August 12, 2008
I was in LA for a while and left a couple of weeks ago.. after the earthquake. It lasted 15 seconds and I was wondering if this was going to be the big one..:) but it wasn’t.. phew..! I’ve been on the road with John Fogerty for the past two weeks. We had a crazy experience last week in Sturgis, South Dakota. We were going to be playing an outdoor concert and 100 mile an hour winds came in and sadly three people got struck by lightening, and the show was cancelled. After this short run with John I’m back doing sessions and other live gigs with some brilliant musicians. Then more Fogerty shows, drum clinics, sessions... and hopefully no more earthquakes and lightening storms!
Here's a pic taken before a Fogerty show last week..
August 10, 2008
I recently did a photo session at a fire station in California for Vic Firth drumsticks. I sometimes hang out with a friend of mine who is a fire chief and I've had the chance to go with the firefighters on some emergency calls. Here's a photo from the shoot.
July 27, 2008
I just did a drum clinic at Music Villa in Bozeman, Montana, one of the most beautiful places in the USA. Paul Decker, the store owner, had me fly in a day early to experience a short 2 1/2 hour trip down the Yellowstone River with an amazing guide, Duke.. Sometimes people will take an 8 hour trip down the river... The experience was awesome because being on the river makes you relax as the river carries you from point A to point B.. Here are a few pictures from the trip down the river and the clinic.
July 20, 2008
Hi everyone. Sorry it's taken so long for me to write a blog. I get so busy I forget to write one... but it's good to be too busy. : ) I was on tour with John Fogerty for 6 weeks through Europe and Scandinavia in May and June....now I’m back in the USA doing sessions and drum clinics along with some live shows at Club La Ve Lee and with John Fogerty.
Here are some pictures taken a while ago when I was recording a Jon Peter Lewis record. His cd is supposed to be released very soon.. Chris Garcia wrote and produced the cd. Great tunes and Jon sings his ass off. I’ve been recording in Nashville on Jake Owen’s new cd and also Jason Michael Carroll's new cd. I’ve also been doing some cool sessions in LA.
May 20, 2008
Hi everyone,
Since my last blog on April 20th I've been working nonstop.. : ) I flew from LA to Indiana and did a drum clinic at Muncie Music Center in Muncie, Indiana. Then I recorded a Jeremy Vogt cd at Pop Machine studios in Indianapolis for 2 days, and then flew to Toronto to perform with Jimmy DeGrasso and Antonio Sanchez at a clinic at Drummer's Choice. The next day I flew back to LA to rehearse and do a show with John Fogerty at StageCoach (Coachella) with the Eagles and a show in Santa Barbara. The next three days I worked with a new artist called TESS. The next day I flew to Reno to do a concert with John Fogerty and then a show in Konocti resort. The next day I flew to Nashville to record with Jason Michael Carroll. Killer tunes, killer musicians, killer studio (Sound Kitchen in Franklin, TN).. I then flew to LA to record a song for a heavy metal Xmas cd. I recorded John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)". Ronnie James Dio will be singing on it later. Then I flew to Indiana for 20 hours, then back to LA to record 6 songs for SHeDAISY at Henson Studios with the brilliant engineer Steve Churchyard, and now I'm doing more live shows with John Fogerty in Europe... It's alllllllll great and I'm loving life.... : )
Here are some pix from the clinic at Muncie Music Center..
April 20, 2008
Hi internet people...... Here's my latest update..... I worked nonstop from December 26 to March 9, doing mostly recording sessions in LA, and the Grammys with John Fogerty, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. On March 9th I flew to Nashville and recorded four killer songs on the new Jake Owen record at Sound Kitchen studios in Franklin, Tennessee. Then I flew to Houston and did the Houston Rodeo with John Fogerty on March 12. Then we did a 2 1/2 week tour through Australia and I did 2 drum clinics on days off, in Perth and Sydney. After that I flew back to LA, landed on March 31, and on April 1 and 3 I played with two different power trios at Club La Ve Lee in Studio City. Both were with Marco Mendoza and one night was with Phil X and another night with Rusty Anderson on guitar. Since then I've been doing sessions, some live shows with John Fogerty, some TV and I'm about to do drum clinics in Muncie, Indiana and Toronto, Canada. Then I have more recording sessions in Nashville and other cities, and more dates with John Fogerty. Then I head for Europe with Fogerty for a 5 week tour of Europe and Scandinavia.
PS Recently I was featured in Blender Magazine and was quoted as saying that I make $50,000 a day...:).... I WISH... : )
February 10, 2008
50th GRAMMYS
It was an honor to play at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, and especially
to be playing with some of the legends of rock and roll: John Fogerty,
Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. What was cool to me was that we
were playing live to air, not taped, no click, no backing tracks. Live!!!
