Working Drummer

Originally from upstate New York, Seth began playing drums at the age of three. By age nine, he was sitting in with local bands and even backing up his elementary school choir. He’s been in the Nashville music scene for 15 years and is currently the touring drummer for Keith Urban. Other artists Seth has worked for include Gary Allan, Joe Nichols, Phil Vassar, and Little Big Town. While with Little Big Town, Seth was given the opportunity to record on two records and work with producer Jay Joyce. When Seth isn’t on the road, he is in the studio recording and collaborating with some of Nashville’s top writers, musicians, and producers. In this episode, Seth talks about: Working with Keith Urban and how the gig came about Performing on “festival dates” Getting let go from a gig and seeing it as an opportunity Recording with Little Big Town and producer Jay Joyce Creating unique sounds in the studio through non-traditional means The influence of a musical family growing up Studying with George Lawrence Balancing

Justin Chesarek has lived in Atlanta for almost a decade, where he has played with various jazz artists including Gary Motley,Joe Gransden, and singer/songwriter Sam Burchfield. Justin also teaches at two area universities, Kennesaw State and Emory. He grew up near Pittsburgh which, despite its rustbelt identity, has always had a rich music scene and has recently evolved into a more cosmopolitan city. He stayed close to home for college, attending Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Grad school brought him to Atlanta in 2007 and he earned a master’s degree in jazz from Georgia State. His recent trip to Alaska, and finding ways to put yourself in a good headspace to perform, especially while on the road Creating jazz tunes with relatable titles and content The early influence of The Beatles, and the first jazz records he listened to His first performance experiences at age 12, sitting in with his teacher’s bands at bars on school nights Notable jazzers from Pittsburgh including Art Blakey, Roger Humphrie

Kyle Wilkerson is a well-versed and highly versatile drummer/percussion and film composer based out of Nashville, Tennessee. He has played/toured/recorded with many national artists and bands such as Maddie and Tae, Joshua Scott Jones (of Steel Magnolia), Kristen Kelly, Jillette Johnson, Michael Alvarado (of the duo US), Justin Adams, Logan Mize, Adam Sanders, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, The Lucky Few, North Carolina Dance Company, and many more. Kyle has toured all over the nation and has played the top music festivals in North America including Bonnaroo, CMAFest, and will appear in an upcoming episode of Bar Rescue on Spike TV. While home in Nashville, Kyle consistently works at the top live music venues and recording studios such as 3rd and Lindsley, 12th and Porter, Mercy Lounge, Darkhorse Studios, Blackbird Studios, Omni Sound, and Sound Emporium. In addition to recording and performing, Kyle also composes and scores for film and video for the Bofars Production Company based out of Columbia, South Carol

Rafael Pereira was born and raised in Sao Paolo, Brazil. As a kid he began playing piano, guitar and percussion, and along with his brother, fell in love with the traditional Samba and Choro music of Brazil. He first came to the U.S. as an exchange student in high school, and spent a year in Idaho. After he returned to Brazil, his father got a business opportunity in Atlanta and Rafa made the move with him. In addition to Atlanta’s Brazilian community of about 60,000, Rafael found immediate opportunities to play all sorts of gigs on drums and percussion. He played percussion alongside two of the city’s most famous local heroes, Sonny Emory and Lil’ John Roberts, which led to his name being thrown into the hat when Janel Monae was forming a new band in 2010. He’s been part of her team ever since, playing for multiple recordings and tours. He also stays active at home in Atlanta with multiple projects including The ATL Collective, a pool of Atlanta musicians that convenes once a month to perform a classic album

Brian Ferguson is a studio and live Musician/Drummer/Producer based in Austin, Texas. He began playing drums and percussion at the age of 10 and has never looked back. A consummate student of the instrument and it’s significance to American Music, Brian can be found touring, recording and producing a wide variety of acts. His deep knowledge of drumming and music allow him to contribute to any musical situation while inspiring the band to play their best. His light sense of humor and punctual professionalism make him an irreplaceable and key ingredient to a wide variety of musical projects. Brian has performed/recorded/toured with a wide variety of artists including but not limited to: Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Cory Morrow, Aaron Watson, Stoney Larue, Eleven Hundred Springs, Hudson Moore, Zane Williams, Adam Hood, Jason Eady, Rob Baird, Curtis Salgado, Mike Morgan and the Crawl, Carter Beckworth and Bubba Hernandez. Currently, Brian is drumming with Performing Artist/ Songwriter Cory Morrow, in

