Dresel v. Dresel
A pattern has emerged. Our last two video interviews have either preceded or followed companion Hittin’ reviews here in the News blog. We hold consistent with our latest interview featuring Bernie and Jonathan Dresel.

Not long ago here, I indulged some impressions of a performance by BERN—Bernie’s namesake twelve-piece band—at Vitello’s. As it turned out, he liked it. He wrote in an email: “In a sea of lame reviewers, you stand at the top. No exaggeration!” I’m presuming that meant he liked it. I followed up with the inspiration of sitting down with him and Jonathan, drummer for Jimmy Kimmel Live, and getting the drummer/brother story. They were down…for a sit-down.

Pony Shows And Bunnies
In a further thread of consistency, we filmed the proceedings back at Vitello’s with the venue’s gracious and appreciated support. Indeed, we put on a little show with this one. No ponies, but we did have a bunny. In a distinctly distant nod to Hugh Hefner’s late-60s TV show “Playboy After Dark,” we themed our day-time production “Hollywood Drum Before Dark.”

In place of a swank Manhattan penthouse we had a second-floor jazz club in Studio City. The singular semblance of a tuxedo adorned our alternately manic and disinterested announcer/sidekick, Billy. Our disgruntled, cigarette smoking Before Dark bunny had a charm of her own. And we were out by 2pm. Success. Still, the format promises to evolve with live performance and greater audience interaction. Stay tuned.

Drum Fraternity
Emerging through—perhaps despite—all of this, came the story of two brothers rising from a basement in Sharon, PA to high-profile careers as successful professional drummers in L.A. It’s a good one, including tales of Beatles revelations and Elvis guitars; baton-twirlers; tap dancing and short-lived ballet classes; Sunday drives in the ‘61 Caddy; hand-me-downs to full-on double-bass Slingerland drumsets; bell-bottoms and Dingo boots; and other assorted brotherly intrigue.

Actually, the brothers paint the picture of what seems a largely charmed childhood together, and disciplined and purposeful journies to the heights of their profession. All with humor and genuineness. Great players and great guys. It was a true pleasure hanging with them for the afternoon. Watch it now.

Thank you to April Williams and Vitello’s.

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Down In Dixieland
My medium-rare flesh slow-roasted on a shadeless stretch of sand beneath an intense South Texas sun. I was already an unnatural shade of saturated pink well on the way to an alarming red that would find me enduring the remainder of my first college spring break in an aloe-and-sweat-soaked motel bed. I didn’t care. Little Feat had taken the beachfront stage.

While the musical experience wasn’t the only thing I shared with that peaceable mass of slow-swaying collegians, it was the swampy music of the band with the inimitable Richie Hayward on drums that truly set my cares free and colluded with the sun in my baking.

For Richie Or Poorer
I was reminded of that show and the impact of Richie Hayward’s joyous drumming on me that day when Phil Hood, publisher of DRUM! magazine, contacted me with news of an upcoming drumming event organized to benefit Richie. The profits from their Rhythm Night on August 13 will be donated to help Richie in his now year-long bout with acute liver disease.

In Phil’s words: “He is highly regarded by generations of drummers and music fans, and sadly stands as a stark reminder of how challenging it is to make a living as a professional musician, even when you are at the top of your game. That’s why we are donating our time and resources to help spread the word about his pressing need for help, and raise some cash for his medical treatment.”

The event, to be held at the San Jose Repertory Theatre from 6:00 to 8:30pm, will feature performances and clinics by David Garibaldi, Marco Minnemann, and Thomas Pridgen. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door and include admission to the following George Clinton concert that night.

The Way To San Jose
For the record, San Jose is about 350 miles and over 5 hours from L.A. HollywoodDrum.com doesn’t generally stray so far from home when covering events; after all, there are more than we’re able to dutifully keep up with right here. We are making an exception.

Our L.A. friends—the majority of our readers—just might consider the same. Road-trip. Ride motorcycles. Book a romantic drum-filled weekend getaway. Thumb it. Or…simply buy tickets for the cause, and cozy up at home with a warm copy of Waiting For Columbus and whatever else you got. You can also make a donation on Richie’s behalf through Sweet Relief musicians fund.

