When Andy asked Gregg what he would like his drums to sound like, Gregg replied, “How about like ANY of the stuff you did with John Bonham?!” Andy quickly smiled and answered, “We can do that!” Gregg and Matt toured with Joe Satriani right after the release of “The Extremist,” and also did a live CD of that tour called “Time Machine.” Matt went on to record three other CDs with Joe Satriani and still tours with Joe when he can.

Gregg and Matt started their own band called The Mustard Seeds in 1993 with guitarists Doug Bossi and George Bernhardt. All four of the members wrote the songs together and sang lead vocals and harmonies. Gregg remembers this band as being a very creative and rewarding time musically. “There is something very special about being in your own band with your brother,” he says.

In 1995, Gregg did a European tour with the band Toto after Simon Phillips (Toto’s drummer since Jeff Porcaro’s unexpected death) asked Gregg to fill in for him for four months due to an injury. The tour led to lots of playing time with Steve Lukather, and a couple years later he worked with Steve on the album Luke, which included a tour of Europe and Japan. Gregg also played on the 2003 Lukather Christmas album SantaMental, featuring Steve, Gregg, Jeff Babko on keyboards, and John Pierce on bass. Gregg played trumpet as well, along with Walt Fowler on trumpet and Jeff Babko on trombone. Gregg also toured Japan and recorded the Grammy winning album Live in Osaka with Steve Lukather and Larry Carlton.

Gregg celebrated another milestone in 1998 — the birth of his wonderful son Noah. Later that year, he also had the chance to work with one of his longtime heroes, Don Henley, on Don’s album Inside Job. Don’s producer was Stan Lynch, the drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and one of Gregg’s best friends.

In 2000, Gregg had the honor of playing with Carlos Santana on the multi-Grammy winning CD Supernatural. This session came about because the producer originally called one of Gregg’s favorite drummers, Vinnie Colaiuta, to do the session, but Vinnie was unavailable and recommended Gregg.

In 2001 Gregg celebrated the birth of his second child, his wonderful daughter Mary. In the same year, Gregg and Matt worked with Jeff Lynne and ELO on their Zoom Tour Live DVD. Gregg and Matt had both been big fans of ELO and Jeff Lynne, who played with the Traveling Willberries, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and more.

Gregg has recorded and released three solo albums, Gregg Bissonette on Shrapnel Records (which includes a cover of one of Gregg’s favorite songs, “No Matter What” by Badfinger, with Gregg on vocals), and Submarine on Favored Nations Records, and Warning Will Robinson. All songs on all of these albums were written and produced by Matt Bissonette, featured on bass, vocals, trombone and cello. Gregg sings leads on both CDs, besides playing drums, trumpet, and percussion.

Gregg Bissonette features guest guitarists Steve Vai, Ty Tabor, Andy Summers, Paul Gilbert, Doug Bossi, George Bernhardt, Steve Lukather, Scott Henderson, Michael Thompson, and Mike Miller. Submarine features Joe Satriani, Frank Gambale, Steve Stevens, Tim Pierce, Steve Vai, Gary Hoey, Doug Bossi, Ritchie Kotzen, and the great piano player David Garfield. Warning Will Robinson features Matt Bissonette on bass, Doug Bossi, George Bernhardt, Dan Strain, Danny Jacob, Ron Cohen on guitar, and on keyboards Wally Minko and Ellis Hall (who also sang lead on the song “Let It Loose”).

From Maynard Ferguson, to multi-platinum recordings, to many world tours and playing on two Grammy award winning albums, Gregg has seen his musical dreams come true one by one. And in 2003, another dream became a reality when he and Matt were asked to tour with Ringo Starr in Ringo And The Roundheads to promote Ringo’s album Ringo Rama. Ringo has been Gregg’s drumming hero since his dad took him to see the Beatles live in 1966!

In addition to playing drums while Ringo fronted the band on the songs “Yellow Submarine,” “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “Photograph,” “It Don’t Come Easy,” and Ringo’s tribute to George Harrison, “Never Without You,” Gregg and Ringo also played double drums on Beatles hits like “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Boys.” Besides a great live concert in New York, they also played on the TV shows The Tonite Show with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brian, Good Morning America, Regis and Kelly, and Last Call with Carson Daly. Gregg also did a music video with Ringo for “Never Without You.”

Some of you might know Gregg as his alter ego, Skippy Skuffleton! Gregg has played with England’s loudest rock band, Spinal Tap, since he first toured with them in 2001. He also played with Tap at Live Earth 2007, and the Glastonbury Festival and Wembley Stadium in 2009. You can hear him on drums on the Back from the Dead album, released 2009.

Gregg got to tour again with Ringo, this time as an All Starr in Ringo’s All Starr band, for their 2008 and 2010 tours. Band members of the 2008 All-Starr tour were Colin Hay (from Men At Work), Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart (Average White Band), Edgar Winter, and Gary Wright. For the 2010 Tour, the band included Wally Palmar (The Romantics), Rick Derringer (The McCoys), Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, and Richard Page (Mister Mister). In July of the 2010 tour, Gregg was part of a birthday celebration when Paul McCartney surprised Ringo for Ringo’s 70th birthday in Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Gregg got to play the Beatles song “Birthday” with both Ringo and Paul, and a star-studded musical cast! In 2020, Gregg is celebrating his 12th year as the other drummer alongside his hero and friend, Ringo, in Ringo Starr And His All Starr Band.

Gregg’s definitive instructional DVD, Musical Drumming in Different Styles, was released by Hudson Music in 2005. It was shot at the Allaire studio in upstate NY, where Norah Jones and David Bowie had just recorded albums. Musical Drumming features eight band tracks from Gregg’s solo albums, in styles ranging from jazz, to funk, to Latin, to swing. Gregg has also released a DVD through Drum Channel called Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

With all his drumming accomplishments and accolades, to Gregg his son and daughter are his greatest attributes. A strong and committed family man, he loves spending time with his son and daughter. As a single dad, Gregg values his time with them and is an inspiration to other single dads trying to balance the challenges of a hectic musician’s life with raising a family.

Today, Gregg continues to record with and for many other artists, films, and TV shows. He is looking forward to touring with Ringo Starr And His All Star Band this year. He is very excited about his new drum school through Drum Channel, the Gregg Bissonette Drum School. He has been filming and preparing for this school over the last 10 years and is very excited that it is now a reality. Please visit drumchannel.com/gregg to sign up and learn from Gregg. Gregg is also looking forward to his new online band that he is producing at Caleb Chapman’s Sound House. It’s a first-of-its-kind, interactive musical education experience. To sign up, please visit ccsoundhouse.com/staff/gregg-bissonette.