NEWS
May 2018 - Pearl DrumS Endorsement !
I am super excited to announce that I have officially joined the PEARL DRUMS Family as an Artist/Endorser! It is a huge honour for me to become an official Pearl Artist! As a kid, so many of my drumming heroes played Pearl Drums and joining the Pearl Family is definitely a career highlight for me!
After playing and experimenting with drums made by many different drum manufacturers and craftsman over the years, I have found my home at Pearl Drums! I have been playing Pearl Drums and hardware for much of my career so far and I find the gear, the brand, the company and the people at Pearl to be top notch for all that I do. Pearl's dedication to their craftsmanship and innovation in making such fine instruments combined with their incredible hardware, percussion gear, electronic percussion and accessories seals the deal for me. A true full service drum company lead by industry professionals who genuinely love drums and drumming as well as the artists who use their products! A huge thank you to Peter Marunzak at Pearl Canada and Steve Armstrong for working with me to make this dream come true! I am grateful and excited for all that is to come!
APRIL 2018 - New! SUNSETSTRIP VIDEO TEASER!
07.30.17 NEW GIG!
I am excited to announce that I have joined Crazy Dave's Renegades as their new drummer!
Show dates and more info coming soon!
03.16.17 TnR Booty Shakers!
TnR Products - Booty Shakers
Booty Shakers and Little Booty Shakers are Drum Isolation Mounts & Air Suspension Mounts designed to prevent the loss of tone and resonance of our drums due to their contact with the floor and/or the hardware that they are mounted on allowing us to hear the true sound of our drums. These cool little devices eliminate the transfer of vibrations from your drums to the floor and or hardware that they sit on and absorb the shock resulting in better stick rebound and overall drum sound. They also help in increasing the volume and projection of your drums and prevent premature sound decay created by your drum and its contact with the floor and/or stands. Super cool stuff!
A big thank you to Rich and Toby at TnR Products for their incredible and innovative products, for their amazing support and for adding me to their roster of endorsing artists! Be sure to check them out! TNR PRODUCTS
Booty Shakers
Little Booty Shakers
Booty Shakers
09.19.16 Can Do Musos !
I am honored to announce that I have joined the Can-Do Musos Organization as an advisory board member!
Can Do Musos was established to promote and support musicians with disabilities from all over the world. The mission of Can Do Musos is to provide guidance and hope to all musicians with challenges. Music is empowering and has no limitations and everyone should have a chance at their dreams.
I am honoured and excited to join Dom Famularo, Andrew Hewitt and a number of great drummers in working together to support this great organization and to give everyone, no matter what their physical or psychological situation is, an opportunity to be a drummer! Be sure to stop by the Can-DO-Musos website and Facebook page to learn more about what we do! Check out the website: www.candomusos.com
09.12.16 New Host On Around The Kit Drum Talk Radio
Hey Drum Family!
I am super stoked to announce that I have officially signed on as a segment host on Around The Kit Drum Talk Radio with Joe Gansas ! My segment of the show is called "Behind The Kit"! The concept of "Behind The Kit" is to make the show even more interactive and to connect directly with the listeners in the drumming community and have them be an active part of the show. During the show, I will talk about and discuss all things drums and drumming and address questions, provide "how-tos", drumming tips and tricks, product reviews and much more!
If have any questions or would like more information on things like gear, theory, technique, drum education, tuning and/or getting a particular drum sound, drummers, improving in a certain area of your drumming or a topic that you would like more information on, you can be a part of the show, click here for more information: Behind The Kit!
I am super excited and honored to be a part of this great show and to work with Joe in connecting with drummers of all types from all over the globe!
Be sure to check out the show every Sunday night at 8pm Eastern Time!
04.09.16 Aquarian Drumheads New Artist
I am super excited and honored to announce that I have officially joined the incredible family of drummers at Aquarian Drumheads as an artist/endorser!
As drummers, our sound and personal gear choices are hugely important to us. What is equally important to me is having great relationships that go along with partnering with a company and/or brand. Aquarian offers it all!
Aquarian Drumheads provide me with the amazing sound purity, tone, attack, focus and durability that I look for in all musical situations. The variety of drumhead options that they offer, combined with the leading edge technology that they employ in their drumhead design makes playing Aquarian a no brainer.
A HUGE thank you to Chris Brady, the incredible Roy Burns and everyone at Aquarian for their talent, passion, innovation and love for the drumming community and for bringing me on board!