Foggy Mourning
“R.I.P. Chad Sexton’s Drum City. Anyone know the story? Post info and eulogies here.” So read the precipitous January ninth post on the Hollywood Drum Facebook page. Add it to “Dewey Defeats Truman.” The post was in reaction to the abruptly deserted North Hollywood storefront on Lankershim suddenly plastered with bright yellow “FOR LEASE” signs in the three large street-facing windows. You gave us all quite a scare there, little fella. We do now know the story and are happy to report that Drum City is alive and well—if a bit gaunt—at its new location about two miles northeast. The grand opening party was this past Saturday.

Remembrance
Turns out, oddly, our post was not only precipitous but also belated. The original location which opened in March 2006 actually shut down in November 2009. The conspicuous bright yellow epitaphs only seemed sudden. With loss often comes renewed appreciation. Personally, I recalled with some longing how cool it was to have a well-stocked, chill and helpful drum shop just over this side of the hill. Although, the previous nearby independent drum shop failed miserably of its own shortcomings without a sigh, let alone tears; leaving the valley momentarily without alternative to the music retail monoliths. Sexton’s was a welcome newcomer and seemed poised to succeed where its predecessor could not.

The staff, including Chad’s mom Linda and brother Mac, were inviting, informed, and customer-oriented. They even structured the space around a built-in counter-top island where drummers could pull up a barstool and wax all things rhythmic at leisure. The place was purposefully conceived to recreate the community-centered hang that defines the best corner shops—specifically for Chad, Joe Voda’s Drum City in Omaha, NE. Though the shop never seemed to capture the vibe and soul of those beloved and entrenched institutions, it fulfilled its mission on many fronts.

Moving On
The resurrected Drum City at 10424 Burbank Boulevard is a third the size; considerably more crude; cramped, cluttered and narrow; and gloriously suited for its purpose. I’d endeavor to suggest that already—Day One, this incarnation surpasses the first in vibe and soul. And, ultimately, in sustainability.

As I threaded myself through the mass of shoulders and elbows and little people at my knees on Friday, I had the sense that something was missing. Something had necessarily to be missing from the old triple-wide. I realized what it was: drums. This new leaned-out drum shop had maybe four drumsets displayed in total. Even the snare drum rack was patchy. This may change to some degree as the store matures, but it seemed an intentional decision based upon the logistical constraints, and more so upon the changing state of music retail.

Embracing Change
When even the big-boxes and web retailers are excising excess from their business models, the independents require a disciplined strategy to compete and survive. In this case the clear battle cry is, “Cut Overhead!” The first casualty (besides the AC at the height of the opening day event) in limited quarters where expensive stock is too easily overlooked outright or in preference to alternate color and size, is the seemingly essential drum. Merchandising a few entry-level sets, maybe one or two generic pro kits, and a handful of snares while custom-ordering the rest now seems pretty reasonable. Really, the exciting thing about having a drum shop nearby for me is easy access to the staples. I’m empirically not alone.

Pass The Brownies
Nor was I alone Saturday in helping celebrate, congratulate and welcome Drum City back to the neighborhood. The house was full of supporters in apparently free (uh, where was mine?!) logo-stitched ball caps helping themselves to home-baked brownies and snacks off the once again bulit-in hang-out bar, and happily communing in a dense and sticky crowd. Perhaps by the time PSAs and early prevention render the next-door smoke shop obsolete, Chad Sexton’s Drum City will be ready to expand responsibly. Until then, let us appreciate the revised diminutive, no-fuss shop; and if you got ‘em…smoke ‘em.

Our pictorial coverage.

Movin’ On Upstairs
I like my vibey neighborhood dive bars. No fuss. No pretense. No twelve-piece bands. A couple blocks from my house, Upstairs at Vitello’s is not among them. Downstairs, maybe. The upper room is fast becoming one of L.A.’s finest jazz clubs with a consistently strong and growing schedule of some the best local and touring heavy-cats. This past Friday, fifteen bucks got you escorted to a table in the closed-door listening room for the early or late show of Bernie Dresel’s BERN. All twelve of ‘em.

If the dives are my favorite pair of patched-up Levi’s, my neighborhood jazz clubs (plural—pretty sweet hood) are that stylin’ fitted vintage suit just off to the side of the closet. Vitello’s is a perfect fit. An old-school Italian ristorante in Studio City’s Tujunga Village, the once upstairs banquet room has been transformed into a dialed-in, intimate, and somewhat magical music venue. A mere floor but a total world apart from the ground-level red Sicilian dining room, the darkened performance space along with its inviting reception area, hostess stand, and showtime marquee could be anywhere beneath the buzzing streets of Manhattan. It just feels like a jazz club.