The eight minute medley started with John Fogerty playing a song he
wrote 32 years ago for Creedence Clearwater Revival called "Comin'
Down the Road".. However he never recorded that song with CCR so
this might have been the first live performance of the song ever. We
played that for about a minute and a half, and then Jerry Lee Lewis
played one of his greatest hit songs of all time "Great Balls Of
Fire". After he finished we continued by playing a full chorus
of John's song Comin' Down the Road again, stopped, and then Little
Richard sang his most famous hit single "Good Golly Miss Molly".
The John Fogerty band was the band playing behind everyone. On the day
of the Grammy award show we did a run thru of the entire show from 10
AM to 2 PM and the show started at 5 PM west coast time. I did the red
carpet walk at 3:15 PM where you get interviewed on live and taped TV
shows like CBS, MTV, API etc. etc. while newspapers and magazines shoot
pictures of you. It was pretty exciting.. One of the most exciting things
about playing the Grammys is to look into the audience and see so many
well-known artists, actors, and people in the industry, and also knowing
that it's live all over the world.
February 9, 2008
At today's MusiCares Foundation signing during the Grammy Awards rehearsals
at the Staples Center in Los Angeles..
February 7, 2008
This week I did some recording with Walter
Trout in Los Angeles. Here are some photos from the sessions..
L to R: Producer John Porter, Hutch Hutchinson, me, Walter Trout, Sammy,
Eric - engineer
January 31, 2008
I just spent a few days recording percussion at Track Record in LA
with Ross Hogarth producing, for a new band called Ryanhood.
These guys both are amazing singers and their voices work well together.
Cool stuff. Here are some photos from the session.
with producer Ross Hogarth
January 26, 2008
Did any of you go to NAMM this year??? What a crazy beehive that show
is.. at least for me it always is. My busiest day was Saturday where
I signed autographs at the Tama, Zildjian, Vic Firth and Remo booths.
It was crazy as usual for me because NAMM is where I see hundreds of
people from all over the world from tours I have been on, sessions I
have done and drum clinics. It's crazy, insane but fun also.. I spend
so much time catching up with people I haven't seen in a long time,
or meeting new drummers, musicians and people I've never met before,
that I hardly get a chance to see all the cool gear. Besides NAMM and
the football playoffs of course (I am so bummed the Colts lost - didn't
expect that), I was at Henson studios recently recording a JR Richards
record (lead singer with Dishwalla) with Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction)
on bass and Rusty Anderson (Paul McCartney) on guitar. I also finished
a Jon Peter Lewis record and played 2 killer live shows with Marco Mendoza
at Club La Ve Lee in LA. Next session is a movie soundtrack and then
I will spend the day recording percussion on another CD (not sure the
name of the artist yet), then I will be recording drums on a CD for
a new artist, called Brent Lundy. After those sessions I will be performing
with John Fogerty on the Grammys on February 10th with Jerry Lee Lewis,
Fats Domino and Little Richard. These guys are all legends in rock n
roll. It's an honor to be back playing at the Grammys again, especially
with some of the legends who invented and created rock music. The last
time I played the Grammys was 2005 with Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone.
This year will be the Grammy's 50th anniversary, so it will be special..
OK, enjoy the Super Bowl!
with Danny Carey at the Vic Firth booth at NAMM
January 11, 2008
I just finished a few days of recording in LA with JR Richards.. here's
a photo from the studio..
January 5, 2008
Today I was a judge at the Guitar
Center Drum-Off competition in Los Angeles. Congratulations to the
winner, Donald Marple of Keyser, WV!
L to R: Trevor Lawrence Jr., John Tempesta, Ray Luzar, Thomas
Lang, Vinnie Appice, me,
Bermuda Schwartz, Joey Castillo, Eric Moore II (Drum Off winner 2003)
January 4, 2008
Happy 2008 to everyone.
I just finished recording with a killer new band called Like A Storm
for three days, 2 days after X-Mas.. Record should be out later this
year...
Here is a quick update for Jan. I will be recording with all kinds of
cool artists and bands. Plus I will be playing live at club called La
Ve Lee in Studio City, CA Jan. 15 and 16 with Marco Mendoza (bass and
vocals), Steve Wengart (keyboards), Soren Anderson (guitar) and special
NAMM guests...
Later that week I will be signing autographs for Tama at NAMM on Sat.
Jan. 19th from 12 noon to 1 PM, Vic Firth booth 2 -3 PM and Zildjian
booth at 3-5 PM that same day. More details about NAMM soon. Then back
to sessions. : ) More sessions and live gigs in Feb. see ya....
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