I have been fortunate enough to have been influenced or inspired in a number of different ways by a number of different people, as a musician, a teacher and as a human being. In fact, I have probably been influenced a little bit in one way or another by most every person I have ever come in contact with. I have taken bits and pieces of all these people and mixed them together with a healthy dose of my own personality to make up who I am.
Percussion
Some well known influences are: Simon Phillips, Rod Morgenstein, Dave Weckl, Carl Palmer, Steve Gadd, Anton Fig, Gerry Brown, Steve Smith, Danny Seraphine, Don Brewer, Chet McCracken, Keith Knudson, John Hartman, Michael Hossack, Chad Wackerman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Terry Bozzio, Ed Mann, Barrymore Barlow, Phil Ehart, John Bonham, Micky Dolenz, Floyd Sneed, Jeff Porcaro, Keith Moon, Doug Ingle, Gregg Bissonette, and many others.
Equally important to these greats were talented people that I got to play along side growing up playing in band during junior high, high school, college, and grad school. Most of these people are not famous but influenced my playing just the same: Clif Newton, Tommy Mayes, Clay Lowder, Jeff McNeil, Danny Marion, Larry Hess, Greg Vaughn, Bruce Bray, Alan Lawrence, Alan Shinn, Bob Clarke, Lalo Davila, Andy Barrus, Dan Wojciechowski, Steve Fisher, Tony Pia, Randy Drake, and many others.
Teachers
I learned so much about how to teach by watching great teachers. I was very fortunate to have had many great teachers throughout my life who taught me more than just music. Unfortunately, I also had teachers who weren't so great but still I learned from these less-than-great teachers important lessons on "how NOT to teach" so I am still thankful to them for the valuable lessons they taught me. Some of the teachers who influenced me in a very positive way were:
Mike McKinney - My first drum teacher. I hooked up with him quite by chance. He was teaching percussion lessons at our local music store in Lubbock, Texas and we found his name at Jent's House of Music in the Yellow Pages. He was a great teacher and the person who gave me a tremendous musical foundation. He later went into the ministry
James Beckham - Another very inspirational percussion teacher in my early development. He taught me a lot about different ways to look at things and also encouraged me to write my first compositions and arrangements.
C. Doyle Gammill - My high school band director. I could write a book about his influences but to boil it down, he taught me that music can be fun and we should laugh at ourselves along the way while we work hard in order to be our best. He is one of the funniest people on planet Earth and a lot of the kooky things I do are either inspired by him or are a direct rip off of him!
Dan Haerle - Jazz legend, musical genius, and teacher extrodinaire. Dan continues to this day to be a mentor and a friend. He taught me to strive to a higher level as a musician, composer, arranger, and teacher
Dr. Robert Schietroma - My percussion teacher in grad school at North Texas. Doc also continues to be a mentor and a friend. He pushed me very hard (sometimes, almost too hard!) to be my best and strive for extremely high standards.
Musical Influences
My greatest musical influences (oddly) came from people who didn't play percussion. My top four musical heroes are:
Frank Zappa - the greatest musician who has walked this planet in the past 100 years. That's a pretty strong statement but those who "get it" are very lucky to be able to attempt to digest the music he left us in his brief 53 year period on Earth.
Dan Haerle - A living jazz genius at the piano. I don't know why he doesn't go down in history with people like Corea, Hancock, Tyner, Waller, Monk, etc. Dan's in the same league as any of those guys and is the nicest and most humble person you'll ever meet!
Keith Emerson - Another genius who flourished in more of an electronic rock realm with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer. Emerson broke new ground with the Moog synthesizer which has influenced generations of players. His greatest composition, Karn Evil 9 (1973) still stands as a masterpiece which has no equal.
Kit Watkins - Kit inspired me by what he was able to do in a relatively simple home studio. He has produced many fine recordings of impeccable quality and creativity which are equal in quality to big budget recording productions in million dollar studios.
My personal musical tastes run very eclectic. I was initially turned onto music by The Monkees and wanted to "someday play drums as well as Micky Dolenz". That's one goal I think I've accomplished! From there, I discovered a whole lot of other great music that was happening in the late 60s. Then the early 70s brought a flood of wonderful music like we've never seen since and surely will never see again in this lifetime.
In June of 1974 I had an almost religious musical awkening. I watched an ABC TV show called In Concert. On this particular Friday night episode they were broadcasting a concert from The California Jam featuring Emerson Lake and Palmer. This show was a musical awakening like I had never experienced before. To say that I was blown away by what I saw and heard from Emerson Lake and Palmer would be an understatement. It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. Through the magic of cable TV, I actually got to watch the entire broadcast twice that evening and after a totally sleepless night, I got up and went out and bought Brain Salad Surgery. I spent the rest of the weekend literally listening to this record over and over again. My life was forever changed after finding this wonderful music and I had a new dedication to devote the rest of my life to music. I haven't looked back since.
When disco took over in the mid-70s I found that it wasn't for me and I started wandering to the jazz section of the record store and discovered a whole new world of music which has been with me ever since. Along the way (after the fact) I really got into a lot of the better stuff that The Beatles had done and, then much later (in the 1990s) I finally discovered the genius of what went down at Motown in the late 50s and most of the 60s. College and grad school taught me to understand and appreciate the classical side of music as well as 20th Century, ethnic, avant guard, minimalism, etc. I have been fortunate to have been served such a well rounded diet of musical styles!
Five Favorite Albums:
1. Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson Lake and Palmer
2. Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends - Emerson Lake and Palmer
3. Illusions On A Double Dimple - Triumvirat
4. Aja - Steely Dan
5. Make a Jazz Noise Here - Frank Zappa