No Hipstamatic used in the making of this photo

Of Many, One
Bernie’s a friend of HollywoodDrum.com. He regularly updates his dates for the calendar. He works a lot. There’s good reason—we’ll get to that. Though I’ve seen BERN before at regular Cafe Cordiale gigs, when he invited me out to the Vitello’s show featuring guest bassist, Neil Stubenhaus, I had a sense that this setting might offer a bit different perspective on the band and make for an ideal Hittin’ review. The verdict is in on that first point. Seeing BERN in a dedicated performance venue showcased the band beyond the limits of a relatively chaotic restaurant and bar. Despite arranged renditions of Tower of Power, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder and James Brown staples, this is not simply a good-time party band; it is a seriously grooving, stylistically diverse, improvisational ensemble comprised of some of the best players in town—which is to say, around. BERN doesn’t just withstand the scrutiny of an attentive audience, it warrants it.

With full rhythm, four horns, a percussionist, and three singer/entertainers, there are plenty of individual options for an audience’s attention. Or, as it occurred to me, a band this big, tight, and intuitive naturally directs focus on the whole of its parts. Kind of like the best symphony orchestras, it moves collectively as one mass organism. In the same way that David Blaine can make the illusory real, while the roaming magician at a cheap steakhouse makes the feigned awkward, a band this large and arranged succeeds brilliantly or falls painfully short along with its level of mastery. With BERN you never see the palm.

Nice splice

Pieces Of Twelve
Horn players seem to thrive in herds. The section is to horns as the peloton is to cyclists or the gaggle to geese. These often dark-humored musicians seem content building chords among their like, and happy for the increasingly precious opportunity. So it was with this section anchored by Lee Thornburg—punctuating the music with concise and well-placed dots and dashes, and adding full-frequency excitement onstage. And oh! what joy to hear the real thing over synthesized artifice. These four men elevate BERN from a great band to an event.

The foundation of that great band on this night was Bernie on drums and one Neil Stubenhaus on bass. I understand that this was Neil’s first performance with the group and he was very near, if not totally, dry-reading the book. The ability to never allow the eyes to interfere with the ears is the stamp of a seasoned session pro. The notes were right, but more importantly—as always—they were in the right places. Rounding out the rhythm section were the super-hip Kay-ta Matsuno on guitar, Mark Le Vang on unimpeachable keys and vocals, and Walter Rodriguez on well-played and playful percussion.

The three singers are the face of BERN—and sometimes the rear-end. In a truly charming manner, these three often turned to face a soloist and cheer them on with varying degrees of writhing, hip thrusting, and air punching. When stage-forward they do indeed have serious voices. It might be interesting to experience two versions of BERN: BERN, the restaurant-bar party band with the energetic and entertaining singers; and BERN, the instrumental big-band-esque ensemble fully spotlighting the stellar musicianship of this lineup in listening rooms such as Vitello’s. The thought did occur.

Bernie, Neil. Neil, Bernie.

BERNie
Bernie Dresel is a smart drummer. Yeah, the guy is studied and can nail a chart; but there is more to making wise musical decisions. Aspects of wise musical decision-making are subjective to be sure; certain primary others are less so. Allowing sonic space and avoiding clumsy redundancy within dense orchestration. Confidently driving a large band with solid high-res time, set-ups, and articulation. Controlling the live mix with deliberate and contoured dynamics. A commitment to feel. Bernie does it all with a grace and style his own. And I’m not just referring to his rock-a-billy (however muted these days) pompadour. He’s not all about support. His rhythmic flair was displayed on samba and salsa interludes, and his funk syncopation is Oakland Bay greasy.

For some drummers, fronting a self-named twelve-piece band could be considered pretentious—afterall, there are some humbling precedents. For Bernie Dresel, it simply seems fitting. There is a sense watching this band that is poised to continue evolving and expanding—not necessarily into thirteen or more pieces, but simply into its vast potential. After the remarkable show I saw Friday night, that will definitely be something to write about.

