Ed Breckenfeld was born and raised in Chicago and has lived and worked there all his life. He’s done it all, from devoting years of his life to a single band, to being the jack-of-all-trades hired gun, to being the first call for producers, artists and engineers for all kinds of session work. He is the author of “Off The Record,” a long-running transcription series for Modern Drummer Magazine in which he delved into many iconic drum parts across many genres. In addition to working with many loca...
Oct 05, 2016•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rob McNelley is an accomplished session guitarist in Nashville who has landed a string of high-profile gigs and awards including “Guitarist of the Year” from the Academy of Country Music in 2014. Rob’s father, Bobby Gene McNelley, was the lead singer of McGuffey Lane, a southern-rock band based out of Columbus in the 1980s. Rob spent much of his young life listening to his father’s band, and gradually picking up the guitar. Rob became a huge fan of the Rolling Stones, and an even bigger fan of t...
Sep 28, 2016•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lauren Kosty is a classically trained percussionist who has been upping her drumset game in recent years. She spent her entire life in L.A. until she moved to London in February of 2015, where she quickly won an open audition for the drumset/percussion chair with crossover artist Russell Watson. Watson combines operatic singing with various pop styles, making the gig the perfect culmination of Lauren’s many skills. She describes London as “maybe the best city in the world to be a musician in.” B...
Sep 21, 2016•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast On a historic night in the Winter of 2009, drummer Wes Little proved beyond any doubt that he is the nimble, adaptable, professional musician he wanted to be even before he left his small Southern home town. The occasion: the inaugural ball for newly elected President Barack Obama. The job: to back a jaw-dropping lineup of legendary talent, including Stevie Wonder, Sting, Mary J. Blige, Faith Hill and Beyonce. Through a wild variety of styles, arrangements and temperaments, Wes Little held down ...
Sep 14, 2016•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Darren Stanley is one of the Atlanta area’s most established and well-liked drummers. His main gig is touring with Colonel Bruce Hampton, who is described by Wikipedia as a Blues Surrealist. Before that, he was the longest standing drummer for Delta Moon, with whom he toured and recorded for eight years. He is the house drummer for bassist Kevin Scott’s Tuesday night jam session in Atlanta, which is known both locally and by national musicians touring through town as a bastion for experimental m...
Sep 07, 2016•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Memphis native, Marcus Finnie has toured and recorded several years with Grammy winner Kirk Whalum. He has also toured the world with Grammy winning artists such as Donna Summer, Larry Carlton, Earl Klugh, Lady Antebellum, Billy Preston, and BWB. Marcus is featured on KirkWhalum’s fourth volume of The Gospel According to Jazz. This project also features Rick Braun, Norman Brown, Sheléa and several other artists. Marcus also performed with Sinbad, Keiko Matsui, Marc Antoine, Chuck Wicks, Gerald...
Aug 31, 2016•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Duffy is an L.A. native, and has spent most of his career splitting his time between drumset and Latin percussion. He marched corps with Velvet Knights and Blue Devils and attended North Texas. He left school early to start gigging full time, first in Dallas then in Austin, where there was a lot of session work at the time. He moved to L.A. in 2002 where he has toured and recorded with a long list of rock, pop and salsa acts including OzoMatli and Poncho Sanchez. In this podcast, Michael...
Aug 24, 2016•1 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Originally from North Carolina, Al Wilson discovered his passion for drumming at the age of 18. Within a very short time, Al was learning “on the job” working as a full time drummer. While living in Colorado, this passion turned into a time of self-discovery and learning of all things drums and percussion. In an effort to find more work, Al eventually moved to Nashville and began working immediately. After a short stint with singer Josh Gracin from American idol, Al was recommended for the Taylo...
Aug 17, 2016•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Matt Hankle grew up in New Jersey, the son of a classical flautist and a jazz trombonist. His first professional experience was at age 17 when he spent a summer touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. After three semesters at the University of Miami, he re-joined the circus full-time for two years. He then settled down in New York where he worked on Broadway for over a decade, playing everything from Chicago to Mama Mia to Blue Man Group. In 2013, he moved to L.A. and hasn’t ...
Aug 10, 2016•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Peter Erskine has played the drums since the age of four and is known for his versatility and love of working in different musical contexts. He appears on over 600 albums and film scores, and has won two Grammy Awards, plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee School of Music (1992). Peter graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and studied at Indiana University under George Gaber. In 1972 Peter commenced his pro career playing with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Four years later, ...
