Michael - Drums
Michael's passion for playing drums began as a young child, and that passion has pre-occupied his mind ever since. Michael got his first real drum (an old Ludwig snare) for Christmas 1968 which, he later found out, had belonged to his 15 year old Uncle (Uncle Doug). Michael was always very fascinated by music and particularly seemed interested and very adept at picking out the percussive parts of music. He was constantly sneaking down the street to the house where his Uncle's band practiced and peering in through the basement window. His parents were supportive of his interest in music and really seemed to enjoy listening to him play. His mother signed him up to take lessons from a local drum instructor who taught Drum & Bugle Corp style drumming to local teens, but he agreed to include Michael in his next class. Michael became impatient with the basics approach that any good drum instructor would teach, and he told his Mom that he didn't want to play those kind of drums- he wanted to play Rock n Roll. So, from that point forward, Michael became a self taught drummer and continued to develop his skills (albeit sometimes the wrong skills) and a very keen ear.
Michael learned much of the Rock n Roll, Top 40 and R&B/Motown music that came out in the late 60's and throughout the 70's, but his shyness and slight lack of self confidence kept him from trying to join a band when he was young. He graduated from college, sold his drums and moved out of his parents house at age 22, and didn't buy another drum kit until he was 39. At age 40 Michael joined his first band, Crazy Coyote, which was a local Country/Rockabilly band based in Mount Airy, MD. Michael soon realized that being able to memorize drum parts and play them precisely was only part of the learning process when it came to true musicianship and he started performing at as many of the local open mics or jams that he could find throughout the MD/DC/VA area, giving him the chops that he has today. Because he had grown very anxious to play the Rock n Roll he grew up with, in 2006 Michael decided to join a new group of musicians who eventually formed On-Kilter. He has been manning the "engine room" for On-Kilter ever since.