Play And Forget
One of my favorite home-spun maxims comes from the nine year-old son of a good friend. He was telling us about his day at summer camp. As the kids changed into their swimsuits, a heavyset man was also changing in the same locker room. Whatever my friend’s sweet son witnessed that fine summer day was clearly unnerving. His mom asked him if he wanted to talk about it. “No, Mom,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to play and forget.” Play and forget. That’s reality camp for many of us. My personal childhood memories of a summer aerospace camp include having a ham sandwich vomited on me inside a cramped single-engine Cessna.

Just Play. Or Not.
Los Angeles Music Academy and Drum Channel promise to enhance reality with the premier Drummer’s Reality Camp June 28th through July 2nd. In place of locker room trauma and graphic nausea, this camp will offer close-quarters study with artists-in-residence Terry Bozzio, Efrain Toro, Ralph Humphrey, and Joe Porcaro; and guest artists including JR Robinson, Peter Erskine, Alex Acuña, Teddy Campbell, and Nissan Stewart . The five-day intensive will consist of class study, workshops, ensembles, private lessons, and evening performances; plus, a field trip to tour Drum Workshop and the Drum Channel studios.

Drummers from across the globe, of all skill levels, ages 14 and up are welcomed to participate. The first 100 enrollees will be accepted and class sizes will max out at 25. Campers will be placed into style-specific ensembles comprised of current LAMA students, and according to drum department chair Ralph Humphrey, will not be separated by skill level allowing less advanced students to learn from the more experienced. Mike Packer, LAMA VP and drum department instructor adds that not everyone may feel comfortable playing and that’s OK. Sounds like the week could range from low-pressure and entertaining for some, to highly intense and challenging for others depending on individual intent and desire.

Keeping It Real
Tuition has recently been reduced from $1,495 to $995, and students are eligible for a discount rate of $495. The deadline for registration is June 14th.

In addition to my tentative flight camp experience, I also attended week-long jazz camps over a couple high school summers. I know first hand the impact and inspiration such a concentrated musical environment can offer. HollywoodDrum.com is happy to support and help promote the Drummer’s Reality Camp. Stay tuned for our full coverage.

For now, we offer you a preview in our Q&A with the three principals of the event: Humphrey; Packer; and DW president, Don Lombardi. Happy camping.

Visit LAMA’s Drummer’s Reality Camp page for more information.

Feel Like We Do
No, HollywoodDrum.com has not grown more gray and mellow, or less gaunt and pouty in that cool rockstar way; neither have we assumed a proper banker’s haircut over a golden blown-out mane, or gut-covering button-down in place of one seriously badass open kimono shirt. We are simply and officially one year more mature and fleshed-out since our debut post, Hollywood Drum Comes Alive!. We still rock a badass kimono. It’s our first anniversary. If gifting paper, make it cash.

In that introduction a trip-around-the-sun ago, I expressed a desire for the site to fulfill its newly minted slogan: L.A.’s Drum Community Has A Home. Based on the much appreciated feedback and contributions we’ve received from many of you, it’s well on its way. The opportunity and privilege of connecting the tribe has helped make this past year an exciting and satisfying journey.

Best Of
Some highlights (CUE “The Way We Were”): We bought Dan Konopka (OKGo) a scotch and assigned him to cover the Pro Drum 50th Anniversary Celebration—an early lesson in delegation. Q&As with Phil Maturato of Drummer Intensive Days, Peter Erskine, Alex Acuna, and Mike Clark heralded our support and coverage of local master classes and clinics of interest. Our video interview with Ashes Divide and Pusicifer drummer, Jeff Friedl, ushered our technical production capacity beyond the girlfriend-with-a-Betacam territory of debut interviews with Craig Macintyre and Elvy Brock. And so, Stanton Moore and Brian Blade features initiated full show reviews that culminated in our latest of Taylor Hawkins. A cheeky pictorial recounting of The Hollywood Drum Show presaged our most recent cheeky pictorial recounting of concurrent Guitar Center and Sam Ash parties on Sunset. Then there’s Steve Gadd—a video interview and show review. That was cool. Hehe. A Kneebody show downtown featuring Nate Wood on drums inspired a morning-after series of mini-reviews dubbed “Hittin’” and a subsequent full video feature with Nate. But a mere sampling of our debut year. You’ll find a more complete listing neatly organized in Features and the News Archive.

