Hope your 2008 is off to a great start! '07 wrapped up with a lot of session work...several projects were for producer/engineer, Steve Hoffman. They included country artist Traci Ann Stanely's debut CD Right Here, as well as soon to be released projects by classic-pop artist Ron Hooser and rocker Chris Feller. Bassist Ray Salyer (Exile) also played on the sessions, and keyboardist Barton Stevens (Billy Ray Cyrus) played on Traci's session as well.

In more session news...played drums on some tracks for Patti Russo (Meatloaf) and her writing partner Gabriel Katona. Patti is a power-house singer and in addition to touring with rock icon Meatloaf, she has also performed several Queen Tribute shows with Brian May (Queen's guitarist) and band.

Have also recently played on songwriter demos for artist/guitarist Jamey Perronot (Abel Kane, LeAnn Rimes), as well as tracks for producer/keyboardist Jukka Palonen, playing drums on the new children's CD An Island Christmas.

Recently was on the road playing shows for artists Tammy Cochran and Hometown News. Have also been playing several gigs with guitarist Michael Lewis, Skyline Drive, Stereo-Hype, and The Unusual Suspects. Coming up are shows with talented new artist/songwriter, Laura Kaczor. Stay tuned for more artist tour news!

UTR Studios
Recorded some more internet drum tracks for artist Ryan States at my production facility UTR Studios. Devin Williams is recording his new CD project at UTR in April...I'll be drumming on it as well. I played drums and did some arranging/mixing on Devin's first CD, mouthpiece.

Recently was on the road with Hometown News in Indiana. The show featured special guest Lila McCann doing an acoustic set with Hometown. The show was great fun and we were even treated to limosine service all the way from Nashville to the gig and back. Met some great folks at the show too!

Have been playing several gigs with the country trio Savannah Jack, Michael Lewis, Skyline Drive, and Walt Scott (w/Rock Williams on sax). Also recently played a concert for rocker Devin Williams. I played drums and did some arranging/mixing on Devin's CD, mouthpiece - Where Do I Begin?. More info on the CD can be found on the discography and production pages of this site.

On the session front...did a rock-country CD for Gabe Miklossy (thanks for the ZZ Top tickets Gabe!). Also had a session for alternative folk artist Kelly Zullo, and recently finished some internet drum tracks for Ryan States' new CD. Ryan is music director for the Ringling Bros. band and this is his first solo CD.

Recently recorded a CD's worth of material for new country-rock group Abel Kane. AK is the songwriting team of Ryan Reynolds (vocals) and Jamey Perrenot (guitar). I've done some live playing with the guys as well...see previous news for more.

'Please'...a track I recorded drums on for new country artist Jayce Hein is already getting air-play on country radio and satellite radio stations. We recorded the drums at my studio, UTR Studios. Looks like we'll be recording some more tracks for Jayce soon.

And more on the session front...recently did a commercial jingle session for Firstcom/BMI.

Played at New Song for part of The Call with guitarist/singer/songwriter Michael Lewis, and also Steve Fry. Michael also has a jazz group I hope to do some shows with later this year...stay tuned for more.

Played a fun set with Poor Skeletons (Jeanni Cioffi...violin, vocals) at The Basement's New Faces Night, with Jerry Navarro (Music Mafia band) on bass. Skyline Drive and Stereo-Hype gigs have continued as well.

Recently played a show with new country-rock group Abel Kane. Kane's music is heavy! The show was an arena gig with Craig Morgan. Met some really nice folks there, had some great food, and the show was lots of fun.

Also played a festival with the Music City Swing band. This is a 21-piece big band with singers, led by saxophonist Karl Wingruber. The show went great and was a blast. Because of the weather, we played in the town square movie theater...just like the big bands did in the 30's and 40's. Really enjoyed playing the music and the band/vocalists are very talented.

Another recent show was with country group Savannah Jack...see earlier news posts for more info on the group, and keep a look out for a new CD release from the guys soon.