Aug 03, 2016•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Todd Strait was into jazz from the very start and has played with some of its biggest names over his a 35-year career. After studying with Ed Soph and Joe Morello, he made New York his home base and built an impressive resume there which included Marian McPartland and Woody Herman. In the 1990s, he relocated to Kansas City where he became the drummer for Eldar as well as two of the most celebrated vocalists in jazz, Kevin Mahogany and five-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson. For the past decade,...
Jul 27, 2016•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zack Albetta grew up in Santa Fe, NM, where he began drum lessons at age 8. Music was the focus of his high school years and he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from Ball State University. In 2003, Zack entered graduate school at The University of Missouri-Kansas City and in four years, Zack earned Master’s degrees in Percussion Performance and Jazz & Studio Performance. While at UMKC, Zack’s primary mentor was alto sax legend and Grammy nominee Bobby Watson. Zack al...
Jul 20, 2016•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wes Anderson recently became the drummer for the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors, the military’s premier touring jazz ensemble. Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, Wes graduated from Arizona State University and marched drum corps with The Arizona Academy. In 2012, he landed a gig at Disneyland and moved to L.A. A few months after moving, he joined pianist Eric Reed‘s trio, with whom he continues to perform in his off-duty time. His on-duty time with the Jazz Ambassadors involves performances all over th...
Jul 13, 2016•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dave Harrison is a graduate of West Virginia University School of Music. He performed with the world famous Percussion ’90 under the direction of Phil Faini where he served as arranger and featured performer. Dave moved to Nashville in 1990 and started working in the studios. He joined the Edwin McCain Band in January 1996 and over the next 10 years, recorded 6 albums with the group, co-producing 2 of them. He played drums on the monster hit “I’ll Be”, which was in the top 40 for nearly a year, ...
Jul 06, 2016•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ryan Lee was born and raised in Kansas City, MO, and earned a bachelor’s degree in music from The Conservatory at The University of Missouri-Kansas City. New York, Nashville and LA are established as places from which to launch an international performing career, but Ryan has stayed in Kansas City and found many opportunities to perform around the world with artists including Jose James, Tony Tixier, and A Bu. He remains a fixture on the Kansas City scene, having established himself as a creativ...
Jun 29, 2016•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Scot Corey is a freelance drummer/percussionist who has performed as an ‘extra’ with the Nashville Symphony for over 17 years, including NSO’s Carnegie Hall Debut (2000), their Naxos recording of Piazzola’s Sinfonia Buenos Aires and their return to Carnegie Hall. He has served as adjunct percussion faculty at Trevecca Nazarene University since 2000 and is a founding member of the Matrix Percussion Trio which has provided free educational concerts to over 37,000 students in the greater Nashville ...
Jun 25, 2016•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast L.A.based drummer Jamey Tate has been solidly busy for almost 15 years. He studied under Peter Erskine as a grad student at USC and has put Erskine’s lessons, musical and otherwise, to good use since then. He has made a name for himself touring and recording with two of the biggest names in smooth jazz, David Benoit and Mindi Abair, as well as being in demand for studio work around LA on creative and commercial projects alike. In recent years, he has also taken on other musical roles as a produc...
Jun 15, 2016•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Establishing himself in Nashville as one of the top studio drummers, Eddie Bayers has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Vince Gill, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Bob Seger, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Uncle Kracker and the list goes on and on. Playing on hundreds of gold and platinum albums and numerous movie soundtracks, Eddie has received the Academy of Country Music Drummer of the Year Award 14 times (11 time...
Jun 08, 2016•1 hr 29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marlon Patton was born and raised in the Atlanta area, attended college down the road at The University of Georgia in Athens, then returned home to Atlanta where he has lived and worked ever since. He is a true genre-hopper, in terms of the many types of music he plays and the many types of work he does. Any given day could find him mixing a jazz record in his studio, tracking a rock record in someone else’s, playing a live show in one of Atlanta’s many venues, or out on the road as a hired gun....
Jun 01, 2016•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rick Malkin has made a career for himself by combining his passion for drumming and photography. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Rick learned photography at an early age from his father who was a full time photographer. At the age of 10, Rick discovered the drums and at the age of 14 he was already playing drums in musical theater. After meeting Eddie Bayers for a Modern Drummer cover shoot, Rick moved down to Nashville and worked as Eddie’s drum tech for 11 years. Along with his continuing work in ph...
