About Me
I can't remember a time when music wasn't a big part of my life. I was raised in a musical family in the suburbs of Los Angeles. My mom played marimba, classical guitar and upright bass. My father, a first call bass trombone player in the L A studio scene, always had music playing. Running through the yard on any given day was scored by dad's stereo playing anything from Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder to Bach and Stockhausen. It made for a musical stew that is forever feeding my inspiration. Although I was initially set on playing guitar, I knew within 3 lessons that I was on the wrong instrument. Not long after, when I was 9 years old and finally allowed in my dad's studio, I sat down at a drum set for the first time (although my dad is a bass trombone player, he had a drum set that he played now and then). I knew instantly that I was "home", that I had found my life's calling. On the advice of a drummer friend of my dad's, I learned a basic rock beat and then played with records for a whole year before getting formal lessons. I rememeber, clear as day, the first 3 records that I played to: Steely Dan-Aja, Toto-1 and the Brother's Johnson-Right On Time. From the very begining I fell in love with the grooves. The hypnotic pulse created by well placed notes with just the right dynamic touch. In addition to taking lessons at the local music store, I was afforded the great privilege of occassional lessons from top pros that were friends of my dad, including Steve Houghton, Emil Richards and Joe Porcaro. I credit Joe with opening my eyes to the importance of good technique and a deep understanding of music theory as it applies to the drum set. After graduating high school (earning the Herb Alpert music scholarship) I enrolled at California State University of Northridge as a music major. After the initial shock of being surrounded by great drummers, I dove headfirst into studying every aspect of drums and percussion that I could get my hands on. It was here that I met Jerry Steinholtz. Simply put, Jerry is one of the most important teachers I ever had. Jerry is a master of helping "gringos" understand Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion. Jerry opened my eyes to a world of new rhythms and percussion instruments. He took me under his wing and really showed me what it means to be a professional musician. Jerry always stressed the importance of "taking care of biz". While studying at CSUN, I was given the opportunity, thanks to Jerry, to be the Secretary of the Southern California chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. This included helping to organize clinics with such greats as, Bernard Purdie, Joey Heredia, Nexus, Joe Porcaro and many others. In addition to my studies at CSUN, I continued to take advantage of the many great teachers in the LA area. I studied Nigerian talking drum with Francis Awe, tablas with Leonice Shinneman from Cal Arts and a few lessons with Luis Conte. After 2 years at CSUN, I realized that the predominantly classical curriculum was not serving my purposes (though I should mention that the attention to detail and dynamics in classical music helped my overall develpment as a musician). So I decided to drop out and join as many bands as I could to get some practical experience. I had a great experience playing with Morris Tepper (John Hiatt and Captain Beefheart) in an eclectic folk band called Eggtooth. I was already drawn to trying new sounds and grooves. Eggtooth really allowed me the freedom to experiement (a breath of fresh air after trying to fit in a stuffy classical box). I started to hone in on the types of music that I enjoyed playing. Namely, playing with great songwriters that were open to mixing styles and always incorporating great grooves. Not long after playing with Eggtooth, I joined a band called Old Soul. I joined the band as a percussionist and knew instantly that I had found something special. To this day, my years with this band are some of my most treasured musical experiences. We all brought out the best in each other and it showed in the music. Not long after joining the band, the main songwriter announced that he was sorry but that he had to get out of L A and was heading for Boulder, Colorado. I thought, "Oh well, there goes that". Soon after, one of our friends came back from a road trip through Colorado and brought a big stack of pictures. Well it doesn't take long to figure out that Colorado is a whole lot prettier than L A. I decided to move to Boulder, sight unseen, just a few months later. Although the decision to leave friends and family was hard, I never gave leaving L A a second thought and Boulder felt like home the day I drove into town. Eventually everyone from Old Soul moved out, minus the drummer. It was then that I became the drummer/percussionist for the band. We did pretty good and even got signed to an indie lable in Denver, but it never got off the ground. We still stay in touch and record stuff for fun. In the meantime, I was starting to get work with other local bands, first live stuff and then doing sessions. Despite all logic that L A would be the better place to be to make a living in music, Boulder soon proved to be a rich musical community, full of diverse musical oppurtunities. Since coming to Colorado in 1993, I have been very blessed with musical experiences. I have played on over 300 local and national CD's with some of Colorado's best musicians, including (in no particular order) Rebecca Folsom, Nelson Rangell, Dave Beegle, String Cheese Incident, Jock Bartley, Richie Furay, Nina Storey, Newcomers Home, Dotsero, Chuck Pyle, Eidolon, Tony Furtado, The Winstons, Steve Glotzer, Axe, Wendy Woo, Kutandara, Second Sound and many others. I have also performed live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival with Tony Furtado, String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon and The Boomchicks (All Star band featuring Mary Chapen Carpenter, Sally Van Meter, Sally Truitt, Allison Brown, Allison Krause, Chris Thile, Joe Craven, Shawn Colvin and more). I also had the great honor of playing two years at The Conference of World Affairs jazz concert (with Dave and Don Grusin and Nelson Rangell). Not to mention fill in gigs with Donna Summer and William Topley as well as local gigs with: Rebecca Folsom, Liz Barnez, Dave Beegle, Steve Glotzer, Lannie Garret, The Winstons, Rekha Ohal, Mark Oblinger, La Candela, Mitchell Long, Second Sound, Scott Von, Axe, Soul Sacrifice, Firefall and others. Perhaps my most treasured live gig is my job as house drummer for E Town ( www.etown.org ). In the 7 or so years that I have been working on E Town I have had the sheer delight of playing with many artists from around the world including, James Taylor, Rickie Lee Jones, Michael McDonald, The Blind Boys of Alabhama, Mavis Staples, Joan Osborne, Keb' Mo, Charlie Musselwhite, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Randy Newman, The Crash Test Dummies, Michelle Shocked, Suzanne Vega and several others. All this in addition to teaching 30-40 students a week (at The Drum Shop in Boulder, CO) has kept me very busy indeed. I should mention at this point that not only has Boulder given me some of the best musical experiences in my life, it is here that I found the love of my life Suzanne. And it is also here that we brought the most beautiful little girl (no personal bias of course) into the world. In the summer of 2004, Sarah was born to the two happiest people in the world. She is a bright shining light in our world and the inspiration for so much of what I do. It was with Sarah in mind that I built a home recording studio about three years ago, thus allowing me the ability to work at home and watch her grow up. I have a new passion for recording, being able to create in my own space with no clock ticking. This has allowed me to work on projects both based in Boulder and from across the nation and feasably the world. One recent project of note was working on the soundtrack for Jane Goodall's Message of Peace DVD. Outside of all this, I continue to work and grow as a musician and look forward to the day when Peter Gabriel calls looking for his next drummer. Thanks for listening.Christian .
