Modern Drummer Columns & other things!
What’s up everybody? It’s been a long time since I posted anything on here, I guess because I didn’t feel I had much to say. But it’s been a long road the past 4 years and things are finally changing (I suppose the changing never stopped).
After writing the “First Person Adversity” story for MD in the spring, I mentioned to Bill Miller the idea of writing a column for the mag. I’m happy to announce that the 1st installment is in this month’s Modern Drummer. It’s some warm-ups using flams/flam rudiments that I’ve developed over the years, and they’re chops busters + sound great. The next one is on how to orchestrate these around the drum set.
I’ve been extremely busy, mostly with a new IT gig that I landed a couple of months ago. I’m also teaching 6 days a week, and playing a couple of gigs a week, so things are good. My new house is almost finished being built and it’ll be hard to describe the feeling of having my own place again. I’ve been a gypsy like so many others post-Katrina, but it’s OK. Good things are happening.
I started a new band called “NOLA NOVA” with Steve, Martin, and Sasha Masakowski, plus James Westfall. It’s a great band that plays a lot of originals and great standards in the Afro-Cuban/Brasilian tradition.
I sincerely hope that everyone out there is making it ok through these tough economic times. One of the first things to get hit is the entertainment field. I always love to hear what any of you have to say, so please leave a comment on your way out.
Peace,
Rick
