Working Drummer

Chad Cromwell is known as one of the most respected studio drummers in Nashville. Even before his move to Nashville, Chad had a strong history of live and recording experience with legends like Joe Walsh, Neil Young and Mark Knopfler. Chad Started recording and touring with Joe Walsh in 1986. In 1987 as well as collaborating with songwriter Neil Young that lead to several recordings and tours with Neil. Chad appears on Neil Young albums such as Freedom (1989), Prairie Wind (2005) Living with War (2006) and Chrome Dreams II (2007). He has also appeared in Heart of Gold, a documentary capturing the debut of Neil Young’s album, Prairie Wind.  Cromwell is also known for his contributions to Mark Knopfler’s solo albums Golden Heart (1996), Sailing to Philadelphia (2000), The Ragpicker’s Dream(2002) and Shangri-La (2004). He was also part of Knopfler’s band during the tours of his first solo albums. He has also worked with many other artists including Dave Stewart, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Lady Antebellum, Diana Kral

John Kizilarmut spent his formative years bouncing around the Midwest and Texas, eventually landed in Kansas City. He has become a first-call drummer, percussionist, vibraphonist and composer/arranger in KC’s vibrant music scene, playing with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, Hermon Mehari, and many more of the area’s world-class talents. He has also maintained teaching duties as an adjunct faculty member at multiple colleges. In this interview, John talks about: How his first year of college shaped his work ethic His lesser-known but masterful and influential mentors including Al Sergel, Kevin Bobo and Doug Auwarter (read an article on Doug here). His heavy focus on marimba and orchestral percussion in college, and how the college environment can blind musicians to the wider world of musical possibilities/opportunities. The deep understanding of jazz and swing held by Kansas City musicians and audiences. How Kansas City’s fierce pride in its rich musical history is balanced with its openness to all kinds of mu

Paul Griffith is a freelance drummer and writer based in Nashville, TN. As a musician, his unique, left-of-center style (the result of a New Orleans upbringing) has made him a first call for artists looking to add a laid back groove to their records and live performances. Combining the visceral, dance-oriented feel of New Orleans legends like Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste and Earl Palmer with the meticulous experimentation of session great Jim Keltner, Paul has found a home among some of the world’s most creative singer-songwriters, including Sheryl Crow, k. d. Lang, John Prine, Todd Snider, Cerys Mathews (Catatonia), Greg Brown and Jack Ingram. He has been recognized as “Best Hired Hand” by Nashville Scene magazine and was nominated for a Nashville Music Award in the drummer/percussionist category. In this podcast Paul talks about: Being a “Stylist” Caring about the gig but not worrying about it Dealing with your insecurities Dealing with peeks and valleys in the music business Managing expectations and diversi

Giuliano Mingucci was born in Brazil but has spent almost his entire life in Kansas City, MO. He started playing professionally in high school and since then has been a member of Kansas City’s most beloved bands including Bixby Lane, The Barclay Martin Ensemble, and David George & A Crooked Mile. He attended college at The University of Missouri-Kansas City, but chose to get a degree in audio engineering rather than music performance. He has since made a name for himself around the region as a go-to in either discipline, and sometimes both. In this podcast, Giuliano talks about: How the jazz of his hometown and the Brazilian music of his family heritage has shaped his playing Being the house drummer in a cabaret bar Playing in a band with broad stylistic influences Giving a producer musical control of an album How drum tuning, room acoustics and drum mic’ing should be connected Relying solely on drumming vs. having mulitple sources of income Click here for pictures

Jim Reilley is a songwriter and producer in Nashville. Jim was also the co-founder of the late-lamented folk-rock “gangstas”, The New Dylans. Along with songwriting partner Reese Campbell, The New Dylans toured the country for 9 years sharing stages with The Band, Townes Van Zandt, Shawn Colvin, The Fleshtones, Superdrag, Syd Straw, The Silos, Steve Forbert along with old pals 10,000 Maniacs. Reilley broke up The New Dylans and moved to Nashville in 1998, signing deal as a staff songwriter with Curb Publishing. In his 8 years at Curb, over 45 of Reilley’s songs were recorded by artists including Vince Gill, Hal Ketchum, Jack Ingram, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, Claudia Church, Joy Lynn White, Ronna Reeves, Cowboy Crush, Lisa Brokop, Ryan Tyler, Mustang Sally, Lauren Lucas, Susan Haynes, Amy Chappell and many others. In 2003, Reilley released his first solo album “The Return of Buddy Cruel” on Silent Planet Records. Reilley recorded a second solo album (“Thank God I’m A Contrary Boy”) in 2004 with Grammy-winner Robe

