Growing up in Chicago has definitely given Brett Sleeman a musical education many do not have the opportunity to receive. As a young child, Brett drove his family crazy pounding on anything he could get his hands on, even his mother’s Tupperware and dishes. Finally at the age of 15 he received his first drum set and private lessons. He quickly progressed as a musician and was accepted into the prestigious Depaul University’s music program in Chicago, at the young age of 17..(only 2 years after his first lesson). After a short period of time he realized that the classroom was just not for him, and went on the road with a up & coming band. In this time he shared the stage for such acts as Buddy Guy, Bo Diddly, and The Miami Sound Machine, Bad company, Three Dog Night, just to name a few. Returning home after about a year..(burnt out from road) Brett decided to dedicate himself to the world of percussion ...... in which he now plays percussion with one of the top zydeco bands around....Hurricane Gumbo, as well as many different artists. Teaching drums and percussion for over 20 years now has kept Brett incredibly busy. He has over 50 students a week on average. Brett is able to make a full time living as a musician playing with blues, funk, latin, big band, jazz, rock, heavy metal and his latest venture... country. Brett is always seeking out opportunities to continue his education, taking lessons over the years with such greats as Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Max Roach, Bernard Purdie, and Alex Acuna, and the list goes on. For the past couple of years, Brett has taken the time to venture into some uncharted waters...live sound/recording/engineer...in which he has spent many thousands, and many hours, trying to educate himself in these areas. He currently runs sound for ALL his bands (which might be up to ten, as of now)...as well as he digitally records all shows on his 32 track recorder. He then burns it down to disk after the gig, and sells the live performance to his faithful fans...(anyway to make a $) Word is getting around Chicago lately, on his great talent as a live sound engineer...in which he adds many gigs a month, running sound/recording, for some of the areas top bands. Add these gigs to all his drum/percussion/studio gigs....and don't forget his students... it's a wonder how he does it.
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