Thursday, July 2, 2015

Drum Hero Tommy Aldridge

First in a series of 4 - Drummers that Inspired My Independence as a Musician

When I discuss drummers that shaped my perspective about playing drums, Tommy Aldridge is a name I always mention. Aldridge caught my attention when he played drums on a Tony MacAlpine project called "Project:Driver" on Shrapnel Records.




I'm still mesmerized by what I hear! The first time I actually saw Tommy Aldridge play was the Whitesnake video "Still of the Night" on MTV. It was mind-blowing because I realized what a drummer could do with visuals could go beyond Rikki Rockett (Poison), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), and Bobby Blotzer (Ratt). They had been influencing me with this idea that drummers could incorporate visuals into their drumming. When I write "visuals", I'm specifically thinking about stick twirling and raising the stick high into the air prior to striking the drum. Upon seeing Tommy Aldridge in the Whitesnake video, though, I remember being captivated by him. I had gone back to his recordings with Ozzy Osbourne when I heard "Project:Driver" so I already knew he was a powerhouse drummer. Watching this video below inspires me to try to incorporate similar visuals into my drumming.



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