San Diego Drum Lessons
San Diego Drum Lessons offers one to one, personalized drum lessons in the San Diego area; with Professional Drummer – Simon DasGupta. Drum lessons in San Diego are available six days a week, from a modern and fully equipped drum studio in Rancho Penasquitos.
Thank you for checking in. September was a great month – starting with a trip to Nashville, Tennessee. I have always been intrigued by the music scene in Nashville, so I decided to spend Labor Day Weekend in Music City. My objective for the trip was to combine pleasure with business – so I set about researching some top Nashville drummers that might be fun to study with.
As if by fate; two weeks before my trip, I got an email from Rich Redmond – the drumming powerhouse behind Nashville Superstar Jason Aldean. Rich is in San Diego in October playing at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater in Chula Vista – and he wanted to see if I would be interested in organizing a clinic (workshop) with him, for the students of San Diego Drum Lessons. As it happens, I am not about the weekend he is in town, so with regret, I had to decline. However, I did notice that he had a break in touring with Jason at the same time I was traveling to Nashville, so I arranged a drum lesson with him during my trip. Amazing how things work out.
My lesson with Rich was at the famous Forks Drum Closet in Nashville. Having come from a retail drum store background in the UK, I am very hard to impress when it comes to drum shops. Forks, however; blew me away. Aside from the fact that I was greeted with a hug from one of the owners, the store has one of the most comprehensive stock holdings I have seen, and the store itself is immaculate and very well organized. At the rear of the store are a couple of teaching studios, frequented by Rich Redmond, and a certain Chester Thompson. This is where I took my 90 minute lesson with one of Nashville’s first-call session musicians.
The day after my lesson, I got together with Rich for coffee, and I floated the idea of bringing him out to San Diego to do a drum clinic for my students. We are still in the process of ironing out the details, but it looks like it might happen in early December. This will be done in conjunction with my friends at Studio West – San Diego’s premier recording studio and accredited Pro-Tools school. Please be sure to check back here for details, as the spaces will be limited for this event. If you are interested in attending, you can pre-register your interest by emailing me at sandiegodrumlessons@gmail.com.
Nashville really caught my imagination, and I had a great three nights there. Music row is a sight to be seen – it literally is, as captured so aptly in Jason Aldean’s lyrics: “Hollywood with a touch of twang”. I was impressed by the countless bands busting their backs night after night – mostly living on tips collected from a jar being passed around during performances. Nashville is a competitive scene, and just because you play there, you have no guarantee of success. One singer that I met had been playing the scene for over 20 years. Rich himself said that as a session musician, it can take you ten years to gain any notoriety on the scene.
In terms of my own playing – I have a booking to play Footloose at San Diego Junior Theatre next Summer, and am hoping that some more shows will come in as the local theaters finalize their 2011/12 show roster. Other then that, I have been studying mostly Latin grooves recently- really pushing my four way co-ordination to the limit. Very challenging, but hugely rewarding. Hit me up if you want to join in! Thanks for checking in!