Adam Goodhue has been busy on the Atlanta scene for the last four years. Before that, he spent 16 years in San Francisco where he played just about every type of music it had to offer. Adam grew up in Massachusetts where he was the beneficiary of a small but active high school music program. By his late teens, he was hooked on two things; drumming and snowboarding. For short time, he thought competitive snowboarding might be his focus, but a knee injury made that impossible, and he realized that snowboarding was a fun hobby, but drumming was what he really wanted to do for the rest of his life. He was in a band with some friends who made plans to move to San Francisco. He took advantage of the “in” and moved there in 1996. Although the band didn’t last very long after that, Adam had already fallen in love with the city and began getting work with other groups. He also got some formal training for free, when the University of California at Berkeley was in need of a drummer for their jazz program. Adam was allo

There are drummers and there is Sarah Tomek. With the rumbling authority of a John Bonham and the razor precision of a Keith Carlock, she has become one of the most in demand drummers today. Currently playing for Steven Tyler, Gretchen Wilson and the fast rising Americana band Loving Mary, Sarah Tomek commands a front row seat in the new class of top tier musicians. Born and raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Sarah found herself behind the kit at an early age. Her father, Joe Tomek, a formidable drummer in the New York 70’s rock scene, inspired and shaped her natural talents. By her early teens, she was a club staple at world famous venues throughout NYC and NJ. By the time she was 20, she began making her name as a session player. Her precocious ability to play a multitude of genres with effortless pocket and feel made her the easy choice for many producers; recording for Maggie Rose, Glen Burtnik, Gedeon Luke, Lance Larson and Jon Bon Jovi, to name a few. Sarah has been featured in Modern Drummer magazine a

L.A. drummer Kevin Stevens recently completed two tours of Europe with David Brighton’s Space Oddity, a David Bowie tribute show. He is the drummer and bandleader for three groups (Rumproller Organ Trio, Brass Monkey Brass Band, and The Deep Cuts) under the umbrella of his company, Grits n’ Gravy Music. Kevin grew up in Denver, studied music at the University of Miami, cut his teeth as a pro on cruise ships and on the scene in San Francisco, and has lived in L.A. since 2003. He is also on the faculty at Musician’s Institute where he developed a 10-week course on the music, drumming, and drummers of New Orleans. In this podcast, Kevin talks about: First getting involved in Space Oddity ten years ago, being away from it for years, and being asked back three months before Bowie died. His process of learning the songs, making charts for himself, and incorporating the tracks he’s responsible for running. Instrumentation for the Oddity gig, on the road and at home The psychological game of sharing a drum chair, and

Kasey Todd is a professional drummer, percussionist, vocalist, and an all around musician and entertainer. Along with being a performer, he also has credits as a producer, arranger, and bandleader. Kasey grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and was involved in music at a very young age. His father is the Co-Owner and front man of 50’s and 60’s show band, The Van-Dells. This has allowed Kasey to be around the music business his whole life, gaining great first hand experiences into the industry. Kasey moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the fall of 2011, and is working as a full time touring and studio drummer. Before moving to Nashville, Kasey graduated from Otterbein University, in Columbus, Ohio, with a Bachelors Degree in Music with a focus in Jazz Studies. At Otterbein, Kasey studied all styles of music and spent a lot of time on drumset, vibraphone, orchestral and hand percussion. Kasey has toured the globe as bandleader with Canadian country artist Aaron Goodvin(Warner Bros.). The latest single ‘Woman In Love’ reach

Go-Go Ray has been a Kansas City fixture since he moved there in the early 90s. He grew up in Dallas where he played in every possible school ensemble from 4th grade on, and got his first professional experience in a local funk/R&B cover band. He studied music briefly at North Texas but was drawn to the rock, punk, and other music scenes that were happening outside of school. Mike Dillon‘s band Billy Goat needed a new drummer and the chair was offered to Go-Go, with the caveat that he had to move to Kansas City where the band was based. Go-Go made the move and hasn’t looked back, playing in a litany of groups including Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle, Karma, The Brody Buster Band, and most recently with blues guitarist and singer Samantha Fish. In 1992, he won the Guitar Center Drum Off and in 2010, won the Roland V-Drum Competition. He has also been an educator for 20 years, maintaining a steady roster of private students to whom he is known not as the drum teacher or the drum instructor, but The Drum Counselor.

