508 - Robert Blair: Being Your Authentic Self, Subbing with Wang Chung & Martina McBride, Learning from Nashville’s Legends

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 2011 MacArthur Fellowship, Up & Coming Musician of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a GRAMMY nomination for Absolute Quintet as Best Latin Jazz Album, and a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 2007. Also a gifted educator, Prieto has conducted master classes, clinics, and workshops throughout the world. He was a faculty member of Jazz Studies at NYU from 2005 to 2014, and in 2015 became a faculty member at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. In this podcast, Dafnis talks about: The courses he teaches at The University of Miami Frost School of Music Letting rhyhmic content and interpretation dictate pulse, not the other way around like we usually do Fully exploring and exploiting your existing skills and knowledge to develop musical vocabulary His upbringing and early musical education in Cuba His experience working his way into the New York scene as a 25-year-old in the 1999 The gradual switch from gigs he had to play to gigs he wanted to play Figuring out your “why” Dafnis Prieto endorses Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Latin Percussion, Evans Drumheads, and Vic Firth Sticks. This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

10 Touko 20181h 8min

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 playing on sessions both locally and remotely. Be it on stage in front of thousands of people, television, or an intimate recording session, Christian strives to bring fresh creativity and feel into everything he does. In this episode, Christian talks about:  His shared studio Playing what fits the song and not just doing what’s trendy  Moving from Crowder to Maren Morris Honoring the original tracks of the artist your working for  Playing a one off with Amos Lee Following your own path Christian’s history with drums Breaking down the wall between your creativity and your hands Christian’s other skill of mixing  Taking calculated risks  Christian endorses Tama Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, and Vater Drumsticks This episode is sponsored by Session Ace

3 Touko 20181h 43min

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 Bocelli to Eminem. In this podcast, Bob talks about: How to tailor your sound to different types of performance spaces using instrumentation and amplification. The difference between a beat and a groove What he’s practicing, now that he has the time and space His experience at the Royal Academy of Music, and its unique audition process What jazz training taught him that translates to any other genre, and the one skill it all comes down to How his early ambition was based on simply being able to support himself Why he started his own booking agency What he values in musicians as a fixer Bob Knight endorses Yamaha drums, Vic Firth sticks, Remo heads, Zildjian cymbals, Protection Racket cases, and Porter & Davies thrones. This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

26 Huhti 20181h 11min

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 Louisiana, he joined a local band, City Limits. He earned his Liberal Arts degree in Public Relations and began touring regionally. The band was a national finalist in the True Value/Jimmy Dean Country Showdown in 1994. The finals took place at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and that’s when Tracy realized Nashville was the place to be. After a European tour with Grammy-nominated band Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys and a brief tour with the late Amie Comeaux, he took the next step in his career and moved to Nashville in August 1996. He was a member of the R&B Funk Dance band, The Groove Addiction, which was the house band for the Nashville Predators’ inaugural season in 1998-99. Since then, Tracy has toured with Mila Mason, Shane Minor (opening for Shania Twain), Craig Morgan, Rebecca Lynn Howard and Doug Stone. His first Tonight Show appearance was with Cyndi Thomson in October 2001, and within four months, appeared again with Grammy-nominated artist, Jamie O’Neal. Tracy toured the rest of 2002 with Jamie O’Neal. That year also included a USO tour of Europe and the Mediterranean. Another highlight was a CMT appearance with Jamie O’Neal and Michael McDonald, performing a song from the Mel Gibson movie, “We Were Soldiers”. Since 2003, Tracy has been touring with reigning CMA and ACM Male Vocalist of the year, Blake Shelton. Tracy’s television appearances with Blake include the CMA Awards, ACM Awards, “Blake Shelton Live: It’s All About Tonight” DVD and GAC Special, Dancing with The Stars, CMT’s Invitation Only Special, DirecTV’s The 101 Concert Special, CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, Good Morning America, The Early Show, Fox and Friends, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Grand Ole Opry Live. One of Tracy’s side-projects is Trypta-Phunk, a funk/fusion group that blends odd-time signatures with funky grooves. When not backing up Shelton, he is performing and recording with the group. Tracy manages RoadDawg Online, a website all about touring drummers. RoadDawg Online is your all-access pass with interviews, roundtable discussions, product reviews, set-ups and columns from the pros. In 2009, Tracy placed fifth in Modern Drummers’ Readers Poll in the Country category. In his episode, Tracy talks about: His website “Road Dawg Online” How his role and responsibilities as drummer for Blake Shelton evolved or changed over time  Revelations in striking the family/work balance Learning to keep a cool head on the road Making yourself indispensable  How Tracy builds tracks for Blake’s show Reading the artist  Being consistent from night to night  Not allowing one mistake to ruin your whole gig Tracy’s original projet “Trypta-Funk” Experiences performing on TV compared to a normal live shows Tracy endorses: Aquarian drumheads, Pearl drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Promark sticks, Sennheiser,