An equally BIG thanks goes to Nick Volpe and Canadian Drum Gear for all of their support in handling the Canadian sales and service for Aquarian Drumheads and a ton of other great drum products and brands! Nick's passion and commitment to drumming and the drumming community are second to none! Be sure to check them out for all of your percussion needs!
11.07.2015 DRUMTACS
Drumtacs are made of a patented polymer that doesn't "deaden" the drum or instrument that you use them on. Instead, Drumtacs actually control overtones and taper off undesired resonance, giving you a more focused sound and clear, defined tones. Sound technicians love the results that the Drumtacs produce for me both in the studio and in live situations.
Drumtacs can be used on both the batter and resonant heads of any drum, you can also use them on cymbals, cajons, cowbells/percussion instruments and on basically anything that vibrates to produce tones and sound. They are reusable and they keep your kit clean and sounding incredible!
Thanks to JC Clifford and everyone at Drumtacs for their support and their incredibly innovative products!
Check out their website:
11.16.14 PROLOGIX PERCUSSION PRACTICE PADS
Earlier this year I picked up a ProLogix "Black Out" practice pad and have been blown away by it's amazing design, feel and performance. I recently spoke with Jason Edwards, the founder and main man behind ProLogix, and I am truly impressed with the incredible craftmanship, attention to detail, innovation and the thought that Jason and ProLogix put into their products.
Jason is a professional drummer and educator himself so it makes perfect sense for someone with his knowledge, ability and background to invent and create practice pads and products that are designed by drummers with a true focus and perspective on drumming and drum education for drummers of all levels and genres.
I just ordered the ProLogix 12" "Blue Lightning" pad and the Russ Miller signature "All-N-One" pad which offers multiple playing surfaces for tons of hand work options and different scenarios. ProLogix makes a variety of practice pads to fit any drummer's needs and workout regimen.
I am truly excited to be a member of the ProLogix Family and I am looking forward to all that is to come and continuing to take my drumming skills to new levels with ProLogix. Check them out!
11.08.13 Official Vic Firth Endorser And Education Team Member!
I have been using Vic Firth Drumsticks, Brushes, Mallets, Stick Bags and Accessories throughout my drumming career to date, it is with great honor, gratitude and excitement to announce that I am now an official Vic Firth artist/endorser and a member of the Vic Firth Education Team! Being a part of the Vic Firth family and among so many incredible drummers and personal drumming heroes is truly amazing.
Drumming with various and diverse bands, artists, and in many musical situations, Vic Firth always affords me incredible options for whatever the situation calls for. As an educator, I have found that Vic Firth has the perfect products and resources for my students as well as for me as an instructor. I am currently using the following models:
- Buddy Rich Signature Sticks Nylon Tip
- Ralph Hardimon Jr Signature Sticks
- American Classic Metal Nylon Tip
- Live Wire Brushes
- Dreadlocks - Brushes
- GEN5 - Tim Genis Tonal Mallets
- VicKick Bass Drum Beaters
- Various accessories, pads, bags, and brushes as well as my own customs American Classic Hickory Sticks that the folks at Vic Firth make for their artists.
Vic Firth is a company that is dedicated to quality, innovation and education. Being as passionate as I am about drumming and education, I am truly looking forward to working with Vic Firth and the Vic Firth Education Team. Through our partnership, I am excited to contribute to Vic Firth's education endeavours and to contribute to new product development and in expanding our drums and drumming community!
I would like to thank Neil Larrivee and Joe Testa at Vic Firth for bringing me onboard and for their amazing support and assistance!
09.30.13 TUNE-BOT BY OVERTONE LABS
The Tune-bot is hands down the most innovative, resourceful and coolest drum tuning devices available to drummers, it affords me the ability to tune my drums to finite digital precision in any live or studio situation in a fraction of the time it previously took. Having the ability to experiment with various and new tuning options based on the proven science of the Tune-bot opens up a whole new world of sound possibilities for drummers. I am truly impressed with all of the great features that are packed into the Tune-bot, I especially love that it affords me the ability to have all of my perfect tuning settings saved for my whole kit and that they are so conveniently available and accessible, it's like having a drum tech in my stick bag at all times.
In addition to the Tune-bot being an incredible and valuable resource to me as a working drummer and instructor, I have found it to be an amazing learning tool for drummers. As an educator, I am frequently called upon to tune drums for drummers and I have found that there is much confusion and many misconceptions out there regarding proper drum tuning. The Tune-bot is the perfect source for drummers who are looking to train their ears and to learn how to effectively and precisely tune their drums. Whether you are an experienced professional or a budding rockstar, every drummer should have the knowledge and ability to ensure that their drums sound consistently spot on incredible night after night, with the Tune-bot that dream is now a reality. My drums have never sounded better, thanks Tune-bot!
