2022: The Wrap
Now is the time to look back and reflect on what the holy hell just happened. It’s easy as a creative person to always move on to the next “thing.” So in the words of Graham Cochrane - “If you can learn to recognize and celebrate the small milestones along the way, you are really providing yourself with gratitude and endless motivation to reach your goals, even if they feel really far away in the moment.” So this is my way to do that and realize how much this year has been full of amazing moments - musically and not. While I try to celebrate it in the present, sometimes it doesn’t seem to happen. So what did happen? Strap yourself in and read on!
This year saw a huge milestone in that I retired from the US Navy after 21 years of service. I had my retirement ceremony in mid- April, then went on terminal leave till I officially retired on May 31.
I posted an album on my FB page of some of my favorite memories. Here are 250 of them since 2001 ;)
It’s pretty surreal to not be doing the things I did for 21 years - funerals (in frigid and beyond hot temps), concerts, ceremonies at the White House, Pentagon, Navy Memorial, all over DC and beyond; touring the country, soloing with the band, inaugurals, recording sessions, and of course the lifelong friendships that came out of it. I’m beyond grateful I got this job way back in 2001 a few years after grad school and was able to do so much outside of it at the same time.
The first band I got in after joining the Navy Band was Dr.FU (2004) and we’re STILL going! Maybe not as much, but we’re still doing the usual bars, clubs, summer sizzlers, private parties, and even occasional weddings. These guys are lifelong friends as well and I can’t believe we’re still playing music and people are coming out.
Beatles acoustic tribute, Nowhere Men, played some more outdoor shows outside the State Theater, The Perch at the new Capitol One Bldg, and our first retirement home! We’re looking forward to “Getting Back” to lots more gigs in 2023. I really love singing Beatles music and it’s nice to be in a band with a bunch of massive Beatles nerds and friends.
Iron Maiden tribute, Eyes of the Nile, are going really strong. This band is a force and playing with these guys is a pure joy. We seemed to become regulars at Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, VA (we’ll be there Feb 4, 2023) and feel like it’s our VA home now. We recently played the new Salisbury Center in Manassas and a couple shows at the amazing Elevation 27 in VA Beach. We debuted at a couple venues, The Southern in Charlotte (the Harlot) sville and Phantom Power in Millersville, PA (returning Feb 18). If there was one highlight of the year for EOTN, it was playing the Orange County Fair in Middletown, NJ in July. Joining us on stage was Chris Caffery from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Savatage, and many more. Growing up a Savatage fan, this was big for me. We played Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” and “Wrathchild,” but also Savatage’s power ballad “Strange Wings!” A career highlight for me. Check it out HERE. Unfortunately, we didn’t have Jason, one of our main man guitarists, but got lucky last minute with a fill in from a local Maiden tribute. A small miracle that ever worked out!
Outside of the regular bands, I played some church gigs, cabarets, and got my country/country rock on with Georgia artist, Clay Page (yes, that Clay Page from American Idol) and Scott Kurt. Always have to learn a ton of tunes for those gigs!
Besides teaching some private lessons from home, I’m now Adjunct Percussion Professor at Catholic University! I’m teaching music and non-music majors drumset and percussion and will coach the ensembles as well. After playing and rehearsing at CU for many years with Great Noise Ensemble, I know the school and faculty well and it’s nice to have my own percussion studio.
In the classical world, I played shows with the Harrisburg Symphony (including a drum solo in Sing, Sing, Sing every night for a week), Maryland Symphony, Apollo Orchestra (finally played John Adam’s Chairman Dances), Alexandria Symphony (another Scheherezade performance and played drumset on a tabla concerto!), La Traviata with MD Opera was a thrill, New Orchestra of Washington (a chamber version of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony), Cathedral Choral Society (live stream of Verdi’s Requiem at the National Cathedral), Delibe’s “Lakme” opera with Washington Concert Opera, Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto with a pickup group of amazing musicians, Delaware Symphony, among others. I did a show of film music for the Middleburg Film Festival in which many of the composers were present including the infamous Charles Fox. Little did I know that he composed music for Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, Killing Me Softly (yes that one), Love Boat, and a million others. Was a blast to have him conduct as well!
Another highlight was with Sorrow & the Spire. This is the side project of Navid Rashid (of Iris Divine and singer of Eyes of the Nile). He wrote 6 songs which we all recorded separately in our own homes and it was FINALLY released this year. Steve Brown (Trixter, Def Leppard) produced it and made it sound kick a**. Turns out our first show was opening for the legendary 80’s band, KIX, at Tally Ho Theater. We played all 6 songs and it was an amazing night. Hope to do it again!
