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Drummers Who Use Our Drums / Testimonials


The following artists enjoy playing and using the products that come from Everyone's Drumming Company. We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to these performers for their support in one way or another and for inspiring us with their music. Please check out the projects that they work on by following their links. It is all great stuff.



Matt Abst

Matt Abts
Gov't Mule

Matt Abts , 2003 Grammy Nominated drummer, original member of Gov't Mule, first started playing music in high school in Panama before relocating to Virginia where he spent the next eight years playing music regionally in many, many bands before moving to Florida and getting a break playing with Dickey Betts and Chuck Leavell in 1984. Matt recorded "Pattern Disruptive" with the Dickey Betts Band in 1988 which also included future GM cohort Warren Haynes and X2 keyboardist Johnny Neel.
Matt Relocated to Los Angeles, Cal., where he, Warren and Allen Woody played their first gig as Gov't Mule in 1994. GM recorded five albums and toured extensively till Aug. 2000, when bass player Woody passed away unexpectedly.
Matt Abts and Warren Haynes lost their brother and musical partner but continued on with the release of the "Deep End" I & II, and the "Deepest End" DVD, as a tribute to Allen featuring over 20 of the biggest names in bass players ever assembled (including John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, Larry Graham, Alphonso Johnson, and Flea) on two records and a DVD film recording of an historic live show in New Orleans 2003. GM was nominated for a Grammy for "Sco Mule", which was on "Deep End" I.
In 2004, with keyboard player Danny Louis and bass player Andy Hess already in the new line up, GM releases "Deja Voodoo" and continues touring in support of, nationally and abroad through 2005.
Time away from Gov’t Mule allows for recording and live performances in many different formats. "X2" and "Deep Fried", (both bands include Johnny Neel, and in DF, members George Porter Jr. and Brian Stoltz), and Hook Herrera have remained active in the past year.

2003 Grammy Nomination - performance - Sco-Mule

2002 Drummie Award - #1 R&B Drummer - Drum! Magazine
2004 Drummer Award - #1 Jam Band Drummer - Drum! Magazine
Modern Drummer Feature Articles
Drum! Magazine Feature Articles

Check out the new Matt Abts Signature Series Djembe Cajon!

Vinny Amico

Vinnie Amico
MOE


Frank Bloom

Frank Bloom
The Rhythm Cats


Matt Butler

Matt Butler
The Everyone Orchestra

THE EVERYONE ORCHESTRA is a revolving cast of stellar musicians conducted by founder Matt Butler at concerts, festivals and special events. EO performances are designed to span musical genres and break the boundaries of how an audience experiences music, while having a lot of fun and doing good too. It's a celebratory, interactive, improvisational experiment orchestrated by a mad scientist conductor! While Butler is the primary conductor, the Orchestra has also been conducted by other musicians and members of the audience too.

The list of Everyone Orchestra participants is an increasingly wide and intercontinental group including members of The Grateful Dead, Phish, moe., String Cheese Incident, The Flecktones, Club d'Elf, ALO, Tea Leaf Green and Adrian Belew, Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Tuvan throat singers, live painters, dancers, chanters, choirs, hula hoopers, firespinners, jugglers, stiltwalkers, storytellers, a presidential candidate and hundreds of others among a growing legion of other performers.
Butler’s version of breaking down the barriers between musician and audience derives in part from desert art festival Burning Man’s ‘no spectators, only participants’ ethic and is undoubtedly influenced by his old friend and mentor Ken Kesey, the king of the Merry Pranksters.

The Everyone Orchestra is dedicated to working for good and has performed numerous concerts for non-profit organizations, coordinated donation drives for the needy, and has brought their brand of participatory performance to student groups, schools, hospitals, an orphanage and more.


Joe Craven

Joe Craven
David Grisman Quintet

Joe Cravenis a madman with anything that has strings attached; violin, mandolin, tin can, bedpan, cookie tin, tenor guitar, mouth bow, banjo, berimbau, balalaika, boot ‘n lace plus a world of percussion instruments including animal bones, squeeze toys, cake pans, waste cans, umbrella stands, martini shakers and...Himself. His stage setup more often resembles a yard sale. But there's more to Craven than meets the ear. Educator, visual artist, former museum curator, motivational speaker, actor/storyteller and festival emcee, Joe’s work is born out of respect and reverence and seeks to honor the creative energy in everyone. An advocate of the folk arts, Joe’s educational mission is to empower individuals to take possession of their own music and tell their stories by “demystifying” art through self-expression as a daily ritual.

For almost 17 years, Joe Craven was the highly respected multi-instrumentalist with the David Grisman Quintet... yeah, Joe was the guy with the Ralph Stanley autographed bongos and fiddle. Having played and/or recorded with Jerry Garcia, Stéphane Grappelli, Maria Muldaur, Vassar Clements, The Persuasions, Psychograss, The Alison Brown Quartet, Darol Anger, Rob Ickes, Bob Brozman, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, spoken word maven Ken Nordine and many others, Joe has performed music & sound effects on a wide variety of recordings including commercials, soundtracks, computer games and several Grammy nominated projects.