Milton Sledge is a session drummer best known for a string of sessions in Muscle Shoals, Alabama as well as several albums with country super-star Garth Brooks. With Garth, Milton wrote and played drums on several key albums including the self-titled 1987 Capitol release, “No Fences,” “Ropin’ The Wind” and “The Chase.” Milton can be heard on many recordings including those of: John Anderson, Barbara Mandrell, Tracey Lawrence, Jo Dee Messina, Randy Travis, The Amazing Rhythmn Aces, Asleep at the Wheel, Mark Chesnutt, Paul Overstreet, Bryan White, Becky Hobbs, Crystal Gayle, Neal McCoy, Juice Newton, Eddie Rabbitt, The Statler Brothers, Gene Watson, Kathy Mattea, Emmylou Harris, George Jones, Alabama, Hal Ketchum, Shenendoah, Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, Chris LeDoux, Vince Gill, Toby Keith and Garth Brooks, just to name a few. As a songwriter, Milton has written for Pat Alger and Bruce Bouton along with Garth Brooks. Milton has played drums on over 30 number 1 singles and the albums that he has played on have

Evan Pazner is a native and life-long resident of New York City. For the last six years, he has been the touring drummer for Lee Fields & The Expressions, a truly old-school soul band. It’s not old school just because they got the right gear and the right sound, it’s old school because Lee Fields has been doing it for over four decades. Evan got into drums playing in bands with friends as a teenager, catching the tail end of a New York music scene in which some clubs allowed 15-year-olds to play there. After earning a liberal arts degree at NYU, he entered The New School for two years of intensive drum study with Jimmy Cobb, Joe Chambers, Billy Hart, Joey Baron, and others. Recently, when not traveling with Lee Fields, Evan has also been working on Broadway as a sub drummer for Cirque Du Soleil’s “Paramour.” In this podcast, Evan talks about: How he landed the gig with Lee Fields and what a straight-up soul band requires of the drummer, stylistically and technically How growing up in New York City shaped him

Since the age of three, Derrek C. Phillips has had a deep passion for music. From that time he has carved out an exciting musical career as a performer, educator, and composer While attending high school, Phillips played snare drum for the Concord Blue Devils drum and bugle corps from 1990-93. In 1998, he received his bachelor’s degree in jazz studies at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. He studied privately with Horace Arnold, Yoron Israel, John Riley and Tony Williams. As an educator, he has also worked with several school bands and drums corps as a percussion and marching instructor, jazz and drum set clinician, composer, marching drill designer, and private tutor. He is currently the presiding drum set and ensemble instructor at both Middle Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University. In the spring of 2014, Derek became the touring drummer for Hank Williams Jr. His drumming is featured on Vanessa Williams’ recording The Real Thing and Michael McDonald’s This Christmas. He has also worked

At the helm of The Equinox Orchestra are tenor saxophonist and bandleader Jeremy Davis, lead vocalist Clay Johnson, and trumpet player, musical director and tour manager Tommy Brinson. Their combined efforts have gotten the 11-piece group on the road for a 2 month, 18,000 mile U.S. tour, the most ambitious undertaking in the band’s 15-year history. The three talked with their drummer and Working Drummer Podcast co-host Zack Albetta about their individual roles, the drummer’s role, their perspective as leaders of a group and owners of an enterprise. Equinox began as a traditional 18-piece instrumental big band playing performing whenever and wherever they could, but has evolved into a multi-faceted group with line-ups ranging from three to 25 playing everything from restaurants and bars to theatre shows and private events. Jeremy and Clay have recently sought to use Equinox for philanthropic causes in addition to their regular for-profit gigs. In this podcast, the guys talk about The types of gigs Equinox has

Angie Lese always wanted to be a drummer since she could remember. Growing up in Fort Wayne Indiana, she took to music early and studied flute throughout high school. It wasn’t until her college years that Angie decided to follow her drumming passion, bought a kit and taught herself how to play. After graduating and starting a career in meteorology, Angie moved to Louisville Kentucky and heavily pursued music. She played for a Sony recording artist, several cover bands, and was a session drummer as well. Her main band, CatFight (original pop/punk rock), received a strong local and regional following along with the support from Little Heart Records of Louisville, KY. In 2013 they released a self titles EP – CatFight. While that was taking off, Angie was offered a promotion in her meteorology career that prompted a move to Nashville Tennessee in 2012. After immersing herself in the Nashville music scene, Angie joined forces with artist Leticia Wolf, fellow Catfight member Erica Sellers, and two other musicians

