Drummer

 

 

RGM at Massey Hall (Toronto, Canada). Photo by Dave Dickson.

RGM Massey

(Scroll down or click here for audio/video links)

 

I love the drums. It amounts to hitting things, either with delicacy or with power, ideally a combination of the two. The first instruments used by our species for a musical purpose would have been percussion instruments (likely two sticks, or two rocks, or possibly one stick and one rock). I love 70s drumming, backing singer-songwriters, writing parts, and improvising. And when duty calls, I like to rock.

 

I have toured extensively through Canada, the USA, Europe and the UK including many international festivals, with everyone from singer-songwriters to jazz big bands to punk bands. And for the convenience of those who hire me, I have, along with my Canadian passport, a US passport and a UK passport (my mom's a Yank, my dad's a Limey) which substantially cuts down on border related costs and hassles.

 

Over the years I have played live and/or in the studio with:

 

The Greak Lake Swimmers, Jeremy Fisher, Sarah Slean, Martin Tielli, The Hidden Cameras, Ramin Karimloo, Dave Bidini, Justin Rutledge, Lily Frost, Classic Albums Live, The Jessica Stuart Few, Jerry Leger, Colleen Brown, Ford Pier, Mia Sheard, Kate Rogers, Craig Cardiff, Charlotte Cornfield, Great Aunt Ida, Tim Vesely, Spookey Ruben, Reid Jameson, John Sheard, Barzin, Gregg LeRock, and many others.

 

As a drummer in the house band of multi-act shows, I have backed Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Harmer, Daniel Lanois, Luke Doucet and Melissa MacLelland, Jill Barber, Matt Barber, Kurt Swinghammer, David Sereda, and more.

 

I have played soft-seat theatres all across Canada and the US, both as a headliner and an opener, having shared stages with Arcade Fire, Blue Rodeo, Hawksley Workman, Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles, 54-40, No Means No, The Waterboys, and Jenn Grant, among others.

 

My formal training as a drummer/musician came from the University of Toronto where I obtained a Bachelor of Music (Jazz Performance) degree, preceded by an honours diploma from the Grant MacEwan Music Program in Edmonton. I also studied for a couple years with international drum guru, Jim Blackley. He was heavy (RIP).

 

RGM IN ACTION:

 

This is from a show I did with the Great Lake Swimmers in Calgary in the fall of 2019 for a series called Stampede City Sessions. It's a tune called I Am Part of a Large Family which ends with a classic last-show-of-the-night style jam. (Of course the rest of the show is there too, if yer interested.)


 
 

 

Here I am playing with The Baroness herself, Sarah Slean at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto around Xmas time, 2017. It's a Sleaner classic called Me, I'm a Thief. Gotta love the strings!


 
 

 

Here's a video of Classic Albums Live and me playing Ophelia from The Band's The Last Waltz show we performed in the autumn of 2016. My fave song from that show. Love the horns. Good audio here, too!




 

This is a tune from my debut record, Mouthparts and Wings, with Ron Sexsmith singing. The tune is called All Good Things (Come to Those Who Wait). I've always liked this slow half-time shuffle. I always think of Matt Chamberlain when I play this kind of groove. Drums come in around 1:00 if you're impatient :)




 

Here's a video of Charlotte Cornfield and me playing live on a TFO television show called BRBR (I think it's pronounced 'bar-bar' -- those crazy French! ;) We are playing her song If You Don't Pursue which appears on her record Two Horses (which I also produced).




 

This video is from a performance with Jeremy Fisher in Toronto for the Pan/Am Games. It was really hot that night. The song is High School.




 

I made this video while practicing some Jim Keltner grooves, from John Lennon's I Don't Want to Be a Soldier, for a Classic Albums Live show (Imagine/Band on the Run) at Roy Thompson Hall, in Toronto.


 

 

Here's a fan-filmed Classic Albums Live video of some blues-rock shredding on Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower.




 

This is a video of Copper Lassie, my novelty Iron Maiden country band playing 2 Minutes to Midnight in a barn. It's a funny concept, but it works!




 

This is a live version of Beauty On, recorded by the CBC, that I did with Martin Tielli at Hugh's Room as part of a tour in 2008. Unfortunately the recording on this one didn't start until partway into the tune. Got most of it, though!




 

This tune is off Mia Sheard's latest record, The Curse of the Vorus. The only cover she has on the album, and it's a Paul Linklater song, entitled Stay Together. Vibey brushes and time signatures. Fun tune. Live-off-the-floor first take, I'm proud to say.




 

This is my tune, Jackhammer Burden from Mouthparts and Wings. I imagined myself as Matt Cameron (Soundgarden) when I played this one.




 

Ahh, Ford Pier. This is from Ford's record Organ Farming. The song is Maybe It Came At The Wrong Time. Some good old-fashioned prog-punk drumming here (sorry to categorize, Ford).




 

Another Charlotte Cornfield tune here. Construction on the Street, again from Two Horses. I really like the groove on this tune.