Big Drum Thump

Yet more proof that drummers are some of the coolest people on the planet, Dixon Drums is hosting “Beats for Eats,” a food drive to benefit food shelters in Southern California. The participating locations are as follows:

Saturday April 18th
Singer Music, 12pm-3pm
1217 N Hacienda Blvd.
La Puente, CA 91744
626-917-9300
Your non-perishable food will benefit The Gary Center.
For details and to RSVP, go to dixondrums.net/singerparty

Wednesday, April 22nd
Santa Monica Music Center, 5pm-7:30pm
1901 Santa Monica Blvd. (corner 19th)
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-453-1928
Your non-perishable food will benefit Ocean Park Community Center.
For details and to RSVP, go to dixondrums.net/smmcparty

Thursday, April 23rd
Tom’s Music, 5pm-7pm
17180 Bear Valley Rd.
Victorville, CA 92395
760-241-3184
Your non-perishable food will benefit High Desert Homeless Services.
For details and to RSVP, go to dixondrums.net/tomsparty

Along with the satisfaction of contributing to a great cause, you also get to rock out on Rock Band 2, scarf down some free pizza, and maybe win a Dixon snare drum. RSVP now!

[Press Release]

Dixon is proud to offer left-handed players a new heavy-duty double bass drum pedal for 2009. Dixon’s sturdy 911DB-L bass drum pedal includes a dual-surface beater, easy-access bass drum clamp, and a double chain cam drive system. Other noteworthy features include a beater angle adjustment and an aluminum center u-joint housing with two adjustment points. Stabilizer platforms on the main and slave side pedals include built in spurs. The pedal retails for $349.99.

[Press Release]

Dixon Drums is proud to expand their popular Demon series with a striking new Urban Camo wrap finish. The Demon’s 5-piece Urban Camo kit (DM-522E-UC) is constructed with 7-ply birch/mahogany shells featuring 45-degree bearing edges and 1.6 mm hoops. All toms and the snare include Evans G1 coated batter heads. Sizes: 22″ x 18″ bass drum, 10″ x 8″ tom, 12″ x 9″ tom, 14″ x 14″ floor tom, and 14″ x 5.5″ snare drum.

[Press Release]

Dixon is pleased to expand its snare offering with a 13″ x 6″ rosewood snare and a free snare bag. This rosewood snare (DS-0613-RWD) features a 100% rosewood shell with tube lugs, 2.3mm power hoops, and Dunnett throw-off and butt plate. A sturdy and padded snare bag bearing an embroidered Dixon logo is also included. Retail price: $779

Remember that Dixon drum contest we reported on way back in July? Lou Mars came out on top, and besides getting a new Demon drum kit from Dixon, he won the chance to play for a panel of music insiders and pros. The entire event was taped for the A&R channel and will be showing until January 31, 2009. If you don’t have OnDemand, we’ve embedded a video of the program below, courtesy of Dixon’s blog. It’s fun watching Lou get his groove on (and it’s even more fun watching his leg spasms), but frankly the video is most notable for whipping out some of the best homespun drumming advice we’ve heard in quite a while. Near the beginning, producer Ken Deans says this in response to the question, “What does it take to be a great drummer?”:

You just want to play honest. If you’re a great Ringo Starr-type player, don’t try and be Neil Peart. And if you’re a Neil Peart player, don’t pretend that you’re going to be Charlie Watts. Do what you do.

Dixon’s “Drum Your Way to Hollywood” contest concluded last month, and a winner was recently announced: Lou Mars earned himself a Demon kit and the opportunity to play in Hollywood, CA for an A&R panel that includes Matt Messina and Mark Bistany. Lou’s session will even be filmed and aired on the A&R channel.