Matt Johnson is a native of Southern California, where he still lives, plays and teaches. He is the drummer for the Tony Guerrero Quintet, which is also the backing band for actress and singer Jane Lynch. He is the director of drumset studies at Fullerton College in Orange County, where he created the “Digital Drumset Lab”, the largest drumset classroom of its kind. In this interview, Matt talks about: Getting his professional start at Disneyland Playing multiple styles within one show Choosing the right gear for the gig Being an entertainer Developing and executing a specific vision for your projects Tailoring his teaching to a student’s goals How creating personal relationships leads to professional work Click here for pictures

Drummer Danny Young is my first interview of 2016. After an amazing 11 months on the road with the national tour of ‘Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You‘, Danny recently relocated back to Nashville where he has jumped into a variety of session work, and has also started working with a number of new and established artists in and out of town. Prior to ‘We Will Rock You’, Danny was the drummer and drum book composer on the new Broadway bound show, ‘The Nutty Professor’; working with Jerry Lewis, Rupert Holmes and the late, great Marvin Hamlish. He also toured on Green Day’s ‘American Idiot‘, Mel Brooks ‘Young Frankenstein the Musical’, with the 80’s hair band Nelson, country artist Katie Armiger, The Platters, Derryl Perry, has made back-line appearances on NBC’s SMASH!, was the debut drummer of ‘Chicago’ and ‘Hairspray on the worlds largest cruise ships Oasis and Allure of the Seas and has many drum students. Danny has also made one time appearances with Shania Twain, Liza Minnelli, Ann Hampton Callaway, Lorna Luft, The

Chuck Tilley has worked with many artists over the years including the great Felix Cavaliere from The Young Rascals, Richard Marx, Lee Greenwood and most recently the country super group Alabama as of five years ago. Chuck’s own band Six Wire, competed in a reality show called the next great American band back in 2007. The talent and the work ethic of the band was quickly recognized as an asset that the producers felt like they could use for future shows and projects. Some of these shows include “Nashville Star”, “Can You Duet”, “Next Superstar” as well as many live award shows. This is one of the many examples of Chuck’s experience as the drummer for a “house band”. Chuck also has a reoccurring role as the drummer for the character Rayna Jaymes played by actress Connie Britton in the hit TV series “Nashville”. Along with touring, Chuck rounds out his busy schedule by staying active in the Nashville recording scene. In this podcast, Chuck Tilley talks about: playing drums on live award shows working in house

Tavis McNabb is perhaps best known as a longtime member of the band Better Than Ezra, although he has performed session and touring work with many acts during his career. Prior to joining Better Than Ezra in January 1996, McNabb toured with acts such as Vigilantes of Love, Beggars, and seminal Oregon-based punk rock band The Wipers. In mid-2007, Travis became the full-time touring and recording drummer with Grammy-award winning Country/Bluegrass act Sugarland. After  Sugarland decided to go on hiatus in 2012, Travis continued to stay busy touring and recording with many artists including Kristian Bush, Big and Rich, Gavin DeGraw most recently up and coming country artist Frankie Ballard. Travis also runs his own home studio called Wood Hill Recording where he puts his years of recording and engineering experience to use. Travis is very comfortable in the studio and you can hear him on Jennifer Nettles‘ most recent single, “Sugar” that was produced by Dann Huff. In this podcast, Travis talks about: Watching Ji

Travis McNabb is perhaps best known as a longtime member of the band Better Than Ezra, although he has performed session and touring work with many acts during his career. Prior to joining Better Than Ezra in January 1996, McNabb toured with acts such as Vigilantes of Love, Beggars, and seminal Oregon-based punk rock band The Wipers. In mid-2007, Travis became the full-time touring and recording drummer with Grammy-award winning Country/Bluegrass act Sugarland. After  Sugarland decided to go on hiatus in 2012, Travis continued to stay busy touring and recording with many artists including Kristian Bush, Big and Rich, Gavin DeGraw most recently up and coming country artist Frankie Ballard. Travis also runs his own home studio called Wood Hill Recording where he puts his years of recording and engineering experience to use. Travis is very comfortable in the studio and you can hear him on Jennifer Nettles‘ most recent single, “Sugar” that was produced by Dann Huff. In this podcast, Travis talks about: Long uniqu