In session news...recently had a record date for artist Jaquey Maltby. Jaquey is an awesome vocalist with really cool material. I played a variety of music styles on her project and shared drum duties with Chad Cromwell (Marc Knopfler, Peter Frampton)....keyboardist Boh Cooper (Rascal Flatts), guitarist Pat Bergeson (Emmy Lou Harris), and bassist Rick Yord were also on the session.

Another recent session I had was recorded at my studio (UTR Studios) for Alaskan Pipe Dream. Rod Lambert is the artist behind APD and writes, produces, and plays most instruments on the project....including, guitar, violin, bass and more. I played drums on APD's record Maybe Venus, and Rod's new CD will be finished soon. The new material sounds incredible. We also tracked drums here on a new country radio single, for an artist friend of Rod's.

I now have the means to do drum tracks via the internet...ftp, e-mail, etc.. Studio has great tracking room, top of the line system and console, outboard gear/effects, and much more. Please e-mail for more details, rates, etc...

Have continued another round of tour dates with Hometown News....one being a double-bill show playing for both Anita Cochran and Hometown News at the Grayville Days festival in Illinois. The show was great fun and GAC television host Suzanne Alexander was there to MC the event. Anita is an awesome musician....vocalist, guitarist, songwriter...she plays many other instraments and is currently producing her new project. There's been talk of more shows with Hometown and Anita together, so hopefully additional tour dates will be put together.

More shows have continued as well with artist/songwriter Anthony Smith (Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, George Strait), including a cool festival show for a Bikers Who Care fundraiser.

A Barbara Mandrell tribute CD will be released very soon titled, She Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool: A Tribute To Barbara Mandrell. It features a variety of artists paying tribute to Barbara, including Kenny Chesney, Cece Winans, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, and many others. BNA records held a press conference for the new release in which Barbara spoke and was interviewed. It was a great opportunity for her, family, band, etc. to catch up as well. This month GAC will be airing a special on the making of the tribute CD, as well several other programs featuring Barbara. Several photos from the event are in the Gallery section, including this photo of Barbara and band (courtesy Kaleidoscope Media and Steve Lowry).

Some other fun shows have continued as well with Stereo-Hype, Skyline Drive, and the jazz trio with Walt Scott (kys) and Woody Lingle (bs).

***The Gallery has recently been updated with several new photos and video.

On the live front things have been cruising along playing more shows with awesome artist/songwriter Anthony Smith (Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, George Strait).

Shows with Hometown News have kicked in again, starting in June with the CMA Music Festival in downtown Nashville. We also just played a cool festival show in Missouri with the Oak Ridge Boys.

Also recently played road dates with new artist Natalie Henderson, sharing the stage with American Idol's Josh Gracin, Mark Chesnutt, and others.

More gigs have continued as well with Stereo-Hype, Walt Scott / Rock Williams, and Skyline Drive. Great bassist and friend Chris Kent (Larry Carlton, Lorrie Morgan) played on a recent Skyline Drive show. I also recently played another show with Jeanni Cioffi's band Poor Skeletons, with Roy Vogt on bass.

***The Production | Studio page has recently been updated.

An update is long over-due, so here goes...

Recently played some shows for artist/songwriter Don Ellis and the pop-country trio, Savannah Jack. Savannah is comprised of Don Ellis (vocals), Mike Ulvila (gtr, vocals), and Jay Darby (bs, vocals). Mike and I toured together in Eddy Raven's band. Look out for a new CD release from the guys in the near future. I also played the Don Ellis Celebrity Golf Tournament/Benefit at Gibson Showcase, which featured several artists/songwriters.

Played another jazz trio gig with pianist Walt Scott, featuring sax man Rock Williams (Wynonna Judd, The Temptations, Wooten Brothers).

