Morsefest in Nashville with Mike Portnoy

October 27, 2014 The NSMD Staff

The iconic progressive rock front-man, keyboardist and songwriter Neal Morse will host a two-day music festival in his hometown of Nashville, TN on November 14-15 2014. Morse is best known for his mid-90's group "Spock's Beard" as well as his formation of the supergroup "Transatlantic" with former Dream Theater co-founder Mike Portnoy, Flower Kings' Roine Stolt and Marillion's Pete Trewavas.

Special guests, including Mike Portnoy and Randy George, will be joining Neal on the 14th and 15th in performances of the entire "One" and "Testimony 1" albums by Morse. From Radiant Records:

"Hear the music in the very place it was inspired! This weekend will be full of legendary status events such as an exclusive, free 'inner circle only' acoustic set, a VIP Meet and Greet with Neal and special guests, and a game of 'Name that Tune' - PROG style with Mike Portnoy. This is sure to be a once in a lifetime event that you do not want to miss! Make your travel plans to Nashville now!"

Tickets start at $60, $30 for students. More information can be found at: http://www.radiantrecords.com/products/500-morsefest-november-14-15-2014.aspx

WHEN:

November 14 - 15, 2014 Friday & Saturday shows: 7:30pm (Doors at 6:00 pm), Worship Service: Saturday 10:00 am (Doors at 9:00 am) IC Acoustic Set: Saturday 1:00pm (Doors at 12.00 pm), VIP session: Friday and Saturday 3:00pm (Doors at 2:30 pm)

WHERE:

New Life Fellowship 8655 Tennessee 25 Cross Plains, TN 37049

October 2014 - Thanks and Updates

October 17, 2014 George Lawrence

Thanks to all of you who attended and/or exhibited at the Nashville Drum Show in September. For those of you who missed it we have a great pictorial article with photos from Rick Malkin and Bob Campbell. The show was a great success. There were three times as many exhibitor and vendor booths as the prior show and double the attendance. We hit a tipping point with the show this year and I think we may have to move to a hotel/convention center next year. Also, the drum industry gave a lot of credence to the event this year with many unveilings of new products including Gretsch’s new made in the USA Broadkaster kit that was introduced by Fred Gretsch and the guy who builds the Gretsch drums, Paul Cooper. Mothertone/Sleishman’s inverted bass drum set was demonstrated by Roy Wooten along with the Wooten Brothers Band.

Nashville Drum Show 2014 Follow-Up

October 15, 2014 George Lawrence

1940 Radio Kings - A Family Tradition

October 13, 2014 Christopher Speich

I was scrolling through a vintage drummer Facebook group one day, and I came across a post from Joe Ciucci. Rather, I came across an open-mouth drool worthy video of his 1940 restored Slingerland Radio Kings…. Joe was just the guy attached to the post! I sent a message to Joe, and we struck up a conversation. Joe turned out to be as nice as his drums, and I offered to showcase the drums in Not So Modern Drummer. He took me up on the offer, and here we are today. Joe was instrumental in setting up our Nashville Drum Show trip to ATL Drum Collective, and if you came to the Nashville show, you couldn't have missed the Radio Kings in the vintage drum museum.

Brooklyn Walking Tour: Traveling Through Gretsch History Today

October 10, 2014 Fred Gretsch

This past July 30th 2014 I had a unique opportunity to take a step back into Gretsch Company history. As a matter of fact, I actually took several hundred steps, as I walked the streets of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn where the company got its start. Along the way I visited several sites that mark the evolution of the company from its inception in 1883 through 1969, some seven decades later. Best of all, I had the pleasure of being joined by more than twenty drummers who are fans of Gretsch drums and their fascinating history. Since these drummers were all from the New York area, the information offered in our “Brooklyn Walking Tour” was all the more personal for them.

Rick Latham's Polish Snare Drum

October 8, 2014 George Lawrence

We got this question from Rick Latham as he was ending his summer tour in Europe.Can any of you help us out here? - NSMD: Hi George, Greetings brother from the Black Forest of Germany! Hope you are doing well. I'm nearing the end of a three month tour here in Europe - Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Switzerland... all great! I ran across this drum in a drum shop in Poznan, Poland and the guys are curious if it's anything cool - or maybe a bastardized-something-weird? Ha! I told them if anyone would know, it would be you - so give it your best shot.

Orlich 9/11 Memorial Glass Drum Kit

October 4, 2014 Bob Campbell

A little over 13 years ago, I came across a picture of Alan White (YES) playing what looked to be a set of glass and brass drums. Being a drum nerd, my curiosity got the best of me. Were these gimmicks, art, or perhaps something more? I became obsessed with finding out more... So in 2001, I contacted John Orlich to learn about Orlich Percussion Systems. I later had the opportunity to speak with Alan White and Tris Imboden (CHICAGO) about their Orlich glass drums. After that, I was hooked. I wanted a set of these drums! But let me tell you the whole story from the start…

WIW? 1909-1915 Conn Snare Drum

October 3, 2014 George Lawrence

This is a very old but never played/museum quality snare drum. From what I've dug up on my own, it's from 1909-1915. It's a metal Conn drum with wood hoops and has twin snares, one underneath the batter head and the other is on the resonant head. It still has the original heads on it and it was given to me by Bob Grauso of the Fibes drum company. He told me it was quite valuable and wanted me to have it. He also gave me other rare things before his passing that I wouldn't part with, but this particular drum he said was something I could sell. I've only found one sale of this drum and if I remember correctly, it only fetched around $250.00. I would think that this drum would be worth considerably more, but I could be wrong.

1960s Ludwig Downbeat Set

October 1, 2014 Phil Wilson

The drum set from my collection that I want to feature this month is a 1960s Ludwig Downbeat Set in sparkling pink champagne pearl. Downbeat sets began in 1959. It is one of my all time favorite kits. I really love these drums for many reasons. Their sizes are one reason I love them. These are the size drums Ringo Starr played on the earlier Ed Sullivan shows. The Bass drum is 20"X14", the floor tom is 14"X14" and the mounted tom is 12''X8". Ringo referred to the Downbeat sets he owned as the "mini" kits. I used to have a hard time telling if a kit was a Downbeat set in photos, but I learned to count the bass drum T- rods. The Downbeat set has 8 lugs and the 22"X14" Super Classics have 10 lugs. Another way to tell is to look at the lugs on the mounted tom. The space is greater between the top and bottom lugs on the 12'' tom than the space on the 13" tom. The 13" tom used on the Super Classics has larger lugs, so the space between them is smaller.

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