Music releases included Iris Divine’s “Mercurial” in which I again played a lot of percussion as with their previous album, “The Static and the Noise.” I also have an engineering/producing credit! We recorded a ton of stuff at the house with the ears and eyes of Navid watching over the session. Their drummer, Scott Manley, also came over and recorded a few things as well. Have a look at their video for the super catchy “Sapphire” HERE. I played a lot of mallets on this one including vibraphone, glockenspiel, and marimba. You can hear it at 1:59. Get the album HERE.
I also played on the new EP by Anthony Nuccio’s band Animal Ion. The song is called Insane and it is intense! You can check out the EP HERE. Anthony sings in the ever popular 80’s band, The Reagan Years. Look out for some Animal Ion gigs with me behind the drums in 2023!
Here is the drum take I did for it with the mastered audio-
Speaking of drum videos, I posted a bunch of drum cam footage here from mostly Eyes of the Nile gigs. I also did a tribute to the late, great Taylor Hawkins and the Foofighters song “Walk.” Zink and Jose from the band Shumaun, Bill Whitney, and I (we did Toto’s “Africa” last year) teamed up on Dream Theater’s classic, “Pull Me Under.” Of course I also had to do a drums cam version for it. Click the pic to take you to Youtube-
And speaking of Dream Theater, I FINALLY finished all the drum transcriptions of Images and Words I started in 1993. Yes, 1993. I started transcribing the songs with pencil and cassette during one of my jobs. I finished the whole album and even met Mike Portnoy around then to show him. He seemed impressed, wrote down his management’s address and suggested I send them a copy. So I did. Nothing. Ever since then it’s been in the back of my head to get this into a professional drum book. I had two articles written in Modern Drummer, but never got an actual book off the ground. During the pandemic, I started revising my pencil to paper versions and getting them into Finale. Now that they look legit, I’ve talking to one of the biggest drum book publisher and even though I’m kind of convinced it won’t happen, there was interest and it’s still possible. If nothing else, they will go up for sale on a transcription website and mine as well. Check them out here.
And speaking of books! The Rite of Spring - A Percussionist’s Guide still finds its way around the world. I love getting a notification that one sold to someone I don’t even know in another country. I can only hope they like it. Read all about it here.
During the pandemic, I made a video of one of the most epic moments of The Rite of Spring. In Dec. 2022, it reached over 100,000 views on Youtube. Seems people like Stravinsky more than Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, covers, etc :) I made another concentrating on a different section and that seems to be gaining some ground as well. Thank you to anyone who has supported these vids and the book!
2022 also saw the release of two BluRays! Both are Buster Keaton silent films that my colleague at Catholic University, Andrew Simpson, wrote music for - The Saphead and Little Women. The Saphead saw it’s first live performance this past November at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring. If you’re interested, you can find the BluRays on Eureka’s website.
I saw some great live music - Sammy Hagar (I met Jason Bonham!), Porcupine Tree, Mammoth, Iron Maiden, Corey Wong, Bass Extremes (Gregg Bissonette, Victor Wooten ,and Steve Bailey), The Aristocrats (Marco Minneman, Guthrie Govan, and Bryan Beller), John Petrucci w/ Mike Portnoy and Dave Larue, and Bruce Dickinson’s speaking tour.
I also took a couple of epic trips - Utah and India!
Utah was full of hiking in Salt Lake City and Bryce Canyon. My friend Laura (ex-Navy Band clarinet and the biggest go-getter you ever met) drove us down from SLC to Bryce, then through Zion on the way back to SLC. I was invited to speak to the percussion studio at the University of Utah about all things career development, social media, auditions, and music! Thanks Michael for having me and Laura for setting it up. I had mole for the first time in a while and I am now officially hooked. It was also great to see an old friend from grad school days. Madeline Adkins is now the Concertmaster with the Utah Symphony and they sounded fantastic.
India was an adventure of a lifetime. New/Old Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, Kolkata, and Darjeeling. Pictures will do more justice than words, so here are a few of the 2500 pics I took-
Another milestone…I celebrated the Big 5-0! I’m trying to do what I can to get in the best shape I’ve ever been and I know it’s possible. I don’t need a new year to make it happen, but it does give you a little push. Here’s to 50 more!
Lastly and looking ahead…in mid-January, I’ll be headed to sunny Florida to play some shows with a group called “SANCTUS.” It’s comprised of a rock band, male/female vocals, dancers, percussionists, backing tracks, and the star of the show - 40 tons of carillon bells! I have been practicing this hour long show for a while to have it completely memorized. We’re playing covers of Evanescence tunes, Skillet, Nightwish, but also arrangements of Harry Potter music, Carmina Burana, and more. It will surely be epic. If you’re in the area, come check it out here!
Well, I think that’s it. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. And to anyone that has gone to a show and supported me and one of my bands, I truly thank you! I can’t wait to be out there again and make more music and meet more great people. Till then, Happy New Year and see you in 2023!!