On Purpose
I’m not comfortable calling it a highlight, but when we lost Jake Hanna this February, Stan Keyawa of Pro Drum contacted me with the news; and I asked Stan to write the tribute. He did a lovely job. This was important to me because it seemed to best characterize the purpose of this site as a venue for L.A. drummers to connect and reach out. This truly is your website, and I felt pleased to turn it over to a rightful owner at that moment.

Now Playing
One of the most used and—according to you—appreciated resources has been the Calendar featuring dates listed by drummer. To enhance this feature and truly get it running up to potential, we need your help. Please feel free to submit any cool hits you know of—maybe yours, maybe not yours. A brief note on this: Some dates have been submitted that don’t actually make the Calendar. Please consider that they are timely and of wide appeal and interest. Not that I won’t show up at the Moose Lodge (a decent hang) on a Monday night, but it may not quite pass wide-appeal muster. Forward dates and info here. Also, please feel free to post any and all gigs, classifieds, and general musings on the Hollywood Drum Forum.

To Come
Big, exciting, informative, entertaining, super-awesome stuff to come in the year ahead. A revamped site update is on the way. Valued new partners are coming aboard. A new production team and an on-deck roster of some of L.A.’s best promise expanded and ever-evolving video content. We’ve got stuff. Don’t you worry about it. But, as ever, we need, welcome, and appreciate your involvement. All ideas, feedback, or submissions are always encouraged and solicited. Talk to us.

As HollywoodDrum.com evolves further, we’ll continue to focus our attention on improving and expanding the elements that best support our mission of being the online home for the L.A. drum community. Clink.

A Curious Tail
When at one point during my interview with drummer Nate Wood, he told me he was playing guitar with Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders, I wasn’t shocked. I had just witnessed him simultaneously play drums with his right hand and bass with his left the night before. A quick study of Wood exhausts all incredulity; and, I figured, given two dedicated hands he could handle rhythm guitar duties alright. Still, I wanted see that.

The opportunity arose last Tuesday, April 20, when the band was booked for a hometown album release show at The Troubadour. My curiosity extended, as well, to seeing Hawkins’ drummer-as-front man spin-off project. Nate had mentioned the possibility of his playing some drums during the set too. It wasn’t until the day before the show that I heard Dave Grohl would be pinch-drumming. That turns out to be a lot of drummers for one band.

Told
The initial thought was to make the hang, enjoy the night, and hammer out a quick Hittin’ blog here the next morning. Thanks to my award-winning photographer and a remarkable performance, I had a few hundred more pics and a couple extra thoughts to sort through than I expected come morning. The sordid results of which, I now present in this here review.

Photo by Deb Jordan

“You’re Invited: Hollywood Drum Shop GRAND OPENING April 10-11.” I received the over-sized postcard promotional mailer from Guitar Center and—against protocol—was compelled to give it a second look. Grand Opening? Capital letters?! Hasn’t this place been around since 1985? Indeed it has. It seemed conspicuously clear that this artificial grand opening (no capitals for you!) was inspired by the last authentic Grand Opening along the north side of the 7400 bock of Sunset Boulevard in December of 2008: G.C.’s newest next-door neighbor, Sam Ash Drum Shop.

Party Like It’s Yo Birthday
Promotional audacity and competitive mettle are hallmark qualities of the company. No surprise there. With over 200 retail stores nationwide, they are simply dancing with the one what brung ‘em. Really, the one thing that saved that three-color little piece of cardboard from instant recycling, was the two-day list of events on the back. Clinics from Famularo, Roddy, Perkins and Erskine. A Sunday meet-and-greet with Aronoff, Lombardo, Blaine, Mangini, and about fifteen other profile L.A. drummers. A drum circle. In-store infomercial—sorry, “dialogue”—with John Good. It doesn’t necessarily need to be your birthday to throw a super party for yourself. This was to be an L.A. drum happening, and your online Home for L.A.’s Drum Community—that would be us—was going to be there.

A quick call to G.C. corporate in Westlake Village, CA, and we were officially credentialed for the event. In practice, this amounted to little more than talking our way past the marginally-invested security dude and heading up to the drum department in between the meet-and-greet and set-up for the evening clinics. Yeah, we missed the full-on flesh-pressing and shoulder-grazing of the early afternoon’s reception. Fine with me, but it does account for the dearth of party pics in our pictorial coverage. I knew when I passed Vinny Appice walking out on my way in that the last streamer had fallen.

