Recently, I was honored by being presented with the Percussive Arts Society's "Outstanding Supporter Award". The Outstanding Supporter Award was established to recognize an individual each year who has significantly promoted the Society through their professional and educational activities to increase visibility and awareness of the Society.
I am deeply touched by the presentation of this award by my colleagues at the Percussive Arts Society. I'm proud to say that I have been a member of PAS for over 30 years. During this time, I have always appreciated and treasured my involvement in the PAS organization.
Me With PAS President Steve Houghton
We've just returned from PASIC 2009 in Indianapolis and we had a fantastic show! Our exhibit was consistently mobbed by percussionists anxious to see the new line of G3 Concert Snare Drums, our new Bronze Pro Hammered Triangles and new "X-Series" Synthetic Headed Tambourines. We sponsored two exciting presentations. The first featured the percussionists of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Their clinic was titled, "How To Advance At An Audition", where the section talked about, and demonstrated, how to successfully navigate the elusive orchestral audition process. They used the new Grover "X-Series" tambourine in their presentation. On Saturday, the Boston Symphony's snare drummer, Lee Vinson, presented a symphonic clinic entitled, "Stop Practicing the Excerpts!" In the clinic, Lee explained his approach...
2009 marks our 28th consecutive year of exhibiting at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. This year, the convention is being held in Indianapolis, November 11th -14th. In addition to the hundreds of triangles, tambourines and mallets we'll have on display, we'll be unveiling some very exciting new products! Our brand new G3 Concert Snare Drum will be introduced and we'll have four models on display. These new drums feature the Grover G3 strainer (see photo), tube lugs, 10 ply maple shells and are available with die cast rims. All G3 Concert Snare Drums come equipped with 3 sympathetically voiced snares; coated steel cable, phosphor bronze braided cable and high carbon spiral snares (see photo). These dynamic drums are sure...
I've recently returned from the "Star Wars In Concert" US tour. It was a fantastic experience. The presentation was rock concert meets symphony orchestra meets movie experience. We played music from all 6 Star Wars scores, synced to high resolution film clips shown on a huge LCD screen. The evening was narrated by Anthony Daniels, better known as C-3PO. I was blown away by the huge crowds this event drew. In Texas Stadium we played to over 30,000! The pyrotechnics and the production values were stellar (no pun intended). Every show was a memorable experience for me. Playing the snare drum parts to all the Star Wars music gave me the opportunity to "test drive" the new Grover G3 Orchestral...
I will be heading off tomorrow to join the U.S. tour of "Star Wars In Concert". I'm joining the tour for two weeks and will be playing the following cities: Portland, OR - Oct 14 @Rose Garden Arena Salt Lake City - Oct 16 @Energysolutions Arena Denver - Oct 18 @Pepsi Center Tulsa - Oct 20 @BOK Center Oklahoma City - Oct 21 @Ford Center Dallas - Oct 23 @Texas Stadium Houston - Oct 25 @Toyota Center New Orleans - Oct 27 @New Orleans Arena Jacksonville, FL - Oct 29 @Jacksonville Arena It turns out that I'll be primarily playing the snare drum part, so I will have a chance to "test drive" our new Grover G3 Concert Snare Drum....
