“Modern Drummer Drum Solo Contest”

In 1987, I entered Modern Drummer Magazine's very first drum solo contest, which was judged by RUSH's Neil Peart. I had been practicing a lot and it was a good opportunity to try to put together a lot of the things I'd been working on. I had been studying at Drummers Collective with Rick Considine and the place was fertile with the excitement of drumming. Zach Danziger was practicing there all the time, sometimes right next door to me (intimidating!). I remember Pete Zeldman knocking on the door of my practice room and shooting the shit with him about different ideas. I went to a Dave Weckl masterclass at the Collective which was pretty amazing.
So, I was inspired. And I sent in my entry to this contest....on cassette. A few months later, I got a letter in the mail.....from Neil Peart. I was one of the winners, he said. He liked my solo. He was sending a truck to my apartment with "Chromey," the famed Slingerland drum kit that he used on the first RUSH albums he played on.
The solo was published in Modern Drummer Magazine on a flexi disc in the February 1988 issue, and I am still kind of knocked out when people tell me they remember it. A few years back I was speaking with Dave King of The Bad Plus, and he told me that he played the solo over and over again, and that I had influenced him. Dave likes to mess with people, so who knows if he was playing a joke on me that day. But I'm happy he heard it. Well, maybe he heard it. Like I said, Dave likes to mess with people.

Neil Peart Behind Chromey

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