Also, recently played a show for awesome singer/songwriter Anthony Smith. Anthony is with the Universal Music Group, and has written several great cuts for Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, George Strait, and several others. Great guitarist and friend Roger Eaton (Lorrie Morgan, Barbara Mandrell) is Anthony's musical director.

Also played a rawkin' show with Devin Williams (mouthpiece), and his fans showed their support by packing the house. And...recently taped a music video promo for Devin's song Standing So Close. I played drums and did some mixing on Devin's CD, and you can check it out at: mouthpieceonline.net.

Have been keeping busy with !Stereo-Hype! shows as well. We recently did a couple of shows with James Brown sax man, Waldo Weathers. Also, Skyline Drive shows have been cooking a long, and we had the honor of playing another Tutt family wedding. The daughter of Ron Tutt (drummer for Elvis, Neil Diamond) married a fellow percussionist. During Skyline's break at the reception, Ron and his new son-in-law, along with several other friends/percussionists performed a great drum-line feature on plastic buckets and large trash cans...very cool!

Recent studio work has included drum tracks for artists Michelle Swift and also LaShaun Jackson, produced by Craig Swift. Craig is also an excellent saxophonist. More information on both projects forthcoming.

A cool new project is underway...Anthony Alan Gravley of Windup Rocket and myself will be co-producing Windup's new CD. Anthony is a great singer/guitarist/songwriter with very strong powerpop-rock material. I'll be drumming on the project as well, and work should begin late spring/early summer. Stay tuned for the latest on the project and a release date. More info on Windup Rocket can be found at: www.myspace.com/winduprocket.

TV: a movie I played on the soundtrack for - Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story, aired on the WE Network March 7th and April 19th. The tracks we recorded for the movie were produced by session guitarist/producer Brent Rowen (Julie Roberts, Barbara Mandrell).

Hometown News
Recently played a festival with Hometown News in Evansville, IN.. We had great fun playing a 2-hour headlining show. It was a cold night, around 45 degrees...one of the production guys set up a stage light right next to my drums which kept me really warm for the show...thanks man! Hometown News was nominated for the Acadamy of Country Music's "Duo of the Year" in 2004. Their new record is available in stores now. Check here for more information on the CD. Also look for Hometown News to sing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning of the National League Championship Series' Game 6 in St. Louis on Oct. 19th - to be televised on Fox TV from Busch stadium.

Jeanni Cioffi | Poor Skeletons
Did a show with Jeanni Cioffi (Poor Skeletons) recently at the Gibson Showcase. Jeanni is a great violinist/vocalist/songwriter who played on the PAGE-PLANT UNLEDDED TOUR (Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin), and has worked with other artists including Bernadette Peters, Mannhiem Steamroller and Natalie Cole. The talented Roy Vogt (Englebert Humperdink, Dicky Betts, Jerry Reed) played bass. Roy also played some shows recently with Skyline Drive, the horn band I play in.

Have been keeping busy with !Stereo-Hype! and Skyline Drive shows. Also recently played a really cool latin-jazz gig with the Caribbean Jazz Quintet (smokin' band!), featuring bassist Giovanni and saxophonist Rahsaan Barber of the Barber Brothers. Have continued doing some jazz trio gigs with bassist Ross Krutsinger and keyboardist Walter Scott as well, and recently recorded some songs in the studio with them. Other studio work included playing on some country demos for songwriter Jim Godwin, produced and engineered by Zek Storm.

TV: a movie I played on the soundtrack for - Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story, aired on the WE Channel in early October. The tracks we recorded for the movie were produced by session guitarist/producer Brent Rowen (Julie Roberts, Barbara Mandrell).

Here's what's been happenin' over the recent months....

CMA Music Festival
Played the CMA Fest with Hometown News at Riverfront Stages. We had a great time, and the show went really well (the rain held off too!). Hometown News was nominated for the Acadamy of Country Music's "Duo of the Year" in 2004. Look for their new record in stores September 20th.

