Drummer Steve Smith

[tater1977]

Journey drummer in Wellington for workshops

http://www.3news.co.nz/Journey-drummer- ... fault.aspx



By Laura Frykberg

Steve Smith is considered one of the world's best drummers - providing the beat for everyone from Journey to Brian Adams.

He's in the country running workshops Wellington, sharing his knowledge of a 50 year career.

Over that time Smith, 58, has provided the beat for some of popular music's biggest stars.

To reach his skill level it took Smith more than 40,000 hours worth of practice - the equivalent of playing non-stop for five years.




“There's something all encompassing about the drums. It's one of the only instruments that you play with all four limbs. The only other instrument would be like a church organ.”

The Boston-born musician was a jazz drummer for the first 15 years of his career, so when he joined the rock band Journey, he had a challenge on his hands.

“To learn rock drumming at that point in my career - it was something I was quite interested in - but it was quite a shift, because I went from being more of an improvising musician, to a musician who played compositional drum songs to make rock songs work.”

And it did, the band’s song “Don’t stop believin’” became one of the most downloaded of all time.

Smith's been named modern drummer magazine's number one drummer of all time five year's in a row, and inducted in the drummers’ hall of fame.

But his skills off the skins, using just his drumsticks are equally impressive