In music, Joe is a bit like Indiana Jones; a musical archeologist going on wild adventures with his finds. More a re-composer and recycler of music as object and idea, Joe believes that "Music that's informally made and shared is a hallmark of folk music and it is this spirit of art making that leads to the more creative life of not just art consumer but art maker as well. Anyone's life stories can be wrought into amazing tunes and songs - shared and handed down through observation and imitation – then embellished/altered with different versions through time. That's where the new music comes fro m. When you learn other people's music you learn about your own" . His own wildly varied recordings are testimonies to this folk music philosophy. They stretch the boundaries of musical style while paying tribute to and helping forward evolving musical traditions.

As an educator, Joe's clinics, workshops and school presentations on music participation have captivated audiences around the country. He's worked with students from preschool to adult in a variety of settings. He completed his first artist in residency at California State University – Chico to rave reviews and has expanded his educational outreach to museums and music camps ranging from fiddle to percussion to song school. According to Joe, "Music is imagination, expression, therapy and living in the creative spirit. It doesn't need labels as much as it needs opportunity. Through exploration, sincerity of application, AND practice you can make music on just about anything." And he's proven his point by playing everything from dashboards to squeeze toys to his head. "It's great to just pick up things like an empty water jug, garden tools or your pet and discover their inherant musical qualities, as well as your own," he says. "It's not the thing, but the process of how you connect with it that makes great music.

Don't throw it away – redefine it as a musical tool – teach it to a child – leave it as a gift."



Don Culp

Don "DC" Culp
Gary "Guitar" and the Grinders
Becky Chase Band

http://www.garyguitarandthegrinders.com
http://www.donculp.net



Jim Donovan

Jim Donovan
Rusted Root, Jim Donovan's Drum the Ecstatic International

Blog: http://thejimdonovanblog.blogspot.com/
Web: http://www.JimDonovanDrums.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jimdonovan
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/jmdbird


From 1990-2005, Jim Donovan was a founding member and driving force of the multi-platinum band, Rusted Root. Jim made countless trips around North America and abroad with the popular jam-band, sharing the stage with rock & roll legends such as Santana, Page and Plant, Sting, Dave Matthews Band, The Allman Brothers, Sheryl Crowe, The Grateful Dead, and many others.

Donovan was recently named
"2008 Drum Circle Facilitator of the Year"
by the readers of Drum! Magazine

Donovan studied and played African rhythms with various master drummers such as Congolese master drummer Elie Kihonia, Mamady Keita and Mbemba Bangoura. He also studied African Music with noted scholar, Kwabena Nketia from Ghana.

He has researched traditional African music for over 20 years via field recordings, and has continuously integrated his findings into all his music both as a solo recording artist and with Rusted Root.

As a solo artist, Donovan has released 5 highly acclaimed solo CD's as well as 4 instructional drumming CD's. His newest releases include Drum the Ecstatic International, The Yoga of Drum and Chant, and a hand drumming instructional series called Rhythmic Foundation: Volumes 1 and 2.

Fulfilling his desire to share the power of rhythm first hand, Donovan built a series of educational drumming workshops that he teaches across the US and Europe at universities, festivals, schools, corporations, and specialty venues. He is a full-time instructor of music at Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA, the current director of the Saint Francis University World Drumming Ensemble and the director of the annual Rhythm Renewal Drumming Retreat.

Donovan is also a featured monthly columnist in Drum! Magazine.

Check out Jim Donovan's Signature Series Djembes!


Rob Fried

Rob Fried Rest in Peace brother
Max Creek



Tom Gilbert

Tom Gilbert
Donna the Buffalo


Mike Gordon Phish

Mike Gordon
Phish


Joules Graves

Joules Graves
Solo Artist


Sam Holmstock

Sam Holmstock
Entrain

According to Sam, we deliver "the best US made djembe for sound, workmanship and service. My first choice."


Kalani

Kalani


Dave Kobrenski

Dave Kobrenski
Black Bear Moon Music & Cultural Project


John Molo

John Molo
Modereko
John Fogerty
Phil & Friends


Asa Redmond

Asa Redmond
Sim Redmond Band


Yonrico Scott

Yonrico Scott
Derek Trucks Band

Check out our Custom Yonrico Scott Painted drums.. here

Michael Travis

Michael Travis
String Cheese Incident

Michael says, "Everyone's Drumming makes well crafted drums that embody a lot of spirit. It's obvious by the quality of the drums that they are players themselves. Each instrument shows attention to details and come perfectly tuned."


