452 – Remembering the legendary Roy Burns

In this podcast I chatted with the legendary himself, Roy Burns. Who was Roy Burns?  How much time do you have? Roy was a professional drummer, author, clinician, entrepreneur and visionary. As if those titles aren’t impressive enough, Roy was not just a professional drummer…he was playing with artists like Woody Herman and Benny Goodman. Roy didn’t just DO clinics….he pioneered the concept. Burns is one of the first drummers to appear on the cover of Modern Drummer (issue #3), has created a successful drumhead company (Aquarian Drumheads, founded in 1980) and was a longtime contributing writer for Modern Drummer (12 years) and has written slew of instructional books over the years.  As you can see, Roy is a legend….and we’ve only scratched the surface.

Additional Commentary included from: Cris Brady (Aquarian Drumheads), Daniel Glass, Mike Johnston & Eric Moore.

Roy Burns talks about:

• How he got started playing
• Moving to NYC
• Landing the Woody Herman gig
• The Benny Goodman “audition”
• Timeless advice for any drummer
• Pioneering drum clinics
• One exercise that changed his playing forever
• The story behind Aquarian
• Much much more

Resources and Links Mentioned:

• Aquarian Drumheads: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• “Concepts” – Modern Drummer Articles Archive 
• Benny Goodman
• Woody Herman
• Solo Secrets of the Left Hand
• Relaxed Hand Technique