18 Huhti 20181h 33min

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 Gibson on her Out Of The Blue tour. In 1991 Kevin was requested by French rock star David Hallyday for his European tour and live album. That same year he traveled the world playing with pop icon Paul Anka. His latest endeavor is a project that features him singing jazz standards and is aptly named Kevin Winard Sings, produced by pianist, composer and arranger Peter Clark. In this podcast, Kevin talks about: Playing a “pop jazz” gig vs. hard-core bop Playing drumset with a symphony orchestra Lyman Medeiros, the bassist in the Tyrell band His thoughts on singing and singers Simplicity in big band drumming What Steve Gadd had to say after seeing Kevin perform How intent and joy on the bandstand translate to the audience How to physically and mentally relax while playing Why being in the music business is like being in a marriage Kevin Winard endorses products by DW, LP, Zildjian, Remo, and Innovative Percussion. This episode is sponsored by Session Ace.

12 Huhti 20181h 41min

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 happy clients, Richard has used his unique curation of gear and techniques to build out the character of a song, add sometimes unexpected but always interesting components to the musical design, and help bring songwriters’ visions to life.  Richard graduated in 2008 from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee with bachelor in commercial music percussion with emphasis in music technology. While at Belmont, Richard Studied with Chester Thompson. In this episode, Richard talks about:  Starting drums later in life and the lessons he’s learned Working with CCM artist Matt Maher  The evolution of his set up – gong drums to samplers From industrial design to drums Working in the CCM industry Chester Thompson teaching him to use your ear and your heart instead of your brain What to play and what not to play The importance of great communication when tracking drums online  Tracking at home and building up your set up over time  Creative ways to learn new grooves and parts with other players  Richard endorses: A&F Drums and Aquarian Drumheads This episode is sponsored by Session Ace

5 Huhti 20181h 51min

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 the average level of his incoming students is higher than ever The importance of interacting with people in daily life, not just staying in the bubble of screens and headphones What it means to “read the air,” as they say in Japan Adjusting to differences in touch from bassist to bassist Raising your performance baseline Acceptance and forgiveness in music The recently departed and much beloved Ndugu Chancler Peter Erskine endorses Tama drums, Remo heads, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Meinl percussion, Roland V-Drums, Shure microphones, and the Zoom Q2HD recorder.

29 Maalis 20181h 27min

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 recording and performing live with various artists like Court Jester, Ramrod, Thick as Thieves and Metal Blade recording artist Lieglord. Also during this time, Rob played 3 tracks on fellow Lou Gramm bandmate Michael Staertow’s CD, “Oxygen” – currently available on iTunes and Amazon. Prior to joining Lou Gramm’s band officially, Rob had performed many drum duties for him, including recording drum tracks for several Foreigner songs to be used for promotional purposes, as well as filling for shows and practice when needed by Lou. These days Rob has been touring North America for some time now as Lou’s permanent drummer. In this episode, Rob talks about: How he got the gig with Lou Gramm Replacing a drum machine on a recording Creating drum parts in heavy rock The fact that we never stop learning New things from which to draw inspiration Creating and maintaining a strong on-line presence Playing for the song Balancing your career and family Maintaining chops during time off Staying healthy Rob endorses: KBrakes, Drumtacs, Regal Tip sticks, JH Audio This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums

22 Maalis 20181h 34min