The two hosts of Drummer’s Weekly Groovecast have known each other for over twenty years. Host, Phil Smith, has been a long time listener to podcasts as his main form of in-car entertainment. The thought of an educational, topic-based drum podcast was something he had been mentally assembling for quite some time. Yet the show he was imagining blended camaraderie, humor, varying opinions, and an informal setting that drummers of any background could enjoy and learn from.

Co-host, Jon Chalden, was the first person Phil consulted and ultimately ran the concept by. Jon recognized that all the conversations they’d had over lunches and drinks were the things that glued the drumming community together. Their friendship and enthusiasm for all things drumming directly influenced the idea for a podcast concept that was sorely missing in the music community. While we enjoy listening to interview based podcasts why not produce a show that truly illustrates the brotherhood that drummers uniquely share? From that idea a new platform was fashioned.

The concept of the Drummer’s Weekly Groovecast is to recreate the informal ‘drum hang’ that so many professional players enjoy partaking. As drummers our distinctive bond can be found after gigs in local watering holes as well as convention centers across the country. The massive annual gathering at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention brings together thousands of percussionists for several days of education and fellowship that is seldom seen with any other group of musicians. But no matter how different the setting our mutual admiration for fellow drummers and our passion for playing drums shines through.

We take all these facets and blend them together for a fun, informational show that draws from our combined sixty plus years of higher education, touring, recording, teaching, and simply being a working musician. Although we don’t depend on interviews we occasionally have discussions with some of the world’s greatest drummers and music industry specialists.

Our interviews spawned a new segment of the show, “Accountability Thursday”. These mini-episodes feature short instructional videos based on traditional rudimental solos found in the NARD and Wilcoxin books. You can view these by visiting our videos page at:  http://www.drummersweeklygroovecast.com/videos Likewise we encourage our listeners to be an active part in the podcast by not only communicating with us but by posting their own versions of “Accountability Thursday” solos on social media. As the show continues and evolves we intend on bringing our audience the best new content and conversation available in the music community.