Bio

I started early. My uncle would play the guitar and I would run and grab the drum sticks and beat on the floor. When I was 15 I got serious. Mom and Dad bought me a drum set and I would play on it mercilessly. My sister got so used to it she could sleep through my practicing right outside her door. My first band was the Infra-Red Cranberry. We charged $65 and gas. We would make a magnificent $15 per man. I got into school band the wind ensemble at the University of Saskatchewan, which was interesting as my music reading was something less than stellar. I started playing in local bands (Saskatoon) and made a living off of that. I began having thoughts to the effect that if I wanted to make anything of myself I had to get to the US. A friend of mine was going to University of Nevada Las Vegas, so I sent them a tape and got a scholarship to go down. (As a tip it was because I could play mallets. This skill will open a lot of doors, I began studying at UNLV in the Fall of 1977 the year Elvis died. The town was crawling with Elvis impersonators. I got into the #1 jazz band and the Wind Ensemble in the first year. I went back for my second year on scholarship again and in this year I got the opportunity to be drummer for Mr. Eddy Arnold. I spent 4 years performing with Eddy and touring all across the US and Canada. During this time my percussion instructor at UNLV got me working with one of the relief bands. A star would come in on a 2 or 3 week stint and the house band would play 6 nights a week and then a relief band would come in and play the night the house band had off. So it went like this. On the afternoon of a show we would go in for a rehearsal. The star was normally not there, but his conductor would run the band through the show. I would get a book of music about 4 inches thick, the conductor would count you in and the race was on! (My music reading had improved vastly by then. It had to!) Some of the stars I got to work with included: Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Wayne Newton, Bill Cosby, Roy Clark and The Osmonds. During this time I felt a need to improve my playing so I phoned the Los Angeles Musician’s Association and got the phone number for David Garibaldi drummer for Tower of Power and one of the pioneers of the Funk style of drumming. (Funk is very syncopated and fun to play, it stresses playing an week beats as opposed to strong beats.) It was like turning on a light. In the first lesson he clued me into playing ghosted notes (almost inaudible) to change the way a groove would feel. He also got me playing rim shots on the accented notes to really lay in a pocket. I commuted to Los Angeles monthly for about 2 years to study with him. An incredible experience! After 5 years in Las Vegas I moved to the San Fransisco Bay area for 2 years. During this time I Was a finalist in the Bay Area drum solo competition, and performed numerous studio sessions. It was also during this time that I started teaching private drum lessons.

I created my own curriculum by combing pages of bass drum and snare drum patterns with different Hi-Hat patterns and accents. (This is the basis for my Drum Power-Beat Power video. I returned to Canada and went back to University. I earned a BA in Psychology (how to deal with guitar players) and a Bachelor of Education. I got a record contract with Quebissimus music and had a single released nationally. I began teaching band in the Saskatoon Public and Catholic school systems. I currently teach part time in the public system as well as teaching private lessons at Long & McQuade as well as at home. I spent 5 years on the road with the Shrine Circxus as drummer and somtimes band leader. This was an awesome gig as we played up to 8 hours a day, the music was widely varied, always with a click track (great for your time) and the NEVER told you to play less. It was monstrous for my chops.  In June of 2010 I attended the Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles where I got a chance to perform with the instructors there. In August of 2010 I went to the Ultimate Drum Camp in Montreal to learn from internationally renowned drummers such as Dennis Chambers, Kenwood Dennard, Horacio Hernandez. Flo Mournier and Mike Mangini. I will be attending that camp again next year. I have innovated my own technique called drumming Quadra_pedal. A system where you use your heels to trigger backwards foot pedals. I received an electronic drum kit at cost from Yamaha Canada and went to the Percussive Arts Convention in Austin Texas 2008 to demonstrate the kit for them.