Congrats to Hawkins and the other Foos for picking up a Grammy tonight. Their CD Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace won for Best Rock Album, beating out discs by Daughtry (huh), Bruce Springsteen (surprise), John Fogarty (…is he still alive?), and Wilco.
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Cindy Blackman Loves Jazz
…Not really a news flash that, but it was apparently enough of a revelation to warrant an article in Canadian newspaper The Windsor Star. Blackman’s new jazz-oriented album, Music for the New Millennium, was released last month. We’re still waiting for our review copy (hint, hint publicity people), so until then, here‘s what allaboutjazz thought.
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Poogie Bell’s Grammy Nod
Poogie played on Angelique Kidjo’s latest record, Djin Djin, which is up for a Grammy this Sunday. But will he be going to the award show? Probably not:
Getting the invitation is not that hard, but everything that goes with it, the parties—it’s a rich guy’s sport. I just play drums.
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Neil Peart Hearts His Bass Drum
And he wants to tell you all about it on DW’s website. The man is almost as good with his pen as he is with his sticks. Almost.
Update: The transcript isn’t available on DW’s site any longer it appears, but you can still find it on Power Windows. Yay!
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Mikkey Dee and Motorhead
In an interview with Rockpages.gr, Motorhead drummer Mikkey Dee talks about touring with Lemmy, clears up a King Diamond rumor, and says that Don Dokken is a great musician….
Damn. Dee’s one fuckin’ prince of dude. And as much as we love Philthy Animal Taylor, Dee is definitely the better drummer too. Check it out:
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Dave Buckner Is Not Papa Roach’s Drummer
Papa Roach and drummer Dave Buckner have parted ways, at least for a while. Frontdude Jacoby Shaddix has this to say:
It was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. He’s taking this time to get his life together. We are still friends and still talk on a regular basis.
No word about a replacement yet. Need a gig?
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No Love for Beach Boys Drummer
Brian Wilson got a tribute tune from the Barenaked Ladies, but Dennis Wilson….well, he just got himself drunk and dead and then fairly forgotten. So in remembrance of a fallen stick swinger, here’s one dude’s take on Dennis’s 1977 solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue.
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New Vic Firth Video: Vinnie Paul
Hell yeah! Vinnie Paul is the subject of this week’s Vic Firth video podcast. Vinnie chats a little about his influences, how he got started playing double bass, and (surprise, surprise) his new signature stick.
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Tommy Lee on Film
This time, though, he’ll be off camera and (probably) dressed. Lee’s going to narrate a documentary, Dear Jack, about Andrew McMahon’s battle with cancer. McMahon is the vocalist/pianist for the band Something Corporate and his solo project Jack’s Mannequin. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. Check out a preview of the movie here.
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Zildjian Expands K Light Series
A 22″ ride and a couple pairs of hi-hats (including some 16″ whoppers) join Zildjian’s K Lights. Click on the images below to get to audio files of the new cymbals.
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New Roland V-Drums
Sweet! Roland has introduced a new series, the TD-9, to fill out its venerable line of V-Drums. Those of you lucky enough to be attending NAMM (our badges, alas, appear to be lost in the mail) will be able to try a kit out. No word on pricing yet, but the series is mid-level. $2,000?
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Who Was the Best Beatles Drummer?
Ringo is pretty goddamn sure it was himself. The other three lads liked to take a whack at the kit, particularly Paul, who played the drum part on “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” but Ringo ain’t backing down:
…[Paul’s] an incredible bass player, but he’s not a great drummer. George Harrison had his own way of playing drums, John Lennon had his own way of playing them, too. They’d hit them about a bit but they couldn’t really play.
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Sabian’s New OverRide
Jimmy DeGrasso got Sabian to make him one big-ass ride cymbal, a 23″ monster with an 8″ bell. A Sabian product specialist says about the new OverRide:
This cymbal is designed to be loud….
You think?
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This Music Sequencer Has Balls
Lots and lots of them. Beats are programmed by putting the balls in receptor cups that represent different parts of a drum kit—kick, snare, hats, and (yes!) cowbell. It was designed by Peter Bennett, who’s working on his PhD thesis tentatively titled “Interaction-Design Techniques for Multimodal Musical Interfaces.” What any of this will mean for drum-machine design we have no idea. But maybe future drum techs will have to add “ball polishing” to their list of duties.