Big Drum Thump

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.

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]

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, the United States welcomed its new president, Barack Obama, with a highly anticipated inaugural ceremony. One of the many performances to ring in this historic event was by New Jersey’s The Bonnie Brae Knights Drum Corps.

Bonnie Brae is a residential school for troubled boys in Bernards Township in Somerset County. At the time of their application, the corps had no instructor, no uniforms, and played on broken drums with limited drumsticks. That was besides the estimated $6,000 the group didn’t have to get to Washington, D.C.

Compelled by the story, Sabian, world’s leading designer and maker of musical cymbals, sent four pairs of their popular crash cymbals to the group, to help them achieve their goal of playing for President Obama.

I, your humble SFL, drew the big straw at BDT headquarters and packed all my niftiest electro-gadgets to go cover NAMM, the music industry’s largest and loudest trade show in America. I spent the day attending press events, snapping tons of pictures, eye humping all the great drum gear, and chatting with friends old and new. Over the next few days, I’ll post frequently about all the cool bangables that have been unveiled at the show. Be sure to check out BDT’s Flickr page for the complete stream of photos (it will be inundated once I get Flickr to play nice with an ailing—though venerable, dammit!—G4 iBook).

On November 2, 2008, Sabian sponsored the “Big Beat” event, held at nine Five-Star percussion shops across North America. With 1,286 drummers participating, the event raised a total of $45,503 for charity, $17,183 of which went to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation for the purpose of supplying musical instruments to deserving children in Big Beat cities.

Ain’t drummers just completely bloody awesome?

‘Tis the season for drummers to do good deeds.

Cut to the Drummer is an art show and drumming event that supports the MS Society of Canada Scholarship Program. And it looks pretty friggin’ cool. The art show comprises 50 portraits of 50 drummers by 50 artists. Tony Williams, Chad Smith, John Bonham, and Neil Peart are just a couple of the greats represented (check out the complete list here). The drumming portion of the show—the Drum-o-Rama—showcases up-and-coming drummers and local stars soloing head to head.

The event will take place on February 5, 2009, in Toronto, Canada. Tickets cost $150 for a VIP preview and silent auction, and $30 for the Public Reception and Drum-O-Rama.