Pat McDonald is best known as the drummer the legendary Charlie Daniels and has been touring and recording with Charlie for over 16 years. With around a 105 dates a year and many Grand Ole Opry dates, Pat stays very busy with Charlie. When Pat moved to Nashville in 1997, he was at the forefront of a budding community of rock/fusion drummers that were showcasing their style and ability to “fuse” multiple styles in country music. Pat’s reputation as a monster drummer that brought this dynamic to the country world served him well in opening up many doors for him during his time in Nashville. Pat has worked with many artists including Tanya Tucker, Victor Wooten, Leon Russell, Reese Wynans, Jimmy Hall, Kip Winger, Jim Horn and many others. After attending Georgia Southern College, Pat attended Boston’s Berkley College of Music and while there studied with the legendary Gary Chaffee. Pat will be one of the performers at the Nashville Drummer’s Jam 7 at the Exit In in Nashville December 14th, 2015. This NDJ7 will b

Tucker Wilson is a true native of Nashville. Not only was he born and raised in the music city, both of his grandfathers were regular performers on the Grand Ole Opry and at 3 days old Tucker made his first visit to the Opry. With Ricky Skaggs as an uncle and relatives in legendary country vocal group, The Whites, Tucker was surrounded by music from the beginning. At 1 1/2 years old, his interest in drums was so evident that a year later, his parents bought him his first kit and he’s never looked back. In spite of his family ties to the music business, Tucker seeks success in the music business honestly and on his own. Just out of high school, Tucker found his first touring gig with a struggling Christian/Country band that lead to work with a renowned gospel singer Guy Penrod. These early experiences provided a wealth of experiences that gave Tucker the professional skills that has carried him on to the next phase of his young professional life. Most recently, Tucker has been the touring drummer with Mercury

Even though Mark Poiesz is still considered the “new guy” in the Nashville music scene, it hasn’t kept him from gaining significant ground in the business. In the first 12 months of moving to Nashville, Mark went from working with Chuck Wicks to Lindsey Ell and is currently the touring drummer for country singer Tyler Farr. When Mark made the move to Nashville in 2013 he quickly won the trust of a handful of people that became instrumental in Mark’s current success. This includes drummers Tom Hurst and Rich Redmond, guitarist Chris Nix and Jason Aldean’s band leader/bass player, Tully Kennedy. Before his move, Mark attended The University of Miami and in his final year he performed with the Grammy nominated Concert Jazz Band. After college, Mark’s time in south Florida was spent as a busy session and touring musician working with rockers Ghost of Gloria and touring with pop icon Jon Secada. The philosophy behind Mark’s high energy performance is tapping into the emotional pulse of the artist and personifying

Sean Fuller is best known as the drummer for the country pop duo Florida Georgia Line. This gig with FGL has been a great fit for the group and Sean as well. Sean is encouraged to express his style with FGL through his high energy playing as well as his massive Tommy Aldridge style kits. This complementary arrangement between artist and drummer helps to fulfill Sean’s desire to be much more than just a “sideman”. Originally from Evansville Indiana, Sean made the move to Nashville in 1997 in search of greater musical opportunities. Even though he had almost zero contacts in town, Sean learned how to use networking skills to establish himself within the music community. The time that he put into pounding the pavement and creating a vibe eventually lead to impressive and long lasting road gigs with Luke Bryan and Justin Moore. Most recently, Sean has started conducting drum clinics and it has become one of the ways Sean continues to find new ways of self expression. You can also, catch Sean December 14th at the

Dr Preston Wakefield is a well known chiropractor in Nashville and is known throughout the music community as the go to guy for sound advice as well as quick and noticeable results when musicians are suffering from injuries associated with being professional player. Although most of his patients are athletes, around 20% of Preston’s patients are musicians. Preston uses “Active Release Techniques” to help guitar players, bass players and drummers overcome repetitive stress injuries often associated with these instruments. It’s not uncommon for Dr Wakefield to pull out a pair of sticks and a practice pad and observe your technique in order to help diagnose your issues. Preston stresses the benefits of proper posture, stretching and warming up. Spend time with Dr Preston Wakefield and you’ll have a rudimentary understanding of things like “peripheral nerve entrapment”, “carpal tunnel” and “tendonitis”. He will teach you how recognize these issues and treat yourself so you can keep working. Click here for picture