_ _ _ _ Thy Neighbor
Minutes prior, I stopped by Sam Ash Drum Shop next door for their own little reactive fete they were calling, “Drumfest on Sunset.” It seems Vinny had been doing double duty—also billed for their contemporaneous meet-and-greet. Not only are these two neighbors not sharing their lawn tools, they’re walking their dogs without a leash and looking away with a wink. Good doggy.

The good news for us is that we have two competitive, well-inventoried, and inviting drum shops in our community for the price of one parking meter. It’s our gain. Ultimately, it’s hard to complain. And if they both want to throw a party on the same weekend, then call a cab and belly up.

As for this GRAND OPENING, it was a modest remodeling. New carpet; the percussion room is now the electronic room; some Hollywood-sign-type letters on a fake brick wall—that type of thing. Luckily, Moonie’s gold Tommy kit is still in the front window. All is well, if a bit tense, on Drummer’s Row. Party on.

For The Record
Shortly following the posting of this blog and accompanying feature, we were contacted by Glenn Noyes, national drum and percussion buyer for Guitar Center, requesting an opportunity to share additional information and the GC perspective regarding this event. We are happy to oblige. Please find his addendum here.

Jake Hanna died February 12, 2010. In tribute to the accomplished drummer, we turn to Stan Keyawa of the Professional Drum Shop for some words about his old friend:

Jake Hanna remembered by Stan Keyawa…

As a young man working at Pro Drum in the early 70’s, I remember asking Jake before our Les De Merle drum clinic, “Hey Jake, are you going to check out our clinic today?” Jake replied, “No Stanley, I feel fine!” I walked away and didn’t get it till 10 minutes later when he turned to Bob Yeager and said, “The Les De Merle the better.” All in fun. Yeager and Jake cracked up (Les—you know how Jake was).

Bob with Jake, mid-70's

That was Jake’s style; Jake was something else. He may not have been a household name, but among the players and jazz enthusiasts alike he was a giant in the industry. No one had better time and musical feel than Jake. Swinging the Woody Herman big band, Tony Bennett, and Bing Crosby to the small trios, Jake’s soft touch and tasteful style stood out. Whenever Jake was picking out a set of brushes on the counter, everybody stopped, looked, and listened—a brush master he was.

It was a very sad day to hear the news on February 12th. Jake was a close friend of Yeager, president of Pro Drum, since the late 50’s; and really became a close family friend when he moved out to Los Angeles from New York in 1970 with the Merv Griffin Show. I remember our mom, Dolores Yeager, cooking many dinner parties at home involving Jake.

Our hearts go out to his wife Denisa Hanna and everyone that Jake touched throughout his life.

Oh…and if Jake put you down or made a joke about you, you probably deserved it. Be honored. He was a great one.

More about Jake.

Post your own remembrances or comments.

Be Gentle
I was surprised to learn that this was Nate Wood’s first interview. It’s not like he’s an unknown. Buzz about his playing ripples in the wake of his electrifying live performances with Kneebody, and more recently, Tigran Hamasyan; and if you’re not hip to him you’re probably one or two cats away from someone who is in this town. Still, it’s true that there is little published record of the 30 year-old drumming phenom. That is destined to soon change, and I am happy to have sat down with Nate on New Years Eve day—less than a week before he departed his life-long home of Southern California for a new home and life in New York—to relate his story before it’s old news.

We covered Nate here once before, but I knew after that show with Kneebody that the resulting review was little more than a placeholder for a more revealing feature to come. So here you have it: our two-part, hour-long, tragically under-edited, implicitly promised video interview with Nate Wood.

Inspired Timing
My improvised plan was to massage the blatant symbolism of the new year and the very real transition of a cross-country move, into an opportunity for retrospection and a bit of horizon gazing. Nate indulged the premise and afterward acknowledged blissful emotional catharsis. It may have just been the effects of a late night and midday low blood sugar.

In any case, we did get the story. From a self-imposed retirement at age four, to gigs with two cutting-edge instrumental groups and John Tesh. That’s right. If you haven’t heard Nate play—or if you have—you might care to look and listen to this little piece of insanely-edited French footage first.

Congratulations and best to Nate on his move and upcoming wedding. To be continued.