Drummers

John Tempesta

(November 25, 2007)

A New York drummer with a talent for thrash metal, John Tempesta has played his way through a number of the world’s more notable – and heavier – rock bands. Born Aug. 19, 1963, in New York City, Tempesta grew up in the Bronx. He was inspired to play the drums after watching the classic Beatles film “A Hard Day’s Night” on television as a child, thinking that Ringo Starr “looked so cool.” When John heard that a neighbor was selling a drum kit for $25, he begged his mother to let him buy it.

Bill Stewart

(November 25, 2007)

Bill Stewart was probably destined to be a musician, but he found his way to the percussion section rather than the low brass. Born William Harris Stewart on Oct. 18, 1966, in Des Moines, Iowa, his first and middle names were his father’s homage to a great jazz trombonist, Bill Harris. Stewart’s father was a trombonist himself, but the son began teaching himself the drums at age 7. His education mostly came from listening to his father’s record collection, since Iowa in the 1970s wasn’t much of a hotbed for jazz music.

Ringo Starr

(November 25, 2007)

Born on July 7, 1940, on Madryn Street in Toxteth, Wales, Richard Starkey Jr. would become a household name – as Ringo Starr, drummer of The Beatles. But so far as rock music fame goes, you know it don’t come easy. Starkey’s parents divorced when he was just 3 years old. He was raised in a working-class area of Liverpool by his mother, Elsie, and a stepdad, Harry Graves, whom the boy liked very much and who encouraged his stepson’s interest in music.

Matt Sorum

(November 25, 2007)

Matt Sorum has played in the biggest arenas and the smallest of smoky bars and dives, and none of them are really big enough to contain his sound. Born Matthew William Sorum on Nov. 19, 1960, in Mission Viejo, Calif., Sorum was already becoming known on the Southern California music scene by his mid-teens. Wearing “Union Jack” shorts and usually nothing else, he hammered away at a huge acrylic drum set as a member of an otherwise unmemorable band, Prophecy.

Steve Smith

(November 25, 2007)

Though Steve Smith didn’t travel far to study percussion, his career as a drummer has been quite a journey. Smith was born Aug. 21, 1954, in Whitman, Mass. He got his first drum kit at the age of 2, and began taking lessons from Bill Flanagan at age 9. By the age of 12, Smith had a “real” drum set, and in his teens started playing not only in his high school band, but with various garage bands. He graduated high school in 1972, then attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Marvin Smitty Smith

(November 25, 2007)

Did you nod off and miss the punch line to one of Jay Leno’s jokes? Maybe “Smitty” Smith’s rim shot will wake you and remind you to laugh. Born June 24, 1961, in Waukegan, Ill., Marvin “Smitty” Smith was exposed to percussion at an early age; he is the son of a drummer. He started receiving formal training at the age of 3, and later studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Chad Smith

(November 25, 2007)

Chad Smith cut his musical teeth in the chilly northern U.S., but he’d have to move to sunny California before he found fame with one of alternative rock’s biggest bands. Smith was born Oct. 25, 1961, in St. Paul, Minn., to Curtis and Joan Smith. He grew up in the Michigan city of Bloomfield Hills, attending Andover High School and later Lahser High, from which he graduated in 1980. Smith for a time ran away from home, and when he returned, his mother enrolled him in boarding school.

Chuck Silverman

(November 25, 2007)

Chuck Silverman has staked out a reputation in percussion as both a specialist in applying Afro-Caribbean rhythms to the drum set, and as an educator. Silverman has traveled worldwide teaching thousands of drummers about traditional Afro-Caribbean rhythms such as mambo, songo and samba. He also has developed and shared a more creative approach to learning the drums by incorporating these styles into the student’s rhythmic foundation. According to Silverman’s Web site, his technique “will help you to develop command and control of the instrument.”

Terry Silverlight

(November 25, 2007)

Terry Silverlight has made his mark on music not only as a drummer, but as a bandleader, composer, producer, arranger and educator in almost every style of music. Silverlight got started in the field quite early. In 1971, at only 14 years of age, he played on his brother Barry Miles’ album “White Heat,” considered by some observers to be a groundbreaking recording and a harbinger of the jazz fusion movement.

Ed Shaughnessy

(November 25, 2007)

For many years on “The Tonight Show,” when a Johnny Carson joke was punctuated by a rim-shot, the drumsticks were in the hands of Ed Shaughnessy. Born Edwin Thomas Shaughnessy on Jan. 29, 1929, in Jersey City, N.J., he grew up in the New York City area. An accomplished percussionist in several styles, Shaughnessy is perhaps best known for his role in the Tonight Show Band under bandleader Doc Severinsen.

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