William Ellis is an in-demand drummer based in Nashville, TN and for almost six years, has been the drummer for the country duo Montgomery Gentry. His extreme versatility within a myriad of styles has served him well whether touring or recording. Artists like Travis Tritt, Martina McBride, Hunter Hayes, and many others have relied on his drumming expertise and versatility. William was also involved with two band projects: Blue Merle and EMP Project. In doing so, he was able to compose, co-produce, perform in the studio, and tour extensively opening for such artists and festivals as Counting Crows, Train, Dave Matthews Band, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza, etc. William has become a regular part of the Nashville Drummer Jam and you can see him perform at the Nashville Drummer Jam 7 December 14th, 2015 at the Exit In in Nashville. Click here for pictures This interview was conducted September 23rd, 2015

Jeff Hartsough is the Executive Director of the Percussive Arts Society as well as the Rhythm Discovery Center in Indianapolis Indiana. Since it’s start in 1961, PAS has stayed true to its Mission to inspire, educate, and support percussionists and drummers throughout the world. PAS also maintains it’s Vision to be the global leader in percussion and drumming by providing unparalleled and interactive resources and experiences in percussion education, performance, and research. The museum and interactive displays at the Rhythm Discovery Center shows the Society’s commitment to the preservation of percussion history as well as it’s cultural significance throughout human history. November 11th – 14th in San Antonio Texas is the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention, (or PASIC). This four day event is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary and continues to be a major highlight of the organization. Artists from all areas of the percussion world will be participating in the many events throughout the c

David Parks is known as not only a versatile and in demand drummer, but has also grown his reputation as a creative visionary solely based on the success of the Nashville Drummer Jam and it’s growing popularity since it’s start in 2012. The Drummers Jam even caught the attention of Modern Drummer who featured a two page spread on the Jam. David is in the process of finalizing the details of the seventh installment of the Drummers Jam December 14th in Nashville Tennessee at The Exit In. David’s drumming experience began at the age of 13 and is highlighted by his work with Van-Dells and a nine year run most recently with the group Locash Cowboys. Since leaving Locash, David has redefined himself as a freelance player tackling many new gigs including his most recent work touring with Casey James as well as tracking percussion for Kings X drummer, Jerry Gaskill’s solo record. David’s love and passion for music and all things Drumming continues to drive him onto bigger and better things. This interview was conduct

Tom Hurst is known for so many projects that he is involved in that its hard to narrow it down to one that most would identify him with. The artists he’s worked with include The Backstreet Boys, Gary Allan, Wang Chung, Chuck Wicks, Tiffany, Joe Nichols, Sister Hazel, Peter Noon of Herman’s Hermits, James Otto and is currently touring with Tracy Lawrence. On the educational front Tom is a University of Florida graduate with a Bachelors of Arts in Music specializing in Ethnomusicology. Tom has taught at every level of music education. Tom is the co-founder/owner, and financial manager of Infinity Percussion, and Infinity 2, two independent youth arts competitive percussion performance ensembles with over 90 members combined annually. Throughout his career Tom has additionally undertaken multiple non-performance music business related endeavors including Tom Hurst Presents: Loud Jamz promotions company that includes a jam session at Douglas Corner the first monday of (almost) every month that features many of Na

After nine years working with Travis Tritt and making a name for himself, David has found a gig with The Oak Ridge Boys that has been the perfect fit for him and his family. David’s solid drumming abilities are a key component in maintaining the reputation that The Oak Ridge Boys have been known for for decades and the committed fans have come to expect. David embraces opportunities like this and has learned and grown from tough situations in the past that would have caused many to have given up. Despite his busy road schedule with “The Oaks”, David keeps a foot in the session world as well as the clinic world averaging 12 drum clinics a year throughout the country. At the age of 24, David’s drumming caught the ear of the legendary guitar player Les Dudeck that led to an opportunity for David to track drums on remaining songs that were left unfinished opposite drumming great Jeff Pocaro. This interview was conducted September 10th, 2015 Click here for pictures