Past Artists
Pat Steward
Pat Steward burst onto the scene when he recorded the hit “Summer of ‘69” with Bryan Adams and toured the rocker’s Reckless album around the world and back again to his Vancouver home. Since the days with Adams, Pat made his mark with pop-rockers The Odds, shuffled with blues/swing guitarist Colin James, laid down grooves for Matthew Good and rocked out with other Canadian acts such as Ridley Bent and Dustin Bentall. So down-to-earth and modest is Pat that over twenty years after he received it, he has yet to find a place on his wall for his diamond award (1,000,000 sales in Canada) of the Reckless album. Humble, unassuming…but what a fine drummer.
Gary Grace
Gary Grace is a well respected performer and teacher from the Vancouver area with a wealth of knowledge and experience on the drum set. Born into a family of drummers, Gary learned his craft on the kit studying at the Crane School of Music in New York and with world reknowned drummers including Joe Morello and Jim Chapin. Gary is also Canada’s first National Roland V-Drums Contest Winner in 2009, having achieved First Place in Canada with a stellar performance at the finals held at the Montreal Drum Festival. His mastery of the drum kit is incredible to see and when he applies it all to the V-Drums, it is something you won’t want to miss!
Murray Creed
Murray is the founder of the Victoria Drum Fest. He owns Groove Studios in Victoria, BC and teaches 55 private students weekly. Murray is the author of five instructional drum books, does clinics locally and currently plays with Planet Claire, TPOD, the MD3, the Beatles Revolution and Justin Hewitt. He endorses Vic Firth Drum Sticks.
Check out… www.murraycreed.ca
Jon Miller
Jon Miller teaches drums at Groove Studios in Victoria BC and Brentwood College (Mill Bay, BC). He currently plays with a number of artists including James Young, George McFetridge, Diane Pancel and Tom Watson. Jon also writes and arranges music for his own groups. In 2010 his jazz quartet’s debut release “Orchidology” was nominated for a Monday Magazine “M Award” in the category “Album of the Year.”
Check out www.jonmillerquartet.com
Ron Thaler
Ron’s career spans a wide range of styles and disciplines. He has worked with many of the world’s finest artists including Alicia Keys, Dweezil Zappa, Ashley Simpson, DJ Logic, Rob Thomas, Sarah McLachlan, The Led Zep Project, Sophie B. Hawkins, Moev, Mae Moore, Taj Mahal, Simaku, Mercedes Ferrer, Lizzy Mercier, Taylor Dayne, Al DiMeola and Mike Stern. Ron is also an accomplished Record Producer having garnered Grammy nominations in 2008.
Check out www.ronthaler.com
Jason Cook
Jason is one of Victoria’s most in-demand drummers. He is a multi-instrumentalist that produces records for many artists in the Victoria scene. He currently plays live with Simon Collins, Santa Clara, Kuba Oms & Juno Award winner Tal Bachman.
Check out Jason on myspace.
Chris Petersen
Groove Studios instructor Chris Petersen is a rising star in the Victoria music scene. His band Current Swell released their second album in 2009 and have just returned from an Australian tour.
Check out www.currentswell.com