Jermal Watson is a native of New Orleans and like so many musicians there, got his musical start playing in church. Growing up in New Orleans, he explains, young musicians learn songs and styles by ear and by the time you’re grown, all of the city’s musical languages – the swing feel of Preservation Hall, the street beats of the brass bands, the funk of The Meters and The Neville Brothers – are languages you just know. As a young drummer, Jermal was brought along on the scene by two of its elder statesmen, Russell Batiste and Gerald French and for decades now, he has been among The Crescent City’s first-call drummers. His resume includes The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Eddie Roberts, and many more. For the past two years, he has also headed a percussion program at Encore Academy, in which almost 90 elementary school students participate. In this podcast, Jermal talks about: His elementary school percussion program Playing with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band Why learning songs by ear on the fly

Around The Kit with Joe Gansas For close to a year and a half, Joe Gansas has been hosting an online radio show focused on drummers and all things drums. This show is called Around The Kit. Joe digs deep into the life, career and background of each guest whether it’s a well known drummer like Kenny Aronoff or a lesser known drummer with important and relatable storys to tell. Joe has surrounded himself with a strong team that helps Joe create a thoughtful and consistent show week by week. A few highlights of Around The Kit include multiple guests every episode as well as tribute shows. Some of Joe’s guests include Simon Phillips, Dave Weckl and Cathy Rich. This show can be found www.aroundthekit.net. It airs 8-11:00pm eastern time every Sunday night In this episode, Joe talks about: His internet radio show – “Around The Kit” Drug addiction in our community Joe’s performance background and his influences The importance of listening The future of Around The Kit Asking important questions This episode is sponsor

Carter McLean has been a New Yorker for most of his adult life. From his home base in Brooklyn, he commands a multi-pronged career as the drummer for The Lion King on Broadway, playing regularly with 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, and running his own educational website, Four Hands Drumming. In this podcast, Carter talks about: His first experiences in NYC – working at Manny’s Music, driving 12 hours for a $100 gig, going to Jeff “Tain” Watts’ jam session. His typical day, which almost always includes one or two Lion King shows Fighting the complacency that comes from a steady paycheck His educational website, Four Hands Drumming, and how the focus is practical musical concepts that everyone can apply Basic gear and techniques drummers can use to improve the quality of their videos His approach to micing drums and how using fewer mics gives the drummer more control and more responsibility to self-mix Playing with Charlie Hunter Carter McLean endorses Dunnett/George H. Way drums, Istanbul Agop Cymbals, Vic

Russ Miller is internationally known as one of the top drummers of today. As a Multi-Platinum recording artist, he has played on multiple Grammy award winning recordings with combined sales of over 26 million copies. His musical versatility has led him to work with an incredible list of over 50 international artists from legends like Ray Charles, The Fifth Dimension, Natalie Cole, Tina Turner & Bobby Caldwell through modern stars, Nelly Furtado, The Psychedelic Furs, Hilary Duff, Steve Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Daniel Bedingfield and Meredith Brooks. As a star of the Los Angeles studio scene, the Modern Drummer Magazine Readers Poll has repeatedly voted Russ in the top 5 Studio Drummers in the world, including the 2015 Poll, where he was voted the #3 Session drummer. He has performed on more than 300 albums (including many #1 Billboard hits like Nelly Furtado’s “Whoa Nelly” and Hilary Duff’s “Metamorphosis”). Russ has also recorded for many T.V. shows and over 60 international movies (such

Yonrico Scott has been a fixture on the Atlanta scene and in Southern music in general for decades. He was born and raised in Detroit, where he began touring and recording as a teenager. His interest in percussion brought him to The University of Kentucky where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in classical music. After college, he moved to Atlanta and quickly felt like he was home. In the late 90’s he joined the band led by guitar prodigy Derek Trucks with whom he recorded several albums and toured extensively for a decade. He was also a member of Southern super group The Royal Southern Brotherhood, co-led by Devon Allman, Mike Zito and Cyril Neville. YonRico has just released Life of a Dreamer, his fifth album as a leader. In this Podcast, Yonrico talks about Recording “Life of a Dreamer” at ZAC Recording Studios in Atlanta with engineer Tony Terrabone Recognizing when a unique drum part is called for vs. something more obvious Playing congas and percussion in funk, R&B, and pop settings as opposed to Salsa, an