I’m back in the acoustic game again. It felt weird playing a set of Al Foster Jr. Hip Gig drums for three solid hours tonight, but I finally got into some tasty grooves by the end of the night. This video is actually the first real song that I played on them. The christening so to speak. Enjoy.

I recently purchased Dennis Chambers “In the Pocket” drumming DVD from Guitar Center in Austin. It is absolutely the most educational piece of drumming media I have ever consumed. Having grokked copious inspiration from this DVD, I had been practicing single-stroke rolls over and over and OVER again for the past four weeks. I am to the point where I can execute them with some fluidity and control doing them down them down or up the toms as 32nd note sextuplets, and slightly less so as pure 32nd notes. I was at it last night for a good hour or so, and I felt my left shoulder muscle slightly tensing up. I thought nothing of it as I am young and invincible. After about ten minutes, the problem exascerbated from tenseness to waves of excruciating pain. It is at this point where my feelings of invincibility vanished. I think I pulled some muscle in my neck or shoulder. I am not really sure though, but it hurts like a humdinger. One thing I am sure of is this: ten hours of practicing single stroke rolls in seven days is a BAD idea if you are nearing the precipice of being 30, and even a worse idea if you spend 10 hours a day slaving over a hot RS/6000 keyboard. As Paul Barrere from Little Feat says, “If your mind makes a promise your body can’t fill, you’re over the hill brother, over the hill.”