Lee Flier Posted April 10, 2001 Share Posted April 10, 2001 ... about yourself! I mean I know quite a bit about our other moderators, but it'd be great to know more about you - what got you into drums, who your faves are, what gigs you've had etc. And of course any of you other drummers are welcome to chime in with your story, too! --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djarrett Posted April 10, 2001 Share Posted April 10, 2001 Hey, Lee: I am just a drummer lovin' life, makin' music, and strivin' to BE A PLAYER! Who am I, you ask? You can learn more about me in a brief bio: http://musicplayer.com/CDA/General/1,2197,EDITORBIOS,00.html#dendy The link above will take you to an "about the editors" paragraph with photo, but it is short. How do you put 38 years in a short story? I started playing Tupperware at an early age (of course trying to emulate the great playing of Hal Blaine.) Hal was a huge influence simply because he played on about every song on AM and early FM radio stations. I saw Hal play in a John Denver concert in the mid '70's and was hooked. Of course in my early days (without MTV, VH1, etc) prime time TV played a huge part of my desire to play drums. The variety shows like Hee Haw, Sonny & Cher, Donny & Marie, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and the like were more than entertaining to me. They were influential. At an early age I noticed how much music marks our lives. I started lessons in the fourth grade when I joined elementary band. My band director, Jim Mills (a former Marine Sergeant) was the second most influential person in my development years next to my parents. I of course, did the concert band and marching band thing through high school. I basically had little interest in anything else in school. I went on to college at the University of South Carolina on a Music Scholarship where I studied under Jim Hall as a Music Performance Major. Jim taught at North Texas before going to USC and taught the likes of Gregg Bissonette and Rick Lathum. I left college to march in the Suncoast Sound Drum and Bugle Corps in the 83-84 season. In 1983 we placed 6th in the Top 12 at DCI Summer Music Games. (a high point in my life ... and one of the hardest things that I have ever done!) When I left Drum Corps, I took a position playing for the group The Foundations. If you watched the movie "There's Something about Mary", you heard one of our songs, "Build Me Up, Buttercup." There were a few other hits, "In The Bad Old Days" and "Baby, Now That I've Found You." Of, course those hits happened much earlier than my days with the group. We were on a Dept of Defense tour (on and off) most of my tenure with the group. I continued to play and started a career in the music business at Paragon Percussion Center in Tampa, Florida in the mid 80's. I eventually managed the shop. Relationships forged in music retail led to a job in Nashville in the early 90's as Marketing Manager and Artist Relations Director for Mapex Drums (with Gibson USA.) There, I met and cultivated many great relationships with Percussion Industry leaders and Artists. I've had the thrill of hanging with the likes of Terry Bozzio (and his great wife, Evie), Gregg Bissonette and his Dad, Bud, Billy Cobham, Mike Portnoy, Jim Christie, Chris McCue, Marc Schulman, Johnathon Moffit, and many more. Eventually that job and Mapex morphed into the same position with Slingerland Drum Company (Gibson USA) and a subject for another story and forum discussion! I had the great pleasure of co-developing many great products and re-issues like Studio King, Beauty King, and Radio King. I ended up runninng the division and basically burned out of that position and started focusing on my playing again. I fell into internet work with several music companies and landed at MusicPlayer.com almost a year ago. I manage the MusicPlayer.com Drum Channel and this forum. I continue to play professionally in Nashville, yet today. I currently play for a magnificent artist, Teresa Wade (see www.teresawade.com), who is a writer with CDB (Charlie Daniels Band) Publishing. The music is more of a Southern Blues/Rock with a groove! In the last year I have had some great opportunities to play some special events including opening for Travis Tritt. My music of choice cannot be defined, because I listen to so many different genres. Everything from Contemporary Christian Rock to Moby, Sting, to Drum Corps. My early influences include, Hal Blaine, Keith Knudson, Steve Smith, Jeff Pocaro, John Panozzo (STIX), Stewart Copeland, Nigel Olson, Johnathon Moffit, to name only a few. Today I am enfluenced by any drummer I listen to. I am amazed that the more I listen, the more I appreciate and understand what I am hearing. I guess with age does come wisdom. I am met with encouragement everywhere I turn from my super wife, Holly, to my Mom and Sister, to all the guys at MusicPlayer. I have to say that I have never worked for such a nice group of folks as I do with the team at MusicPlayer.com. The commitment to help musicians is at the forefront of our efforts. That is really cool! Well, enough about me. Let's hear about some of you! Thanks, DJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted April 11, 2001 Share Posted April 11, 2001 Just to letcha know, I dug The Foundations...of course I remember them. I loved that brand of Motown-ish pop that was big on AM radio back then. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham English Posted April 11, 2001 Share Posted April 11, 2001 Originally posted by Tedster: Just to letcha know, I dug The Foundations...of course I remember them. I loved that brand of Motown-ish pop that was big on AM radio back then. Yeah, me too http://www.mpz.co.uk/cwm/otn/happy/rainote.gif ++ Graham English ++ Ear Training, Songwriting Tips, and Music Theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted April 11, 2001 Author Share Posted April 11, 2001 Wow Dendy, thanks for taking the time to write all that! That's awesome that you started in Drum Corps and were so into it. I think if I hadn't started playing guitar at 12 and that hadn't occupied all my time, I would have done the Drum Corps thing in school, too. Maybe school would have actually served some purpose in that case. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif I love the paradox of the primal aspect of drumming combined with the discipline of Drum Corps. Thanks again, I feel like I know you better now! --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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