Arjuna Contreras is a drummer/ percussionist based out of Dallas, TX with plans to relocate to Nashville, TN in the fall of 2018. He possesses the uncanny ability to sound equally at home in a wide variety of musical styles including Jazz, Country, R&B, Latin, Rock, and even “Nuclear Polka”! Arjuna is often noted for the energy, soul, and excitement he brings to music both as a performer and an educator. As a performer, Arjuna’s experience is vast. He currently records and tours with the Reveren...
Jun 28, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Atlanta-based drummer and studio musician Brian Hudson has performed, toured and recorded a diverse mix of music for various artists for the past 20 years. Hudson grew up in Clearwater, Florida. After high school, he attended The University of South Florida School of Music and later transferred to the University of Georgia and the music town of Athens, Georgia, which provided him with a rich diversity of music opportunities. In 2000 Hudson moved to Atlanta, Georgia and immediately started playin...
Jun 21, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Harry Miree is a drummer currently based in Nashville, TN and is the drummer for Ryan Follese of Hot Chelle Rae. Harry will touring the summer of 2018 with Warner Brothers artist Troy Cartwright and indie rock band, Sons Of Bill. Harry has built a very entertaining YouTube channel where he covers many topics like The True Life of a Side Musician, Open Handed Techniques, alternatives to playing a Cajon and many other useful videos. Currently, Harry has close to 60,000 subscribers. Harry was a fou...
Jun 14, 2018•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Drummer/percussionist Adam Bowman has been a mainstay in both the Canadian and international music scenes for nearly two decades. As a touring musician, Adam has been heard on stages across five continents with artists such as Juno-award winners Kellylee Evans and Carlos Morgan, Canadian independent music trail blazer Ember Swift, improvising guru VINX and country-folk songstress Dawn Langstroth, among many others. In the studio, Adam has become the drummer of choice for producers and songwriter...
Jun 07, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Billy Ward is a Grammy awarded drummer, music educator, recording engineer and producer. Just a few of the people Billy’s Recorded and/or toured with include B. B. King, Robbie Robertson, Carly Simon, Richard Marx, The Knack, Yoko Ono, Joan Osborne, Ace Frehley, Glen Cambell, Art Garfunkel, David Crosby & Jimmy Webb just to name a few. Billy has recorded on more than 50 sound tracks for feature films including a musician’s favorite – That Thing You Do! , where Billy taught actor Tom Everett Scot...
May 31, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brandon Goodwin has lived and worked in Montreal for 12 years. His group, B’s Bees, for which he serves triple duty as drummer, bandleader, and composer, recently released two albums: Dear Charlie, a tribute to the great jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and Kanata, a musical exploration of the history and identity of their home country of Canada. The group is currently touring Canada and the U.S. on the back of these releases. Brandon grew up in Armstrong, CA, and chose Montreal as the base of operat...
May 24, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Originally from Dallas, Texas, Aaron Comess is an extremely versatile drummer with a wide range of influences and playing experiences including his ongoing work as a founding member of the Grammy-nominated funk-rock band Spin Doctors with a total of 10 million albums sold and over 1500 live shows under their belt and all four original members intact. 2018 marked their 30th year. Aaron has also spent a decade-plus in the touring band of Joan Osborne. In 2017, Aaron appeared on new releases by Joa...
May 17, 2018•2 hr 35 min•Transcript available on Metacast From Santa Clara, Cuba, Dafnis Prieto’s revolutionary drumming techniques and compositions have had a powerful impact on the Latin and Jazz music scene, nationally and internationally. He is the leader of several groups including the Dafnis Prieto Sextet, The Proverb Trio, Si O Si Quartet, and the Dafnis Prieto Big Band, which just released an album of Prieto’s compositions entitled Back to the Sunset. He is also the author of the book A World of Rhythmic Possibilities. Various awards include a ...
May 10, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Christian Paschall is a drummer, producer, engineer and mixer originally from Atlanta, GA, now based in Nashville, TN. With over 14 years of professional experience Christian has shared the stage and studio with such artists as Maren Morris, Kristian Bush (of Sugarland), Kelsea Ballerini, Alicia Keys, Amos Lee and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chris Tomlin, and David Crowder among many others. Today Christian tours full time with Maren Morris as her drummer and musical director in addition to ...
May 03, 2018•2 hr 44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Bob Knight lives in London where he commands somewhat of a dual career, both as an in-demand drummer and a music agent or “fixer,” matching musicians with bands or artists who need backing. He graduated from the jazz program at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London and has gone on to work with some of the biggest names in pop music including Sting, Cee-Lo Green, Charlotte Church, and Jennifer Hudson. His company, BEK Music, has provided musicians for a huge variety of acts from Andrea...
