I once was asked, “What is something you are passionate about and why?” Well, as a young child my mother often found me banging out rhythms on her pots and pans with a pair of wooden spoons. Not too long after I began walking my parents bought me one of those paper head drum sets out of the Sears Catalog. Over the next four to five years I tore through multiple “toy” drumset until I received my first Rogers Snare Drum at the age of seven. These early experiences in Cleveland, Ohio with rhythm and drumming cemented a passion inside of me that has proven to be inextinguishable. Little did I know as a youth that this passion was only in its infancy as the true peak of inspiration and planting of passion hadn’t yet been realized. As the years went on in South Florida studying with Russ Miller and then landing in Wichita, Kansas to attend college and ultimately discover the steelpan, often referred to as the steel drum or simply the pan. Here in the center of America is where I met Dr. Ellie Mannette (1927 - 2018) and who is known as the father of the modern steel drum. Meeting Dr. Mannette, as well as the great Andy Narell in these early formative collegiate years cemented a passion for the pan instrument and its artform. From Kansas I launched first to Trinidad, West Indies, and then to Los Angeles where my passions took on new life and provided experiences such as touring with Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver), performing with Cyndy Lauper, recording for Ryan Gosling, touring with Cipes and the People, landing a record deal with Babylon Saints, facilitating classes for Drumming for Your Life Institute, being a teaching artist for the Music Center & LA Arts Group, and creating my Caribbean Drum Circle and Feel Breathe Move interactive drumming programs. Back in Kansas, I’ve recently returned to embark on yet another journey, but one nonetheless that is fueled with the same burning passion as my inextinguishable foundation. Through all the years of being involved with and in music, as well as education, and the interplay of the two, I’ve come to embrace my ability to communicate my passion through the arts, and most importantly, my ability to be of service to others by doing so. Having a passion for music, and specifically drumming has allowed me to tap in and realize some of the many metaphors for life that involve “drumming”. Such as “march to the beat of your own drum”. May the music move you...