Holiday Head Charity Auction

Well the drum head is signed by everyone in Meat Loaf and more This is a head that was custom made for the tour. I believe it is one of 5 heads. In Asbury Park at sound check Peter Criss of KISS came down. What an amazing guy, he even got up and played a few KISS songs with Crook. The head was still on the drum up on the riser and I told him what we were doing with the auction and asked if he would sign it, he was so gracious and signed and also took a pic. How cool to have a head signed along with Meat Loaf and Peter Criss.

I would like to thank everyone in the band for being so great with this and taking the time to take pics and sign the head. I am a very lucky guy to be in a band with such great people. Love you guys.

Charity Auction III

Happy Holiday Head

We all got together this month and thought it would be nice to auction off a Holiday Head, signed by the whole band. One at a time everyone has stopped by my drum riser to sign the head that is on my Gong Bass Drum. I will post pics of everyone signing the head on my site. All proceeds will go to Compassion International . Thanks again to everyone who bid on the last drum head and shirt. It will support a child for almost a year.
Peace
John

Busy with Marya and Amberly

Check out the video of "21" I just filmed with Marya Roxx. It was filmed out on the West Coast in the mountains where they used to film MASH. We really had a blast filming. There's lots of pictures on my site.




I also just recorded an album with Amberly Thiessen. Amberly was on Canadian Idol last year, check her out. I will post the album once it's released. Check out my site for some cool pictures of me and Amberly in the studio.

Haloween Shirt

I don't know why, but I have received a ton of emails about the shirt in this picture. It is in the wardrobe making its way to the next show. I will also add the shirt, signed along with the sticks and the drum head in this auction. I can not add this on eBay at this time but I promise I will send it out. You have all been so generous with these auctions and I can't tell you how happy it makes me that we can all help out kids and family's less fortunate then us.
Peace
John

Charity Auction II

Happy Halloween!
We just played a show on Halloween night with Meat Loaf. What a blast! Everyone got dressed up for the encore. Meat was Elvis, Patti and CC were Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, Paul was Barney Rubble, Randy was The Joker, Kasim was a Huge Bunny, Dave was Joe the Plumber, Mark was Mark...and I was a Pig (no wise cracks). I will be auctioning off a signed pair of drumsticks and the drum head we used that night for the next Charity Auction to benefit Compassion International.

I want to thank everyone who participated in last month's Charity Auction. Here's an update on the boy we were able to begin a sponsorship for with the proceeds. Jolien is 10 years old and lives in Haiti with his father, mother and 1 sibling. His parents sometimes work as farmers, and Jolien is responsible for carrying water, gathering firewood and caring for animals. In primary school, his performance is above average and he also regularly attends church activities and camp. He loves singing, art and bicycling. I've sent him a letter and am waiting to hear from him. Because of privacy issues, I'm not able to post his photo, but I'll keep you all updated with excerpts from his letters as I receive them. Thanks to your generosity, we can keep this sponsorship going!

Charity Auction Thanks

Today I was able to sponsor a 10-year-old boy, Jolien, from Haiti. I saw a picture of him and I wish I could see his face when he hears that he has a sponsor. I spoke with someone from Compassion International today and am finding out if I can post a picture of him on my site. Of course, they have certain security procedures that I do have to follow. I want to thank every one of you who took part in the Charity Auction. I promise to keep you all up-to-date on Jolien. It takes about 2 weeks to receive his info packet, and then we can send him a letter tomorrow and will await his answer. He writes a letter in Haitian, which will be translated and sent back to us.

Charity Auctions

A friend of ours turned us on to this charity, Compassion International, a few years ago. It's supported by a lot of musicians, and they do great work in impoverished countries around the world. They've helped over 1 million children in 24 countries.

We sponsor a child who we keep in contact with through letters. My kids also send gifts during the holiday season. We really see the difference in the child's life we've supported, and it's great to get a personal letter from her.

I'm going to be auctioning an item every month on eBay to raise money to support another child or hopefully, children, through Compassion International. Check out their website - they've just received their 7th consecutive 4-star rating by Charity Navigator. I'll share some of the letters we get from the children that we all can help. Each auction will feature a different item from various tours that I have been on.

This month I'll put up this drum head and a pair of drumsticks for auction. Go to my Charity Auctions page to click on the eBay link.

Blue Oyster Cult

I have been out on the road with Blue Oyster Cult these last few weeks and what a blast. Just filling in for a friend of mine who just had a beautiful baby boy. We are playing all their hits from Cities on Flame, Reaper, Godzilla , and Burning For You. The Band is Smokin. We just finished a few shows with Joan Jett, Peter Frampton and .38 Special. Everyone asks me about more cowbell well here it is. I don't think you can get more than this.


When I was getting ready to do sound check I got some really great advice from J.R., a security guard backstage. It's funny, what he is saying takes so many of us drummers so long to figure out.



Next month I will be out with Marya Roxx. Check out her new site or stop by her forum and leave a message.

Motley Crue Contest!

Here's a cool new competition. If you register at the link below you can then vote for Marya to be support for The Crue's 2009 tour.