I'm honored to join some of my favorite, amazingly talented drummers as a member of the Tune-bot family! I'm equally grateful to partner with the great people at Tune-bot as an artist and clinician and to represent such a great brand and company and to celebrate their innovations in technology!
Check out Tune-bot.com for amazing, detailed tuning information and to learn more about this incredible tuning device! You can also click on the images below to check out the tuning settings of some of the drummers that are using the Tune-bot!
Tune-Bot/Overtone Labs also has a free Tuning Calculator with tons of valuable tuning information available for iOS and Android users so be sure to grab yourself a download! Great things to come!
07.29.13 Check out Heartbeat Cymbals! Hand crafted, hand hammered Turkish Cymbals
All of the cymbals are made with the famous B20 combination of metals that have historically produced the best sounding cymbals on the planet. Hand made, hand hammered, these cymbals produce a musicality that is not often heard in today’s more common machine made cymbals.
Noel Walker and Chad David Bjorgan, the primary guys at Heartbeat Percussion, along with the rest of the Heartbeat staff are just incredible people to work with and to have as friends.
Heartbeat is a company that also focuses on building relationships with its customers. They consider their customers as part of the Heartbeat family, and aim to provide them with the excellent customer service that they deserve. They partner with their artists… we help each other in our life journeys.
Heartbeat Percussion cymbal products include:
Classic (traditional Turkish lathed series)
Custom (unique partially lathed, partially raw)
Studio (like the "Classic" Series but with a raw bell and a raw stripe on top)
Rock (brilliantly lathed and bright sounding)
Raw (polished unlathed, raw cymbal with brilliantly lathed bell)
Epic (lathed, warm, dark, mellow, washy)
Vintage (grey finished, mostly raw, vintage Turkish sound, dark and dirty)
Custom Rock (combine the formulas of the current "Custom" and "Rock" Series Cymbals to create a new hybrid sound and texture all their own)
I have been blessed to be a Heartbeat artist and family member for many years now and I am beyond thrilled with the company's amazing cymbals, quality, innovation, service and interest in their customers and artists! I currently use a mix of the Heartbeat Custom, Raw and Rock Series cymbals and they are beyond amazing, audibly stunning and visually gorgeous. Incredible and unique tonal qualities, body and characteristics of true hand made, hand hammered cymbals. Simply awesome!
Heartbeat Percussion is ALWAYS innovating and seeking out and creating new, innovative sounds and visions! Many of my drum students and drummer friends have started using Heartbeat Cymbals and we're all loving the amazing sounds we're getting!
Check out the images below of some of the amazing Heartbeat cymbals that I am using.Click here to visit Heartbeatpercussion.com to see and hear samples of all of the amazing cymbals that they offer or click on the image below to check out my Heartbeat set up. If you like what you see and hear, join the Heartbeat Family!
07.15.13 Carmichael Thrones and Seating
I have had to deal with unfortunate bouts of sciatica over the years, I was searching for a throne that would foster back, spine and leg wellness and provide comfort, playability, balance and durability. Playing drums, doing gigs, recording sessions and teaching lessons everyday for the last several years, I obviously need to take care of the mechanics of my body.
I came across Carmicheal Thrones last year and checked out their website and was blown away by what Danny Carmichael had developed for drummers and musicians. Danny's seemingly simple, logical, yet innovative "free floating spine" design is made to help drummers play properly and comfortably and not damage their bodies in the process. Amazing!
After researching Carmicheal Thrones and being encouraged by friends and fellow drummers that use Carmicheal thrones, I was encouraged to contact the company to get more information. I spoke with Danny, an amazing, talented guy and fellow drummer, and told him what I was dealing with physically and he had the solution, I was sold!
I'm proud and grateful to be able to own this amazing throne and to be a member of the Carmichael Family! Check out Carmichael thrones at http://carmichaelthrone.com" and see and feel the incredible difference and the benefits to your body that these thrones make!
Carmicheal seating isn't just for drummers, they also make numerous seat variations and models so if you work in a studio, at a desk or do anything where prolonged sitting is part of your gig, you have to check out what Danny and the Carmichael Drum Throne Company have to offer! You can get Carcmichael products direct from the company via their website!
Thanks Danny to you and your amazing company for your innovation and passion for making such great, quality health and wellness products!