Apr 26, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Born in South Louisiana, Tracy was influenced by a musical “jambalaya” of Cajun, Zydeco, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Funk and Country. His whole family played music and at an early age, Tracy was sneaking into his brothers’ rehearsals and gigs. At the age of ten, he was sitting in with local bands. Tracy was a member of the marching, symphonic and concert bands at Acadiana High School in Scott, Louisiana, and was also a District Honor Band member. In his sophomore year at the University of Southwestern Lo...
Apr 18, 2018•2 hr 35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kevin Winard has toured and recorded with singer Steve Tyrell for 12 years. Over his career, he’s gained a wealth of experience with a wide variety of gigs including Debbie Boone, Paul Anka, and Doc Severinsen. When he was just twenty years old he began backing up one of the most successful pop duos in musical history—The Captain & Tennille, touring and recording with them for over ten years. In the summer of 1988, Kevin traveled the United States with the pop group Times Two opening for Debbie ...
Apr 12, 2018•2 hr 43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Richard Scott approaches drumming with intentionality; always conscious of how his sound fits into the big picture and filling space in ways that help make every song the fullest realization of itself. He has spent over a decade on the Nashville scene touring and recording with Matt Maher, Francesca Battistelli, Brandon Heath, Mac Powell, and many others. Richard has recorded in many of Nashville’s most well known rooms, and has more recently been tracking in his own home studio. For countless h...
Apr 05, 2018•2 hr 52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Peter Erskine is – well, you know who the hell Peter Erskine is. We were thrilled to have Matthew Crouse interview him for the first time on WDP in the summer of 2016, and even more thrilled when Peter graciously suggested doing a “volume 2” with co-host Zack Albetta. Peter’s latest endeavors include a new live record with The Dr. Um Band (releasing April 6th) and a new book, The Drummer’s Lifeline, a compilation of tips and tricks for the working drummer. In this episode, Peter talks about: Why...
Mar 29, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Transcript available on Metacast At the age of 7, Rob Mount started studying percussion at The Hochstein School of Music in his hometown of Rochester, NY. During his high school years Rob studied percussion at The Eastman School of Music, and continued his music education at Nazareth College. Through all of these years, Rob participated in various concert bands and percussion ensembles. While Rob is schooled in percussion, he is entirely self taught on the drumset. Throughout the ‘90’s and 2000’s Rob was in high demand recordin...
Mar 22, 2018•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Brian Stephens is a drummer, audio engineer, producer, and studio owner who has spent most of his career in Atlanta. He has had most of the jobs a person can have in the music business and recently added “product developer” to the list. He’s always looking for gaps in the market and in the musical conversations being had, and thinking of ways to constructively fill them. What began as a project to design a pair of good-sounding but affordable in-ear monitors for himself turned into his new busin...
Mar 14, 2018•2 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Terence Clark is a Memphis based drummer, producer and overall creative. Known for his impeccable and soulful performances, his professionalism and discipline of craft, Terence has traveled the world building relationships with and through music. As Terence finds inspiration in his travels and engaging other cultures, he always lends inspiration with his unique brand of performance, solid groove and musical knowledge and excellence. It’s always been more than “just about the music”, to Terence; ...
Mar 08, 2018•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Johnny Rabb became a household name in the drumming community as a product developer and clinician. For years, he worked the clinic and convention circuit to great success, but he missed actually being in a band and playing shows. In 2012, a chance meeting at NAMM with Collective Soul‘s Will Turpin led to Johnny becoming the band’s new drummer, and he still tours and records with them today. In this podcast, Johnny talks about: Being a hired gun vs. being “the new guy” in a band vs. being a full...
Feb 28, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast South Louisiana native Doug Belote grew up in Cajun country, immersed in the sounds of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, Cajun, zydeco, Dixieland, gospel, Latin and New Orleans second line rhythms. He began playing the drums at age 12 and worked in clubs and at recording sessions while still in high school. After just a semester at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he sold everything he owned including his drums and hit the road for The Drummers Collective in New York City, where he studied with Ri...
Feb 21, 2018•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lemuel Hayes is the drummer for B52s founding member Cindy Wilson’s solo project. Originally from Gainesville, GA, he didn’t set his sights on a music career until age 22, after a few years as a mechanical engineering major at Georgia Tech. After playing and teaching around Gainesville, Atlanta, and Athens for a couple years, he decided to move to Nashville. But he then began to think LA would be a better fit and made plans to relocate. Weeks before he was supposed to move, a broken arm not only...