Also did some road dates with Eddy Raven over the past few months and recently played the Grande Ole Opry again as well.

Been cookin' along with gigs with !Stereo-Hype! and Skyline Drive. Talented bassist and friend Todde Lawton (Tobymac) recently played a few shows for Skyline Drive. Also have been doing some jazz gigs lately featuring saxophonists, Jimmy Bowland and Bob Bowers....and some jazz trio gigs with bassist Ross Krutsinger and keyboardist Walter Scott, all of whom are some most talented cats!

Recently did another eight tracks in the studio with vocalist/guitarist Marc Cashin. Some excellent early Dave Matthews influenced songwriting by Marc. I hope to get a clip or two of the session up on the site.

Jeffeson Street Jazz & Blues Festival
Also recently played a show with Gabriel Katona at the Jefferson Street Jazz & Blues festival, featuring the great vocals of Jazzmyn and guest vocalist Peter Moon. Gabriel is a very talented keyboardist-producer-composer who played in Rick Springfield's band for several years, and played on his huge hit song Jessies' Girl. Gabriel was also a member of the group Rare Earth, and played in Jefferson Starship's band as well.

Have continued with shows on the road with Eddy Raven, and have also been playing more Grand Ole Opry shows with Eddy as well (I think we've played a total of 14 Opry shows this year). Some of our recent Opry performances were again at the historic Ryman Auditorium. At the end of August we played the Grand Casino in Kinder, LA and Jo-el Sonnier sat in on one of our sets, playing several songs with Eddy and band.

Have also had more shows with Skyline Drive. Bassist John Billings (Rick Springfield, Donna Summer, Wooten Brothers) has been playing in the band for some recent shows, which has been a blast.

Back in the summer I put together a fun side-project that I had mentioned in the last news update. It's a 5-piece power pop/rock/r&b Top40 group, called !Stereo-Hype!. We've been doing shows since July and they have been quite fun. The group has had some good feedback and we are continuing to book more shows.

Recently did a session for singer/songwriter/guitarist Marc Cashin. Marc definitely has an early Dave Matthews Band influence in his writing and I got to play some 'funky' drums. The session was a blast, and I look fowrad to hearing the finished product which should be mixed in the next week or so.

Finally...this website's server has been upgraded, so hopfully everything is running smoothly. If you experience any problems with the site, please send an e-mail thru the contact page. All the best!

Greetings! It is definitely time for updates...Things have been busy...and in this case, more of the same....

Have been out on the road with Eddy Raven, and have also been playing several Grand Ole Opry shows with Eddy as well. At the beginning of August we played a festival in Wyoming with Doug Kershaw....Doug sat in on our set doing a couple of duo tunes with Eddy and band.

Have also been doing shows with Skyline Drive. One gig in particular was quite a treat...and all drummers out there will know what I mean. We played a wedding reception back in May. The reception was held outside under a big tent on many acres of land. When the bride and groom entered, their parents were introduced. The groom's dad was introduced as "Mr. Ron Tutt". Well...you drummers probably know what is going thru my mind at this point...."could it be?...the same Ron Tutt who played drums for Elvis Presley?". I immediately did a panaramic view of the reception area and thought I spotted THE Ron Tutt, legendary drummer for Elvis Presley and Neil Diamond. As we played several jazz and latin tunes for the dinner reception, I was really hoping to play the 'first dance' songs correctly and without flaw. We not only had one first dance song, but three...for the parents' dances as well. Well, thankfully the tunes went without a hitch, and I was very thankful for that. We then started into our funk set. About four songs in, I was panning the crowd and spotted master session drummer Paul Leim (countless pop and country records)! My feelings of...as Wayne and Garth put it..."I'M NOT WORHTY", were now doubled! I'm happy to say the reception was a success and all the families were very happy with our performance. Afterwards I re-introduced myself to Paul and Ron, as I had met them both before on previous occassions. It was great chatting with two of the greats, and they were very gracious and complimentary, which made me feel good that we had done our job well that night (and hopefully on every gig!).

