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Sick Drummer Magazine Sponsoring Dirt Fest 2009! |
37 Studios and Statik Factory Records are proud to present Dirt Fest 2009! Mid-Michigan’s premier independent outdoor music festival will celebrate its 13th event on Saturday, July 11th 2009 at the Birch Run Expo Center in Birch Run, MI. For over a decade, Dirt Fest has been a staple concert event for music fans from all over the U.S. and Canada fusing genres such as rock, metal, alternative, electronic, indie and more to multiple stages. Dirt Fest has a strong impact on artists’ merchandise sales and has been a significant launching pad for many bands’ careers.
With a growing lineup, 2009’s Dirt Fest will host bands such as Framing Hanley, Necrophagist, Owl City, Origin, Suffocation, After The Burial, Winds of Plague, Darkest Hour, along with over 50 other local and regional acts. Added attractions, extreme sports expos and eclectic vendors will round out the experience.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $29 day-of-show and are available from www.dirtfest.com as well as various retail outlets across Michigan.
For more information, lineup updates, driving directions and media, please visit www.dirtfest.com |
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The Passing of Louie Bellson - A Legend |
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I was in Toronto the other night and heard about the passing of Louie Bellson while in a cab, on the way to see Cynic play for the first time. Needless to say, it was a strange, and sad moment in my life. Here I was going to hang out with a 15 year  drumming influence of mine, and the radio brings the sad news. I sat and thought to myself, wow! One passes as I am on the way to see another... It's a strange life.
Referred to by Duke Ellington as “not only the world’s greatest drummer...(but also) the world’s greatest musician!”, Louie Bellson has expressed himself on drums since age three. At 15, he pioneered the double bass drum set-up. At 17, he triumphed over 40,000 drummers to win the Gene Krupa drumming contest.
He performed on more than 200 albums with such greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Woody Herman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Wayne Newton and Bellson’s late wife Pearl Bailey.
Composer and author, he wrote more than 1,000 compositions and more than a dozen books on drums and percussion. He received the prestigious American Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994. Also, he is a six-time Grammy nominee.
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Practice Routines: By Travis Orbin |
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Possessing a structured practice routine can be extremely beneficial to one's playing. I am oftentimes approached by musicians that feel as if they either do not practice as much as they should/would like to, doodle around too much when they do have the time, or have simply gotten 'lazy' and lack inspiration (or--worst yet--a combination of the aforementioned). As a result of the obvious absence of productivity a stagnant period can occur.
When devising your practice routine the most important thing to consider is where your goals lay. Do you wish to become more proficient at a specific technique, at reading music, or at playing a particular style of music as authentically as you can (etc.)? The key to any of this is repetition. Exploration is certainly healthy and required at times (heck, I'm guilty of indulging a bit too much myself) but if you'd really like to buckle down and progress at a quicker pace, you have to put in the hours... and boy, do I mean hours! |
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