2023 wrapped in March 2024
It’s March 2024 and I just realized I need to recap what happened last year - as in 2023. I will probably forget otherwise. And after just reading about 2022 I realized it really IS nice to look back and read about what happened! Wish me luck. Here we go.
As I mentioned in the previous blog, I flew down to Florida to play the first “Sanctus” show in Melbourne. 40 tons of Carillon bells, rock band, dancers, tracks, lights. It was a rock show! If you’re ever in the area, check out the Brevard Renn Fair in mid January.
Iron Maiden tribute, Eyes of the Nile, continues to grow and play great shows. We were back at Baltimore Soundstage, Tally Ho (twice) to incredible crowds, Phantom Power, Beacon Theater (new), Crafthouse (new), State Theatre, Sherman Showcase, and possibly the highlight - Rock the Mountains, where we opened for the legendary Quiet Riot. Even crazier was buying a Randy Rhoads figurine and getting to hand it to Rudy Sarzo after they played. I recently read his autobiography and learned how close they were. He was sincerely touched by it and posted the photo on the right to his social media pages.
Someone took drone footage! Check it out-
We also had a fair share of guest appearances on a number of podcasts - Somewhere in Time, Roadies n’ Rockstars, That Tribute Band Show, and Subfacts (now Matt’s Mosh Pit), (We also did a few more already in 2024!) At this point, we’ve been to Florida for two shows in Orlando and Miami Beach, and will be heading to NC (twice) and MA this year for the first time. Also heading back to the Orange County Fair and a new venue in town called Vanish Hill. Our presence on FB is going very strong at over 5300 followers and some of our videos are at over 140K views. Here is the most viewed one so far and it’s a drum cam vid!
We did another home video. This time our medley of Genghis Khan and Transylvania we call Genghisvania.
It is pretty crazy and a blast to play-
Here is our latest promo video to get an idea of what to expect!
I’m continuing to play with Nowhere Men at breweries, Vienna Summer on the Green, The Perch, private parties, and retirement homes. Dr.FU is continuing to rock The Renegade, Friday Night Live!, weddings, private parties, Seacrets in Ocean City, Farm Brew Live, Electric Palm, and the new Whitlows in DC. We also had two shows at the Hotel Washington, a private party and a crazy 4th of July celebration. Herr Metal has been doing an annual ticketed event at Ned Devine’s and bringing the masses to Friday Night Live! We also had our first private event at Lake Anna. I even found time to sub with Junkfood again on one of the hottest days of the year. Finally, I did an extremely last minute show on no rehearsal playing a bunch of Beatles songs (which I never actually do on drums) AND the Abbey Rd medley. I had a few days to prepare and I was leaving for my big Asian trip a few days later, but man…what a thrill. It was amazing to play those songs with a full band of instrumentalists and singers. There’s nothing like going into a show on no rehearsal and being hyper focused. Same with musical theater which we’ll get to soon.
It’s also been a lot of fun finally playing some live shows with Animal Ion. We played The Recher in Baltimore for the first time, Zen West, and a Car/Truck show in which comedian Don Jamieson (That Metal Show) MC’d! I didn’t realize it till he was introducing us. :)
I also recorded two more songs for Animal Ion, “One Track Mind,” and “Tuff.” Here is the drum take for OTM with the mastered audio.
Continuing with original music, I also played my first show with the great guitarist/songwriter, Richie Gomez. The one cover we did was Porcupine Tree’s “Let’s Sleep Together!”
One of my favorite drummers in the world passed away - Kirk Arrington formerly of Metal Church. I did a few tributes to him (and Mike Howe, their second singer who passed away in 2021), the self-titled album classic “Metal Church” (with original vocals by David Wayne) and “The Powers That Be” from Blessing in Disguise - originally sung by Mike Howe and here by Navid Rashid!
Even though I recorded it this year, I’m not going to wait till the end of the year to mention probably the hardest song I covered yet- Dream Theater’s “The Dance of Eternity.” And just to take it one step further, I made another video with my own transcription I made with a moving cursor. If you know what keyframing is, you know how long this can take!
The classical world still keeps me busy and I’m proud to say that I’m now Principal Percussionist of the Alexandria Symphony. I’ve been playing with them on and off (mostly on) for the past 15+ years, so it’s an honor to be entrusted in this role. We played some great rep including Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony (my first time with an orchestra), Finlandia (a first), and Rite of Spring. I was happy to perform a piece by Quinn Mason (on the ROS concert) who happened to be a massive help in the writing of my The Rite of Spring - A Percussionist’s Guide book. He is an extremely busy composer with his pieces getting performed around the world regularly. It was great to finally meet in person! The book is finding its way around the world including Australia, Canada, Brazil, UK, Italy, Spain, US, and Japan.
Another regular collaboration has been with composer/multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Simpson. We’ve performed together quite often and last year we performed more silent film music and a World Premiere of his new score with film, dance, and choreography entitled “Flying Car.” We also performed his score to the Buster Keaton silent film “Our Hospitality” with Buster Keaton’s own velocipede on site! The performance coincided with the reopening of the National Geographic section of the American History Museum. We even got a private tour of some of the incredible musical instruments in the vault!
Other performances include Reston Chorale (Chichester Psalms), a new work for the annual Trombone Conference at Ft. Myer, another Carmina Burana (playing timps), subbing Pacific Overtures at Signature Theater and Fun Home at Studio Theater, Cathedral Choral Society, New Orchestra of Washington (Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 and a chamber version of The Planets), Annapolis Symphony’s amazing Messiah, and a private show at the Waldorf Hotel backing opera stars on the kit.
Teaching-wise, I’m still adjunct Professor of Percussion at Catholic University of America in Washington DC. Up to 5 students now with one actual percussion major. I’ve also been helping out the amazing kids in the Maryland Classical Youth Orchestras as well. They are seriously incredible!
On a personal note, we celebrated my mom’s 90th birthday with a huge surprise party. It was planned for over a month and the fact that she did not find out is a minor miracle! My sister and I took a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. We also checked out the Cleveland Orchestra and the Christmas Story house! Later in the year, I joined her and her husband for some camping in Bar Harbor and Camden, ME. We even “saw” the first sunrise in the US. And then an even bigger trip - 5 1/2 weeks in Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Way too many pics to post, but a lot are on my FB page if you are that bored. While I was away, my childhood home was sold. I got one last visit when it was empty and it was very surreal to say the least. Then one more trip back home for Xmas and that completed the year!
Last but not least, I got a chance to see a few shows. It’s hard to get out to do it sometimes but these were well worth it.
Navid and his band Iris Divine opened for two massive bands - Winger and Winery Dogs. Jagged Little Pill. Staged version of Rent. Helloween (with one of my all time favorite singers Michael Kiske still killing it). Geddy Lee. Ghost. Bret Michaels (w/ my friends in 8 Track Jones opening). And Geoff Tate!
