Ron Thaler

**** NEWS FLASH ****
RON TO APPEAR ON NBC's "LIPSTICK JUNGLE" ALONGSIDE BROOKE SHIELDS & PROJECT GRAND SLAM
In early January '08, Ron will head into NBC studios for an on-camera role on the pilot episode of a new weekly series,"Lipstick Jungle" starring Brooke Shields, with pop-jazz outfit Project Grand Slam. Three of the bands songs, co-produced by Ron and the legendary Frank Fillipetti, will also be featured during the episode. The band is to have a recurring role on the program, as the husband of Brooke Shields's character on the series is a musician. The show's premiere episode airs February 7 2008.
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Happy Thanksgiving 2007 To All My Friends !
I hope all of you are doing well, it has been quite some time since I found the opportunity to update this page, I hope everyone has been keeping busy and plying their trade :)
The last 10 months have been non-stop for yours truly. Starting in January I embarked upon recording and producing indie-folk icon Eric Hill’s 3rd solo album (www.erichill.net), before heading off to the West Coast to do a series of drum clinics and master classes. I then made several appearances at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles at the Sabian, Pearl, Evans, Vic Firth, and Duallist booths before heading to Cannes France for the MIDEM show (www.midem.com), making waves as a number of great international labels agreed to distribute my forthcoming new release, the experimental and eclectic Elimotion Project II (featuring Matthew Garrison and DJ Logic). A Japanese and Russian tour are in the works for 2008, as well as appearances on BET’s “Studio Jams” TV program.
Back In NYC, I began preproduction work on funk-pop artist Jason Yudoff’s album “Tragic Hero” (www.jasonyudoff.com) , at the same time finalizing tracks for Eric Hill’s album and co-writing music with Robert Miller for PGS and with Russian rocker Allen Hammett. Throughout the spring I also found myself participating on a long list of album projects at Tainted Blue Studios (www.taintedblue.com) and other great studios in NYC including tracks for int’l pop recording artists Ashley Simpson, Kacie Sheik, Caroline Gulde, reknown children’s music composer Patrick Shaw, Rock En Espagnol, cabaret icon Jeffrey Wilgus, funk-soul-jazz stalwart Robert Miller’s Project Grand Slam, (the ever comedic) Fran Drescher, (playboy bunny) Lynn Verlayne, and Israeli pop-jazzer Gilad Ronen, in between performances and mini-tours with indie artists Katie Pawluk, Gjorgi, PGS, Eric Hill, Mike Mako, The Diggs, and others.
Jason Yudoff’s album "Tragic Hero" was completed in June, and I’m thrilled to be able to tell YouTube). I also continued my many sessions at Tainted Blue, tracking TV spots for the WB, Hidden Palms, MTV, as well doing sessions for artists Alicia Keys, Parkview, Tori Amosta, Neal Coomer, J Records, and The Virgins.
The month of August was spent in Europe, with several drum clinics interspersed between an Eric Hill 3-week long tour in support of his new album, “Second Sight”. A truly great and inspiring time ! See my website's “News” page for photos from the tour !
The pace has not slowed this fall. Current projects include album production and tracking for (Jewel/Ani DeFranco inspired) indie-pop artist Kelly St. Patrick, goth-glam queen Ameilia Terry, as well as TV appearances and North-American dates with artist Jason Yudoff. Ron also recently partnered with two very unique web-based independent companies, “Drum Pro Now” (www.drumpronow.com), where producers & artists can harness the experience of select studio drummers at their own studios to custom-record tracks for their albums and recording projects; and WoozyFly (www.woozyfly.com), a new web-based independent music promotion and video-creation company that will feature reality-show e-programs starring Ron, including “Blondie Drummer Boy: The Producer”, which will chronicle Ron’s work with various artists and day-to-day activities behind the drumset and behind the glass; and “Song for Song”, where contestants will compete for the chance to have 3 of their songs produced by 3 different top producers. Episodes will begin hitting the e-airwaves in early 2008.
Finally, I feel very priviledged to have been invited by drummer Liberty DeVito (Billy Joel) and pulitzer-winning photo-journalist Jules Follett to participate in a photographic-essay hardcover book all about New York City drummers. Along with such renown drummers as Billy Ward (Joan Osbourne), Joe Franco, Clint De Ganon, Keith Carlock (Sting, Steely Dan), Anton Fig, (Late Night with Dave Letterman), and Shawn Pelton (Sheryl Crow), Ron was a featured subject of Jules eye-spy lens. As she put it, “These drummers, I tell you, such character … It’s the stuff that no one sees, ‘cause they’re always so hard to photograph on stage, being way back there; these guys deserve the limelight ! “ In association with Modern Drummer Magazine and several other publishing sponsors, look for the book to hit store-shelves in late 2008.
Thanks again to all my friends near and far, for all your continuing positivity and support these past months, and I look forward to hearing from all of you and to sharing with you my times and travels as 2008 approaches !