114 – Angela Lese: Drumming for The Dead Deads, Cultivating a Strong Fan Base, From “Regular Job” to Touring Musician

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 Apr 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 Apr 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 Apr 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 Mars 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 Mars 20181h 34min

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 business, Session Ace. Boasting two types of hybrid driver IEM’s and a variety of other tools and accessories for working musicians, Brian launched the Session Ace brand in early 2018. In this podcast, Brian Talks about: Quality over quantity in social media interactions How being hired by someone is a continuation of previous interactions you’ve had “The currency of trust” – making your social media presence reflect your musical values, judgement, and trustworthiness Keeping your taste more elevated than your status Developing his own line of in-ear monitors and the other products under the Session Ace brand Creating intersections in your drumming community What networking really is Brian endorses Paiste cymbals, Promark drumsticks, Planet Waves cables, and Waves plug-ins. This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums

14 Mars 20181h 59min

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; it’s about creating the very best and discovering a community of artists with which to learn from and create with along the way. Terence began to dream about making music at the age of two. His father, Marc Clark, an organist and pianist and grandfather Loyce F. Clark, a guitarist and legendary quartet vocalist, became his early mentors along with music producers, Kevin Paige and Niko Lyras. Terence developed the gritty elements of his style while playing with local bands on Beale Street. Those experiences stirred up his love for the city’s music legacy and heartbeat of all musical forms. His professional career has spanned from touring nationally and internationally as well as recording with an eclectic array of artists of many genres. He currently tours with the legendary, Robert Cray Band. A musical education and real-life experiences have refined his talents. Terence is also a Producer and Co-Founder of The Undertone Collective, a production company that enables artists by providing a vast range of media and production services. He’s passionate about furthering the legendary music that Memphis has always heralded, while creating a support and resource system for new and experiences artists. Terence is currently mentored by David Porter, Tommy Sims, James Waddell, and Steve Jordan. His musical inspiration stems from the likes of Steve Jordan, Al Jackson Jr., Howard Grimes, Steve Gadd, Tony Williams, Dennis Chambers, William Kennedy, Dan Needham, Dave Weckl, Marvin McQuitty, and Austin Bradley. Working with Terence means working with an artist whose creativity and versatility are only matched by his personal warmth and dedication to the project. His passion is not only for the art, but for the artist. In this episode, Terence talks about: Working with and creating music with Robert Cray Playing with conviction Playing for the purpose of the artist Connecting with other players and the audience Creating “sounds” like a foley artist Having Steve Jordan as a mentor Networking sincerely Being selective about the work that you take How he discovers music The evolution of the drum set Loving and being thankful for the “right now” Terence endorses: Istanbul Agop CymbalsVic FirthMono CreatorsRoberts Drum CoShy Baffles This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums

8 Mars 20181h 47min

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-fledged member How commitment to a group and prioritization of it result in job security Diversifying income streams, musical and otherwise Why he lives in Indianapolis How excitement can sometimes blind you to potential red flags Maintaining perspective and gratitude Johnny Rabb endorses ProLogix, Remo heads, Meinl Cymbals and Percussion, Cympad, Audix Microphones, and of course, Johnny Rabb drumsticks. This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums.

28 Feb 20181h 21min