September 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 9
Articles in September 2017
Favorite Steve Smith Track?
Since the mid-’70s, Steve Smith’s drumming has enhanced a wide range of albums within the rock, jazz, and fusion genres. Classic hits, jazz-fusion escapades, and even Indian-influenced pursuits adorn the drummer’s discography with artists such as Journey, Jean-Luc Ponty, and…
On Topic: R&B Legend James Gadson
On Knowing When the Vibe Is Right It’s a feeling that comes over you. Everybody’s on the same wavelength. Before click tracks, the music really breathed. Pro Tools is cool, but it’s not as true as analog. On Starting Out…
Tesla’s Troy Luccketta
“Back in 1987, when I first signed with Tama, I wasn’t all that familiar with their drums,” says Troy Luccketta, who this year celebrates thirty years of touring with the veteran hard-rock band Tesla. “What Tama has done over the…
Oceans Ate Alaska’s Chris Turner
Since 2011, the British technical metalcore group Oceans Ate Alaska has been carving its way through the modern hardcore scene, driven by drummer, primary composer, and chops madman Chris Turner. After releasing two EPs in 2012, the group signed to…
Love Custom Drums - Brass, Copper, and Old Steel Snares
Versatile but unique shades of awesome at prices a working drummer can afford.
Your Voice
Each month, as we prepare content for the current issue of Modern Drummer, we post a drumming-related question at our online outlets, sort through responses from MD readers and social media followers, and print some of the answers in our…
Live and Learn: A Health Insurance Primer for Musicians
With all of the uncertainty surrounding how federal and state governments will be approaching health care law in the future, it’s tempting to throw up your hands and shout, Wake me up when the dust settles! Unfortunately, the vast majority…
Drums From Above
A photographer focuses on a way to shoot pro drummers that is certain to appeal to the Erector Set kid in all of us.
KHS L.A. Drum Day
KHS America, the parent company and distributor of Sonor drums, Mapex drums, and NFUZD electronics, hosted L.A. Drum Day this past April at Swing House Studios. The event was packed with clinics, performances, gear demos, giveaways, and one-day-only special deals.…
Skid Row’s Rob Hammersmith
As drummers, the idea of leaving home for a gig with just a few small items can be stressful. For most of us, the choices we make regarding gear are well-thought-out decisions based on research, experimentation, and experience. The idea…
10 Reasons to Love Bev Bevan
There likely weren’t many impassioned “Where’s Bev?” cries at the several dozen shows Electric Light Orchestra founder Jeff Lynne performed as “Jeff Lynne’s E.L.O.” during 2015 and 2016, and that’s understandable. Though longtime drummer Bev Bevan formed the Electric Light…
Eddie Fisher
Bands get cut loose from record labels all the time, but finding a new home is much easier when a group’s drummer thinks and plays like a record producer. The members of OneRepublic can vouch for that. Eddie Fisher was…
Barry “Frosty” Smith Passes, D’Addario Awards Six Grants, Roland Announces New Partnership and More
Barry “Frosty” Smith Passes Barry “Frosty” Smith died this past April 12. The drummer, known by many for his work with the popular soul-rock organist and singer Lee Michaels, worked in multiple genres since the late 1960s, and his devotees…
New Gear from Tama, AHEAD, OCDP, TRX, 101 Drums and more!
Tama Starclassic Bubinga Exotix Tigerwood Drumkits Starclassic Bubinga drumsets are now available with exotic wood finishes, Crimson Tigerwood Fade and Midnight Tigerwood Fade. The shells are made slightly thicker than those in the Starclassic Maple series to provide an aggressive…