It’s not yet confirmed, but Rocks Off, a Houston-area music blog, is reporting that longtime Willie Nelson drummer Paul English has suffered a stroke. The site’s source is said to be reliable, but Willie’s publicist hasn’t confirmed or denied English’s condition. The drummer started with Willie way the hell back in 1955, when country music was still cool, or more authentic, or at least not entirely fucked-up boring. According to the almighty Wikipedia, English was also the strong-arm, asskicking collection agent for the band in those early days. Here’s hoping he can beat the bollocks off this thing too.
What the hell? We just reported that Paul English, the longstanding skinsman for Willie Nelson, might have had a stroke, and now we learn that drummer Dan Duggins definitely has suffered one as well. Duggins made his name keeping the beat for Hot Rod Circuit, Lazycain, and most recently Queen Killing Kings. He is only 34 years old and, like most musicians who aren’t in U2 or the Rolling Stones, he doesn’t have health insurance. If you got some spare cash and a whole lot of goodwill, help the fellow out by donating to his PayPal account.
Evans is hitting the road to showcase its Player Profile drumhead selection system, which greatly simplifies the Evans product line—and drumheads in general—into four basic categories: Sensitive, Versatile, Controlled, and Durable. Each profile is based on specific musical applications and contains a bunch of products designed to deliver optimal performance attributes (attack, sustain, tone, and durability) for that genre, helping players to narrow down the choice of drumheads to those that will best suit their playing style.
At Evans’ Player Profile events, Evans staff members and a guest artist will be on hand to help players find their ideal sound. There will be a 30- to 45-minute session on tuning and high-performance gear tips by an on-site Evans Product Specialist, as well as a one-hour clinic by top Evans artist Tommy Igoe.
Evans will also hold an on-site raffle for over $1,000 in product, including custom-made Inked by Evans graphic front bass drum heads.
Here are the current dates:
May 5, 2010 – GC Studios, Woodland Hills, CA
May 6, 2010 – Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA
July 14, 2010 – Drums2Go, Orlando, FL
July 15, 2010 – All Pro Percussion, Tampa, FL
July 19, 2010 – Ken Stanton Music, Atlanta, GA
July 20, 2010 – Bailey Brothers, Birmingham, AL
July 21, 2010 – Fork’s Drum Closet, Nashville, TN
July 22, 2010 – Memphis Drum Shop, Memphis, TN
Also check the Evans Player Profile page for more upcoming tour dates and information.
Even if you got a bunch of beat-up, craptastic gear like we do, you’re still going to want a decent set of cases to protect what’s left of your gigging kit. To help us out, Protection Racket has conveniently launched its AAA (Access All Area—All Accidents Averted) line of drum cases. The line is built on Triple A-Plex™, a poly-carbonate frame that offers exceptional resistance to impact. Rocket Foam™ is utilized inside each AAA case to provide protection against knocks and trauma during transit. The inner walls have PR’s Propile™ technical fleece lining, keeping your drums snug, safe, and warm, and the outer of the cases is finished in Protection Racket’s tried and tested 600 denier polyester Racketex™, which is 100% waterproof and extra durable. Finishing touches include new polyester/plastic/neoprene ergonomic handles for extra comfort and longevity, and the heavy-duty spiral chain zips are double stitched-in and totally water and rot proof. Incredibly light, these cases still weigh much less than the average 2-piece hard case and are so strong you can stand on them. Or have sex. Or whatever.
