Happy 4th of July weekend to you and yours.

If you are feeling patriotic tomorrow and this weekend, go pick up some American flag drumsticks and start playing away.

Happy 4th of July to everybody reading this blog. I’ll be back on Monday with more Drum news.

Rage Against The Machine frontman Zach De La Rocha is part of a new band/project with Jon Theodore, previously of The Mars Volta.

The band is called One Day As A Lion and is described as “a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask,”

Supposedly the record is an “exploration of kick and snare” which sounds really interesting. If this record turns out to be what I’m imagining (basically De La Rocha rapping over live drums with minimal instrumentation), this could be amazing.

Jon Theodore is a great drummer, as proven by his previous work in The Mars Volta. And I personally think this is cooler than getting a new Rage album. It comes out on July 22nd.

Source.

Stereogum has a great article up about the possibility of a new Phish reunion. Better yet, they have a quite long editorial (rant), about the parallels between Metallica and Phish. You’re probably saying “wait a minute that does not make any sense at all…” and while you’re pretty much right, it’s kinda good.

“for Metallica it was a shredding Hammett, endless riffs, an eschewing of mainstream-rock song structures, and juvenile lyrics about death; for Phish it was a shredding Anastasio, endless arpeggios, an eschewing mainstream-rock song structures, and juvenile lyrics about nonsense.”

While the writer readily admits that the comparison fails on so many levels (and it definitely does), it is still worth a read just because it’s amusing.

Check it out.

I came across a piece a little while ago about Obama and what he has on his iPod. Here’s a sampling…

• The Rolling Stones (favorite song: “Gimme Shelter”)
• Stevie Wonder (Barack’s musical hero)
• Earth Wind & Fire
• Elton John
• Miles Davis
• John Coltrane
• Charlie Parker
• Bob Dylan (30 songs, including Blood On The Tracks)
• Bruce Springsteen

So we can see that the guy has taste, and kind of “drummer-taste” at that! He’s got Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis on his iPod, among other cool stuff with excellent drumming!

“His favorite tune right now is Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm,” which works out because Dylan’s favorite presidential candidate right now is him. Says Obama: “I’ve got to say, having both Dylan and Bruce Springsteen say kind words about you is pretty remarkable. Those guys are icons.” He likes hip hop too, with some qualification:

“I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics,” he said, “but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music.”

Smart guy.

Source.

Pearl Drums is introducing a new drum kit, with new maple shells.

“Our Masters Series MCX 6-ply Maple shell has set the standard for great sound and craftsmanship for years and can be heard on countless recordings by the world’s most legendary drummers.”

“NEW for 2008, MCX 4-piece shell packs can be purchased at an average street price of just $1,500 dollars ($2,499.00 List) in your choice of 5 NEW configurations.”

“The heart and soul of MCX is the 6-ply 7.5mm shell, made from hand-selected choice Maple using our Superior Shell Technology. This offers the smooth round tone you would expect from Maple with even highs and mid range frequencies, coupled with pronounced low-end punch. The 7.5mm shell thickness provides a super wide tuning range; increased resonance and projection all of which allows your sound to be felt as much as heard.”

This drum set looks like a great intermediary step between Pearl’s lower budget models and their higher-end professional kits.  It is great that matching Pearl MCX snare drums are available as well. The tuning range of this kit is also a major plus, in my opinion, for drummers who like to experiment and/or tune to specific pitches.

Source.

Coldplay is sponsoring a contest where you can enter for a chance to open select dates on their upcoming tour.  Yes, you would be the opening act for Coldplay if you won.

The contest is only for select cities, these being the bands Chicago, San Jose, DC, Boston and Hartford dates. Whether or not you are a single songwriter or a full band, you are eligible. The way it works is that, you must submit a YouTube video of yourself to the radio station-sponsored section of coldplayontour.com.

Winners will be selected and notified and will also join the likes of the other opening acts on the tour Shearwater and Santogold. Even if you or your band aren’t fans of Coldplay (I, myself am not), it’s a chance for amazing exposure.

System of a Down offshoot band Scars on Broadway are preparing to launch their first US headlining tour. The tour is to support the groups self-titled album, which will be released through Interscope Records on July 29th.

The band also has a new music video for their hit single “They Say” which was directed by Paul Minor (Muse, Queens of The Stone Age).

While I’m not a huge fan of either Serj Tankian’s solo material or Scars on Broadway, it can’t be denied that John Dolmayan is a monster drummer. His work in System of a Down shows more of his skill with his huge drum kits and wide array of cymbals as opposed to what I’ve heard so far from Scars on Broadway. I’m curious to see what kind of drumming he displays on Scars on Broadway’s debut album.

Check out tour cities, a clip from Scars on Broadway’s “They Say” video and more information here…

Source.

There are now a ton of annual American music festivals. One you may have never heard of though is Chicago’s Wicker Park Fest.

I’m mentioning it here because there are going to be some great bands, with great drummers playing this year…including Isis, Red Sparowes, Russian Circles and many more. *(Don’t mind the “2007″ in the pic above).

This year the fest takes place on July 26th and 27th. Get this, not only does the festival have some pretty cool bands but the entrance fee is a $5 donation! (Proceeds benefit the Wicker Park & Bucktown Chamber of Commerce. For more info, go to www.wickerparkbucktown.com)

Check out the full lineup and more info here.

While I kind of disagree with Pitchfork Media’s opinions, oh, 98% of the time and their choice of bands to cover…they do some cool things. I guess the site has gotten so big now that they have a lot of priority and access to all kinds of stuff.

Courtesy of “Pitchfork TV” check out Josh Freese totally killing his DW drums, on this live-in-studio footage, of NIN playing their new song “1,000,000″ off of their new album “The Slip.” Really cool…

NIN: Live-In-Studio Rehearsal

This is the first of 3 parts, so make sure to check out the other 2 when they become available.

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Seattle drone-rockers Earth at The Echo. To start off, I was pretty surprised to learn the show would be going on at The Echo and not a larger venue. Earth is one of those bands where you know they’re critically acclaimed, but you have no idea how big they really are. The band slowly took the stage, lead-man Dylan Carlson thanked the crowd and began.

The band’s set mainly consisted of songs from their recently released Southern Lord album “The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull” although not played in exact album running order. Highlights included “The Driver” and Rise To Glory” both of which showed how much the band’s sound has progressed from distorted drone metal to their current style.

The band’s chemistry on this night was evident. Band leader Dylan Carlson’s Telecaster was clean, crisp and piercing, laced with different kinds of delay, flange and various other effects. The guitar playing worked in tandem with Don Mcgreevy’s bass playing and Steve Moore’s keyboard, filling in any empty spaces. The results of which were beautiful soundscapes and dreamy passages. However, the real pulse of the band live was drummer Adrienne Davies. It appeared as if someone had put her into slow motion, as she drummed away on each song, keeping the beat of the song with her body. Her drumming definitely brought the whole experience together.

Opening band Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter were a great support choice. Sykes lyrics and singing were folky and trippy at the same time, and her band’s gentle twang perfectly set the stage for Earth to take the stage. I’d advise anyone who can to check out this tour.