Feb 14, 2018•2 hr 47 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Nick Ruffini, host and creator of The Drummers Resource sit down with Zack Albetta and Matt Crouse, the hosts of Working Drummer to catch up from last year’s episode. The idea behind this round table came from the fact that all three of us were going through major life changes that effected our music careers in one way or another. We decided to check back in close to a year later and discuss some of the many things that have transpired over that time. In this episode Nick, Zack,...
Feb 08, 2018•2 hr 49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rodd Bland was born and raised in Memphis, the son of Bobby “Blue” Bland and the godson of B.B. King. He began playing drums at age 3, and learning at the feet of legendary drummers like Tony Coleman, and Jabo Starks. The time soon came for Rodd to move into the drum chair for his dad’s band, and he remained for much of his career, until Bobby Bland’s death in 2013. Since then, Rodd has remained active with Memphis-based artists such as Rev. Shawn Amos, Brimstone Jones, and Otis Clay. In this po...
Jan 31, 2018•2 hr 35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elton Charles is a Guyanese drummer/engineer based in Nashville. Originally from New Jersey, he started playing drums at the early age of five. Elton worked on learning the instrument over the years and, combined with a natural tenacity for playing, was accepted to study at Berklee college of music. After moving to Nashville in 2012, Elton’s experience has been a blur of touring, recording, and building his musical relationships within the music community. When not supporting up and coming artis...
Jan 24, 2018•2 hr 32 min•Transcript available on Metacast For almost 20 years, Seth Hendershot has lived in the college town of Athens, GA. He has played in a variety of original and cover bands and for eight years has owned and operated Hendershot’s. What started as a simple coffee house has since become a beloved bar, restaurant, and live music venue. For a city its size, Athens boasts a vibrant and influential music scene, with a place in the origin stories of many bands including R.E.M., The B-52’s, and Drive-By Truckers. Seth’s current playing act...
Jan 17, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Matt Johnson has played on some of the most critically acclaimed records in almost everyone’s collections. He’s also performed on some of the more memorable tours from the early 90s on. From recording the seminal cult-creating album Grace with Jeff Buckley in 1993 at age 22, he’s worked with a wide spectrum of artists over the past two decades including Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Elysian Fields, Australia’s Angus and Julia Stone, Beth Orton, Keren Ann, Duncan Sheik, and the beloved St....
Jan 10, 2018•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the exception of a few high school years, Justin Boyd has spent his entire life in Chicago. From the beginning of his career, he thought it important to be open to all of Chicago’s musical scenes instead of choosing one and staying in it. As a result, his experience there has been incredibly diverse. He disregarded the invisible barrier between North Side and South Side, and has managed to float smoothly between the many different genres and circles the city has to offer. He also put himsel...
Jan 03, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rob Hammersmith’s musical journey began at an early age in a small town outside of Buffalo, NY. After a brief detour to California, Rob settled in Atlanta, GA, where his drumming quickly gained attention in the rock underground. Rob spent many years touring and recording with Atlanta rockers “Rockets to Ruin” and toured with “Gunfire 76” featuring “Murderdolls” frontman Wednesday 13. Rob also maintains a busy schedule of recording and working with many different bands and artists throughout the ...
Dec 28, 2017•2 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ganesh Giri Jaya was born in New Orleans, moved to Atlanta at age 16, spent his early 20’s in L.A. and Portland, and ultimately returned to Atlanta where he has remained for the past 25 years. His career has usually found him drumming and/or singing in cover and tribute bands of various types. He was one of the original members of Yacht Rock Revue and for the past few years has been the singer, drummer, and leader of its overflow band, Yacht Rock Schooner. Those bands and a few others are under ...
Dec 20, 2017•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Luis Espaillat is a multi-faceted bassist and musician whose career has spanned many genres and taken him around the world. His unique sound can be heard in all forms of media from shows on network television such as Smallville and King Of The Hill, major motion pictures including S.W.A.T. and American Wedding and even video games including Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Project Gotham Racing. In the studio, Luis has recorded with country legends like Michael Martin Murphey to the Billboard T...
Dec 13, 2017•2 hr 33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ganesh Giri Jaya was born in New Orleans, moved to Atlanta at age 16, spent his early 20’s in L.A. and Portland, and ultimately returned to Atlanta where he has remained for the past 25 years. His career has usually found him drumming and/or singing in cover and tribute bands of various types. He was one of the original members of Yacht Rock Revue and for the past few years has been the singer, drummer, and leader of its overflow band, Yacht Rock Schooner. Those bands and a few others are under ...
Dec 06, 2017•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