Also on the live front I have been gigging with Jeanni Cioffi's band Poor Skeletons, the Private Coach Band, a Top40 rock-r&b-funk band I formed (more info forthcoming)...and for a nice change of pace, I played a July 4th symphonic orchestra concert in which I played tympani and other percussion.

TV: a movie I played on the soundtrack for - Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story, aired on the Lifetime Channel during the month of May.

Also have been gigging with Skyline Drive, as well as rehearsing with Jeanni Cioffi's band Shell for an upcoming show. Jeanni is a great violinist/vocalist/songwriter who played on the PAGE-PLANT UNLEDDED TOUR (Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin), and has worked with other artists including Bernadette Peters, Mannhiem Steamroller and Natalie Cole.

Recently played at the historic Ryman Auditorium with Eddy Raven for some Grand Ole Opry shows...

Session news: A record I did for rock artist Devin Williams (Mouthpiece) is now available. In addition to drumming, I also did some mixing on the project. For more info, check out: www.mouthpieceonline.net.

Also, Cece Winans' new CD Throne Room has given her the biggest debut sales week of her solo career, selling over 27,000 copies it's first week. It debuted at #1 on BILLBOARD SPECIALTY ALBUM CHARTS (still currently at #1), #21 on R&B and #32 on HOT 100 ALBUM CHARTS.

TV: a movie I played on the soundtrack for - Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story, will be airing on the Lifetime Channel Dec. 20th.

Best wishes for the holidays and have an awesome New Year!!!

Currently have been on the road with Eddy Raven, as well as doing shows with Skyline Drive. In October I will be tracking a record for rock artist Devin Williams. Also hope to have info on a record I did for latin-pop artist, Junior Kelly.

Cece Winans' new CD Throne Room has been released.

The new Cece Winans CD I did tracks for, Throne Room, will be released September 9th. Here's some info from Cece's website:

"CeCe's new album Throne Room has been slated for release on September 9, 2003. This much anticipated praise and worship album comes with a bonus - a free DVD including an interview, videos and never seen before performance footage with the first 100,000 copies purchased."

On the live front I have recently been doing gigs with various artists including Shannon Brown, Devin Williams (mouthpiece), Poor Skeletons, Caitlin Evanson, Shanye Hill, Teddy Larkin, Skyline Drive, jazz bassist Ross Krutsinger, and Melissa Lewis.

Session news: A quick update....recorded tracks for the new Cece Winans CD, Throne Room, to be released this fall. More session news to follow...

TV: I have a few appearances on Lifetime's Intimate Portrait program featuring Barbara Mandrell, which will be airing on the Lifetime channel June, 26th.

In the studio recently tracked records for pop-rock artist Rod Lambert (Alaskan Pipe Dream) and country artist Julie Bame. Also did tracks for pop-rocker
J. Paul and latin-pop artist Junior Kelley.


Devin Williams is an up and coming alternative rock artist I've been performing with lately.

TV news: a movie I played on the soundtrack for - Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story, aired on the Lifetime Channel April 21st & 22nd. I also have a few appearances in Barbara Mandrell: Country's Do Right Woman, which aired on the Biography channel April 21st, 22nd, & 26th.

Session news: Recently did a master session for producers Cedric and Victor Caldwell (Whitney Houston, Take 6, Cece Winans). Recorded songs for the new CD, God's Leading Ladies. Played on tracks featuring Patti LaBelle, Dottie Peeples, and Helen Baylor on vocals. Kirk Wahlum (jazz artist, Whitney Houston) plays saxophone on the project as well. Release date is November 19, 2002. Also recently recorded ten tracks for an artist from the Dominican Republic. More info forthcoming...

TV news: a movie I played on the soundtrack for - Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story, will be airing on the Lifetime Channel Dec. 9th.