My Drums
Music is Life
Music has been a part of my life from the ripe age of 3 when my father built a studio in our 2-car garage in Burke, VA. I accompanied my father for studio sessions, live shows, and his band rehearsals throughout the 1980's. I was raised in an analog environment that was predicated on authentic, talent-based creation where there was no auto-tune or other tools to mask your ability to produce on tape.
Throughout the years I have had the pleasure of playing with many talented musicians and explore many different genres. I would say Rock is hands down my favorite genre given it can be aggressive but yet melodic. During my time with Lexington Queen and Under the Flood I was most influenced by Taylor and Foo given the alignment of style and role.
Major Influencers: John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Carter Beauford, Phil Collins
In no particular order after Bonzo
Drum Covers
"The Bonzo Mod"
After playing DDrum acrylics on tour I was immediately drawn to how good they sounded, the projection and consistency.
Ludwig Vistalite Amber
24 Kick
14 Snare
13, 16, 18 Toms
Various Zildjian A, K, and EFX
My Story
The Beginning
1983-1988
Started playing drums at the age of 3 in my fathers home made studio in our 2-car garage in Burke, VA. While I am fairly certain hearing Led Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain made me pick up drumsticks I was definitely not good enough to play that song at the time so I played along to cassettes of the great 80s bands such as Genesis, The Police, GnR. Tagged along with my father who was always gigging or running sound for DC shows... Given that I started learning music through listening I have always learned by engaging directly with records.
We were an analog household through and through... knobs and tape were an everyday thing...
Grew up with a reel-to-reel tape studio in our 2-car garage... Pops was not happy when the industry started to shift towards digital... He caved eventually and bought a DAT machine...
Control room once it was complete with 16-track 1" Tascam and various other smaller formats...
We were an analog household through and through... knobs and tape were an everyday thing...
"Frankie"
The OG Frankenstein kit
comprised of random components
and missing most all resonant heads.
I want to say the heads were
hydraulic blue. Alot of In the Air Tonight played on this beast...
The Typical Years
1989-1996
What a terrible experience for my mother, sister, and neighbors!!
Looking like the odd man out as a 6th grader in Jazz Band. I was told many times Jazz Band is not for 6th graders...
Where I first landed when showing up on the first day of 6th grade. I was no longer happy with the division of labor concert drumming created...
What a terrible experience for my mother, sister, and neighbors!!
I was fortunate to have great instructors and go to public schools that had great funding for music programs. I always gravitated towards drum set whenever possible and was the first 6th grader to ever make jazz band at our middle school.
This is where I was exposed to jazz, funk and other traditional genres that taught me to listen and an instructor once told me that the space between the notes is the most important...
I began to gravitate more towards rock drummers that had good sonic tone and articulate playing. I remember the second Smells Like Teen Spirit came out and immediately having to learn the intro kick-off to the iconic song... This is also when I started to listen to a lot of Led Zeppelin. My mother took me to countless shows including Michael Jackson Thriller and GnR Use Your Illusion tours...
"The Rockstar"
The first acceptable kit I ever owned that had all required heads with drums and hardware all from the same manufacturer...
Cue Studios with Jim Ebert
Alston's Pub looking for a queue...
Alston's Pub
Cue Studios with Jim Ebert
Acceleration
1997-2002
Majahkamo - Judge - 2000
Majahkamo - Private Time - 2001
Majahkamo - Sad Conviction - 2001
"The Carter"
I saved my money for 3-4 years to order a yamaha kit custom from Japan. I will never get rid of this kit and to this day it continues to darken...
Throughout high school and into college there were not a lot of rock bands or musicians for that matter in the area where I lived in Central Virginia. It was mostly blue grass, country, song-writer, adult contemporary acts and I have always looked for the best musicians over all else. My first real band was Majahkamo which was comprised of a lifelong friend and other various super-talented musicians who have went on to have great careers playing for bands we idolized. It is important for growth that you make sure you aren't "the smartest person in the room" so I try to surround myself with the best musicians possible...
Majahkamo Live - Intro - 2000
Tonia Woods - Disappear - 1999
Stride
2003-2008
Lexington Queen - Take Me Away - 2006
Lexington Queen - Dark Cloud - 2006
Lexington Queen - Sick & Tired - 2006
Ross Copperman - Ordinary - 2004
After show hang...
HoB (Most Wanted Tour)
Promo Shot
After show hang...
Ross Copperman - Wake Me Up - 2004
Member of various bands that spanned rock, heavy rock, funk, reggae and pop genres. I have shared the stage and studio with many talented musicians both in my early years with regional grassroots town favorites or on national tour with multi-band rock bills. During this time I expanded my skillset to include singing background vocals. One of my favorite bands (definitely my wife's) I have been a part of was Lexington Queen which was about as close as I have come to drumming utopia despite the daily 8-hour writing sessions in a windowless Puddle of Mudd rehearsal studio. By 2008, I decided to take a break from the road and being a full-time member of a band.
"Clear Blue"
On tour I was introduced to acrylic from DDrums and was happy to give them a try. After all, John Bonham played acrylics...
Met the Mrs. (Rohrhofer)
My wife is amazing and has always supported my music from traveling to support or putting up with drum noise or me being on the west coast for prolonged periods of time.
Expand & Regroup
2009-2019
Wolftown - Southern Rock
Cutting some Wolftown tunes...
I love the dedication brotha!! I think he leant this to Axl or someone else who f'd themselves up...
Wolftown - Southern Rock
These years were spent playing drums for various acts and expanding my skills to include playing guitar, writing, and composing music. Being born a drummer and having rhythm as a basis allows you to easily expand to other instruments once you have the required dexterity. What I have found is there are 3 primary components to music: 1. Rhythm, 2. Patterns, 3. Space. Some of my favorite song writers and composers are Tom Petty, Dave Grohl, and Phil Collins. I was devastated when Tom died and still appreciate all the times I got to see him and all the others that have left us too soon...
"The Bonzo Mod"
After playing DDrum acrylics on tour I was immediately drawn to how good they sounded along with the projection and consistency.
More Tragedy: Another Drum King Lost
2022
As if things in the world weren't bad enough, the rock world suffered another astronomical blow with the passing of Taylor Hawkins, which is on par with Bonham and Moon deaths in terms of loss... Led Zeppelin, Rush, Queen, and The Who laid down the tracks that set the bar incredibly high for all of us. After the initial shock of Taylor's passing wore off I began to weave in some Foo to my repertoire as I always practice playing along to recordings or with live bands, the monotony of rudimentary practice does nothing for me artistically. Taylor's sound was huge on my new Ludwig Vistalite kit and the music started to manifest as I worked my way down the list...these are by far the most fun and challenging drum parts out there. The Foo Fighters are a band that remains true to rock authenticity - two and a half decades later they are still bringing it