Happy 36th Anniversary to Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS... the book that changed Batman and comics forever.

Here's the picture previously used for my Bio page... an homage to the original DKR cover.

Paulie Carrizzo was one of the absolute best in the industry and I mean as a person and drum tech for Todd Sucherman (and many others) throughout his long career. 

I was shocked to hear about his passing today and immediately thought about the absolute immense loss that his friends, family, and the Styx camp must be feeling... Paulie had a larger than life presence. ​

I’m an analytics nerd so I’m doing a Top 9 even though I haven’t seen another one posted yet… #WhattaRebel

Drums & Batman…?!? what a shock😏
No spammy Top 9 apps were used… all natural and organic legwork for the stats for me thank you very much.

You play as a drummer moving to a new town in this game. You play through levels of poorly attended cajon gigs as you undercut fellow new drummers in price while searching for the key to unlock drumset abilities.

Level up by complimenting vocalists and MDs until they bring you into their circles or banish you for not knowing their personal bossa arrangement of "American Pie". Watch out for hurdles including backstage deli trays, gross hotels, and drunk patrons dancing too close to your kit.

​While each gig has a different layout, gameplay is extremely repetitive as you spend a lot of time gaining experience to play huge shows only to then perform the same small collection of songs over and over and over again because the audience demands it.

Here's the full artwork...

I've always been a fan of the classic Atari 2600 painted covers and this is an homage to those...

Here's Mal Evans with his tambourine from The Beatles GET BACK documentary... this takes place before the 'Instant Karma' video.

FINALLY... my first theater show in over a year!! Here are some highlights from my recent trip to Arkansas with the fellas in Shawn Gerhard's Ultimate Garth Brooks Experience. 

Promoting my crappy site as I complain about others who are doing the same thing... 

I've never had the pleasure of meeting Larnell Lewis but I've been a fan of his for quite some time. His latest Drumeo video features him hearing and playing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" having never done either before. Hats off to Drumeo for showing something that is rarely seen in a video... the drummer listening and absorbing an entire track right before having to play it. It's a situation that most musicians have found themselves in whether listening down to a demo in the studio or having someone adding a song before going on stage... it can be scary if you haven't worked on those muscles. 

 Today marks my 25th year working for the leader in drums and percussion, Pearl Corporation. A LOT has happened during that time and I couldn't begin to cover it all in a single post (it would make a great book though) but here are a few thoughts. Growing up in TX, I would listen to albums while pouring over drum catalogs and listing out my massive imaginary kit. It was a thrill to see the latest models, finishes, configurations, hardware, technology, and which artists would be featured. Because of my affiliation with Pearl, I'm part of the team that brings the latest and greatest gear to drummers all over the world and I've had the privilege of working closely with some of the drummers I grew up listening to... and meeting a ton of new incredible players along the way. Thanks to the long list of people who are and have been a part of the Pearl crew over the years... you guys are the best!
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In celebration, I got a wrap job on one of my kits in preparation for when live performances are a regular thing again. It's a 2012 prototype kit so there are no badges but it is essentially the current MCT thin 6-ply maple shell spec but now in Blue Abalone wrap.
24x18 / 22x18 / 10x8 / 12x9 / 13x10 / 14x14 / 16x16 / and I'm working on a very special component to go with it.

This was stitched together from 3 separate Polariod pics in order to show the entire drumline. I believe this is from a '86 or '87 lot rehearsal for our out of town performance for State Football Championships. Because drumlines are mostly made up of right handers, I had to lead with my right (or find double stroke cheats) so that we have the same sticking visuals... a good lesson to learn early on.