May 25, 2016•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh Heffernan is the drummer for Dustbowl Revival, an eight-piece outfit based in LA. Their most recent album, With A Lampshade On is their biggest yet, and their touring schedule is keeping them busy all over North America and Europe, and most recently, China. Josh grew up in Seattle and got some of his first professional experience in an Army band before moving to LA. He attended the Los Angeles College of Music where he studied with Ralph Humphrey, and was a freelancer around LA until the Du...
May 18, 2016•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Troy Luccketta entered his musical career at 17, and by the time he was 23 he was touring with The Eric Martin Band (lead singer for Mr. Big), and found himself on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand.” For more than 30 years, he has been the drummer for the multi-platinum rock band Tesla, with whom he still tours with to this day. Troy started working with Marc Bonilla in 1991, and after playing drums on Marc’s first two solo records, the two continued to collaborate. As a result, the two formed th...
May 11, 2016•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Using ever-changing combinations of drumset and hand percussion, Colin Agnew has developed an earthy, organic signature sound that has made him indispensable to artists and producers of many stripes. He is the rare musician who can come up with creative ideas but use them judiciously in support of the music. Colin grew up in Savannah, GA, where he began studying classical percussion, piano and drumset in middle school. In high school and college, he got involved in several types of Latin music, ...
May 04, 2016•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ben Jackson is a Nashville based drummer/producer, primarily working in Nashville’s top studios, as well as touring with a wide variety of artists and songwriters in the country, pop and indie genres. A versatile musician, producer and engineer, Ben maintains a busy recording schedule, playing sessions in the studios of Music Row, as well as his own East End Studio. As a producer, Ben can be found working with singer/songwriters, indie artist, and up and coming country acts, as well as producing...
Apr 27, 2016•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Schnelle was born and raised in New York and came to LA to attend college at USC. While in school, he studied with an impressive succession of teachers; Ndugu Chancler, Aaron Serfaty, Peter Erskine and Terri Lyne Carrington, each of whom presented him with a boot camp of different concepts. After graduating, Dan stayed in LA where he has been one of the busiest drummers in town for over a decade. He has played with a host of world-renowned jazz artists, including Josh Nelson, Ambrose Akinmus...
Apr 20, 2016•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast John defines what it means to be a working drummer in Nashville Tennessee. Since his move to Nashville in 1993 from Connecticut, John has covered it all from international touring to studio work to maintaining a steady stream of work in Nashville’s lower broadway district. John’s early influences include Neil Smith, Nigel Ollsen, Jim Keltner, Hal Blaine, Billy Cobham, Bill Bruford and all the Motown drummers. Shortly after high school, John worked with a ten-piece band that played international ...
Apr 13, 2016•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast “My father’s side was musicians, my mother’s side was singers and preachers.” This sums up Charles LaMont Garner’s musical pedigree. The Charleston, SC native lives in Atlanta where he works as a drummer and producer when he’s not on tour with India Arie. Gospel music was his gateway to drums, and presented him with his first opportunity to play professionally at age 15. Since then, he has played with a wide swath of bands and artists, picking up life lessons from each colleague and experience a...
Apr 06, 2016•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Based in Columbus Ohio, drummer Reggie Jackson built a reputation from an early age as a powerful drummer who could cover many styles such as be-bop, latin, big band, fusion, pop and gospel. Over the last two decades Reggie expanded his reach beyond the Columbus scene through world wide tours with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dr John as well as the Grammy Award winner Diane Schuur. Throughout these tours, Reggie has performed in many legendary jazz clubs such as The Blue Note and can ...
Mar 30, 2016•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a freshman in high school, Kassandra Kocoshis was studying classical percussion in a collegiate program, and went on to DePaul University in Chicago to study with members of the Chicago Lyric Opera and Chicago Symphony. But while there, she got turned on to Chicago’s Flamenco scene, and became obsessed with hand percussion and world music. She pursued them further in graduate school at The California Arts Institute, and made a quick and smooth transition into a busy schedule of live and studi...
Mar 23, 2016•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Originally from Detroit, Jack White is best known for his work world wide with singer/songwriter Rick Springfield in 1976, 1980-84, and 1990-2002. In the 40 plus years that Jack has been playing drums, he has worked with many other artists including Mitch Ryder, Ike and Tina Turner, Sam The Sham, Rare Earth, Redbone, The Knack, Steppenwolf and Roger Miller just to name a few. At the age of sixteen, a few events would help Jack set a standard for how he would live his life and find success in mus...
Mar 16, 2016•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