Winding Down

Well this leg of the tour is winding down. We are out for three more shows then heading home. I want to thank all the Meat fans for such a great run.
When I get home I will be playing with Blue Oyster Cult for a few weeks, so I guess I will have to dust off my cowbell and Godzilla mask. I hope to see some of you at the shows. I will post the shows on my site. I will also be opening up a day teaching in NY in my new studio.

I have received a lot of emails regarding the monstrous sound of the drums this tour ,
I first have to thank George Wehrlin, our front of house engineer, and TC, our Monitor engineer. But also Earthworks.



This tour we have added Earthworks Live Drum Kit miking System .This system consists of two over head microphones and a Kick mic The Earthworks overheads added a clarity to my drum sound that I never had. It really brought my sound of 5 drums 10 cymbals and one cowbell to sound like one musical instrument. My monitor mix went from having 15 inputs for a drum mix, into just my two overhead microphones and a kick microphone, and never sounded better.
I can't wait to get home and try these in my studio.

Stonehenge Trip

We just finished our first couple of shows in the UK. We have gone from Liverpool, the home of the Beatles to beautiful Bath and then on to Nottingham. On our trip from Bath to Nottingham we passed right by Stonehenge and decided to stop. Here is a little video I put together from our trip.

On The Road Again with Meat Loaf

Well rehearsals are over and we are out for 8 weeks in the UK and Europe. We had our first show in Plymouth UK and now are in Cork Ireland. I cant believe it but who did I see was Harry Potter no kidding Daniel Radcliffe. I will be getting back into the hang of things and start posting more often. Here is a little video I put together. Hope to see you all on tour.

The Answer To all Your Questions...

Marya Roxx Gigs

I am out in California with Marya, Paul Crook and Joey Vera tearing it up. We are gigging on Sunday at the Cat Club, Monday at the House Of Blues and Wed. at The Joint. I promise I will take photos and as much video as I can. We will be playing with Mary Roxx all through out May.
Come June its back out with Meat Loaf for 8 weeks in the UK and Europe. I'm stoked :). You can check out the dates on my site.
Then when I come back in Aug. I will be playing some shows with my old friends Blue Oyster Cult.
I hope hope to see some of you at all of these shows.
Peace
John

Whats going on

I am still out in Vegas with Marya Roxx. We have been playing every Thursday at a club called the Divebar to tighten up our show before we head out to LA for a few big shows. Last Saturday Crook, Libretti and myself went out to see some very dear friends of ours, Blue Oyster Cult. Holy Crap did they kick ass. After the show we all sat around a few pizzas and laughed our asses off.
I also started practicing my Meat Loaf songs this week. It looks like we will be hitting the road with the Casa De Carne Tour. I will be listing (really Deb will be listing) the dates on my website as they come in.
This past week my line of drum pads have come out, there is a Pro and Student model. We really worked hard on these and have gone through at least 100 designs to get just the right feel and sound. These pads are very dynamic, you can hear every stroke and accent. There is no other pad like this on the market. I will be posting a short demo video on both pads.

Marya Roxx

Well I am back out in Vegas with Crook again. We are rehearsing and filming a documentary video for Marya Roxx. Marya's album kicks ass. We are doing this as a three piece plus Marya. On bass is Wayne Carver, Wayne is from Vegas, he was in a show called Erotica which was a metal show with Topless women dancing around, :) so to make him feel at home, every once in a while I take my shirt off and dance around him.
The band is kickin Crook sounds amazing, it just blows me away how he can cover so many parts at one time, it really sounds like a 5 piece band. Marya is a ball of energy ready to blow and is always singing her ass off . I cant believe how much sound comes out of that little body of hers.
I will post a video clip of a rehearsal soon.
Sonor has sent me an x-ray acrylic kit for this gig. You have to hear this kit . It has such great attack along with great tone. It really just cuts through the thickness of the band with ease.

Stuff

Well, now that the New Year is here it's time for me to get on this blog and let you know what's going on around here. The last few weeks I have been practicing with John and Jeremy from Nine Days to do some recording. It's really some great music. I'll post a song or two once we are done.

Next month I will be out in Vegas with Crook working on a project with Marya Roxx. It is really heavy. This girl really kicks ass. Paul recorded an album with her and recommended me for this project. I am really looking forward to this. We'll be doing some dates with Marya Roxx, starting in April in L.A. I will keep you all posted.



During all this craziness I have been designing my own Drum Pad with master craftsman Tony Favicchia. It's a drum pad different from all the others on the market. It's made from solid maple and it's more like an instrument than a drum pad. It has great tone and is very dynamic. It will be available to purchase soon on my Web Mall.

Love Ya Joe

Over the holidays I am sad to say Joe Lennane passed away before he made it home for the holidays. Joe was production manager with Meat for years. I am left speechless.
Joe was a great man, he really knew the meaning of friends and family. Joe, your memories will always be with me. I consider myself very lucky that our paths have crossed. My prayers and love go out to Brenda (his wife) and his family, I know Joe loved you all very much.
:(