Keller Williams

Keller Williams
Solo Artist

Keller says, "The drums from Everyone's Drumming have superior tone and they look marvelous and it doesn't hurt that the people at the company are uber cool. I have a feeling I will be playing my drum from Everyone's Drumming for a long time, or should I say beat it...and you can't beat a drum from Everyone's Drumming."



Gilad Dobrecky

Percussionist, composer, and clinician Gilad has been called "one of the world's top percussionists" by Jazziz magazine. Bill Meredith, assistant editor of Jazziz magazine, said "like Willie Bobo and Alex Acuna, Gilad excels at both drums and percussion - but unlike those great players, the Israel-born, Middle Eastern-inspired player excels at both simultaneously through his hybrid drum/percussion setup."

Visit Gilad Dobrecky on Myspace




Yahuba Garcia "El Pollo"

The Boston-born Puerto Rican Conga sensation has been lighting up the Boston music scene with so many different bands, it is hard to keep track. He has recently been seen on stage with Percy Hill, Blacksnake, Jen Kearney & The Lost Onion, The Boston Horns, Assembly of Dust &, The Ryan Montbleau Band, just to name a handful. This list only keeps getting longer as more Boston musicians hear and see him play.

As an educator he has been visiting schools, speaking and performing in front of children of all ages about his Puerto Rican culture, music and heritage. Yahuba is also a private percussion instructor in the Boston area.
As a musician, Yahuba knows no boundaries, he embraces every style of music as if it was his own, and is true to the craft of showmanship. One only needs to see the charismatic joy he delivers through his music to understand how he got his name.
Yahuba says "Im very excited to announce that I just got my first drum endorsement!!! I am officially playing on a Djembe made by Everyones Drumming. For those of you who frequent the jamband festival scene in New England, you have probably walked into a booth that sells all sorts of African hand drums. This same company has also made drums that you have seen on stage with bands like The Derek Trucks Band, Spearhead, Government Mule and many others. So needless to say I am in good hands and siked to be entering this partnership with a solid and reputable drum maker."




Harvey Sorgen

Harvey Sorgen has performed and /or recorded with the following artists: HOT TUNA, AHMAD JAMAL, MICHELLE SHOCKED, PAUL SIMON,DEWEY REDMAN, DAVE DOUGLAS, MARK FELDMAN, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, GIOVANNI HILDAGO, WADADA LEO SMITH, CAMERON BROWN, STEVE SWELL, NEIL ROLNICK, ANTHONY BRAXTON, CARTER JEFFERSON, JOHN STUBBLEFIELD, BRENDA BUFFALINO, HONI COLES, DAUNIK LAZRO, TODD REYNOLDS, DERRICK TRUCKS, ROSWELL RUDD, PHIL LESH, DAVID TORN, THE MEMPHIS PILGRIM S, BILL FRISELL, FONDA/STEVENS GROUP, CARLOS SANTANA, DRY JACK, ART LANDE, JOHN D’EARTH, NRBQ, BOB WEIR, GREG ALLMAN, MARCEL MONROE, THE MALLARDS, SORGEN-RUST-WINDBIEL TRIO, JACK DEJOHNETTE, DAVE SAMUELS, DREW GRESS, TONY LEVIN, PETE LEVIN, GARTH HUDSON, JIMMY VIVINO, among many others.

Harvey Sorgen has also written and performed pieces for film and the stage, including a solo percussion piece for the New Day Repetoire Theater’s version of “Antigone”

Harvey Sorgen has been interviewed by the following magazines: Modern Drummer, DRUM!, Down Beat, All About Jazz, Jazz Podium (Germany), and Jazz Halo (Belgium).

Through Dreamland Recording Studio and freelance work, Harvey is an accomplished audio engineer and editor. Past projects include the remastering of the entire ESP record label, and is currently digitally remastering the entire Homespun Tapes back audio catalog using Pro Tools.

Harvey Sorgen's first instructional video " Drumming Made Easy " is currently available worldwide from Homespun Tapes Inc. / Hal Leonard publishing. Harvey Sorgen also appears on Jack DeJohnette's " Musical Expression On The Drum Set" and Jorma Kaukonen's " The Electric Guitar Of Jorma Kaukonen “ DVD’s also available from Homespun Tapes Inc.

Visit Harvey Sorgen on Myspace


Zach Deputy
Solo Artist

There is nothing out there like Zach Deputy. Truly a one-man band, he is a powerhouse of performance, technical chops, and one hell of a charismatic presence. Put simply, Zach Deputy does what is called looping; layering sounds through the magic of technology to create a full band effect. He isn't the only performer out there doing this, but he has taken the technique to the next level. First and foremost, however, Zach Deputy is a songwriter, a shredding guitarist and a soulful singer with a 4+ octave vocal range.

For a full Bio on Zach Deputy, and more info like where you can catch one of his amazing performances visit zachdeputy.com


Drummers Testimonials