Ryan Brown’s gift is in his undying passion for all things Zappa. He has been a fan of the music from his earliest formative years behind the drum set. It is obvious upon hearing him perform that he has dedicated many hours to learning the Zappa repertoire. Dweezil’s band draws from all eras of Zappa, from Freak Out through Roxy and Elsewhere and One Size Fits All, up to Zappa’s later material in the 80’s. They even stop off at some 200 Motels along the way. The repertoire is constantly being expanded with new material for every tour. The exuberance of diving deep into the Zappa vault is seen in Ryan’s face when he performs classic and somewhat obscure numbers such as Holiday in Berlin and Rollo. These are tunes for the hardcore fans, of which he is perhaps the biggest.
Read moreMystery: What drum shop does Frank Zappa's "Drum Shop" art collage depict?
In addition to being the musical genius and political dissident that we all know, Frank was also an artist (and a drummer). One particular piece he created was lost then found and an investigation by PBS turned up some surprising ties to the drum shop world.
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