Zack has been a professional musician since the 90's from NYC to LA and points in between. He's a versatile upright and electric bassist that plays over 270 gigs a year. Catching him at Little Jumbo in the 5 points area of Asheville is a must with The Core, The Page Bros. Quartet, and Jay Sanders. He also plays all over town with various musicians in different genres and is a session musician at Landslide Studio with Jeff Sipe and others.

This is my first return guest. Yahzay has been incubating with his new record over the past several months, maybe his whole life. He colabs with some of the best musicians around. He's been doing a lot of work, personally and professionally and that's what this album Lionheart is all about.
It was an honor to check back in with him and get a sense of his studio.
You must see him play with Get Right Band wherever they play. You can still catch him play live every Monday with Rahm, Caromia, and Danny Iannucci at 5 Walnut Wine Bar in DT AVL. If you haven't been in a while you need to go back because they are breaking out all new material these days and they continue to develop musically.
Follow Yahzay on IG and download/listen to his work from the links below!
Thanks for listening.

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/5MQz0eOsNLWMmHRgSeqkqx?si=3XbojqJ-SWaZ8vPQVeDpGA

Bandcamp
https://yahzay.bandcamp.com/album/lionheart

Follow him on IG
@yahzay

Micah has an inspiring story about his transition to full time professional drumming. Check out his recording with Tall Tall Trees, Brushfire Stankgrass, and Jason DeCristofaro's latest album, Falconry.
Go see him live every week at The Foundry Hotel on Saturday nights and Hemingway's every Tuesday evening.


Follow him on IG @micahleighwoodthomas

Jason DeCristofaro - Falconry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_OY0Nq9cCo

Brushfire Stankgrass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=593QHWDnRZw

Tall Tall Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boHJHPlfavw

I think most of the musicians in Asheville have heard of Ted or have trusted him with mixing their music. He's also an incredibly talented musician with next level chops on bass and drums. You can catch him playing drums with Ashes and Arrows, a country/rock vocal trio based here in Asheville with origins stretching all the way to New Zealand. You can also check out his project, Tu Koyote, with Jaze "Yahzay" Uries on youtube and spotify. OR you can go back and hear his bass playing with Caitlyn Krisko and The Broadcast on their album Battlecry.

If you're catching this episode when it releases you can catch him playing with Ashes and Arrows live 3/16/2024 at Asheville Music Hall with support by Hustle Souls.

Check out his IG:
https://www.instagram.com/tedmarksmusic

River Guerguerian is a percussionist and composer that has toured the world sharing and in search of sound.
His parents observed his love of percussion early. He was the kid in school obsessed with transcribing drum solos by greats like Elvin Jones and Max Roach and would go on to study music from around the world.
He is as comfortable with the limits of a single frame drum as he is with his world drum set including typical western trap kit pieces like bass and tom toms along with drums from around the world including the djembe, doumbek, and several other instruments.
If you are reading this soon after it is released you can catch him live with his group, Free Planet Radio, in Asheville at the AyurPrana Listening Room on March 16, 2024. You can also see him performing at Big Ears Music Festival with Min Xaio-Fen for a commission from the Smithsonian Institution to compose soundtracks for two Chinese historical silent films, Romance of the Fruit Peddler and Romance of the Western Chamber.
River is also the music director at Odyssey Community School in Asheville, NC and is the founder of Rhythm Asheville.
Conversations with River during private music lessons were on of the inspirations for me in starting this podcast.

River's website
https://www.guerguerian.com/

Free Planet Radio
https://www.freeplanetradio.com/

Asheville Rhythm
https://www.ashevillepercussionfestival.com/

Tickets for his show at AyurPrana Listening Room
https://stagehoundtix.com/events/freeplanetradio

Big Ears Festival
https://bigearsfestival.org/event/min-xiao-fen-with-river-guerguerian/

Benjamin Falcon has been contributing to the Asheville music scene for the past 12 years since attending the music program at UNCA in several ways. Asheville drummers should check out the Ashevill Drummers' Guild on Facebook for for novel solutions to drummer tech problems, gear for sale, and occasional fill-in gig opportunities.
Go see Ben on drums with his Phish project, The Lumpy Heads, at Asheville Music Hall's One Stop in downtown Asheville, NC every Thursday at 10pm.
You can also see him on drums with the American roots outfit, Abby Bryant & The Echoes.
Once in a blue moon you will catch him as the frontman for JLloyd's Mashup presentation of the Paul Simon Tribute. It is truly spot on.

Joe is entered the Asheville music scene just a couple of years ago and is making a big impact. On this episode he shares how he pushed past the compulsion to kill on the drums every time he plays and how it has given him new energy to put into his music.
I highly recommend checking out this artist whenever and wherever you can.
He can be seen with his band Sugar Bomb with Jacob Bruner and Eli Kahn, sitting in Mood Ring, and several other projects.

He can be found on IG @electric.jophis
Sugar Bomb is @sugarbombjazz

He gave us another amazing playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6J5ktLNH0bS0ih9tsmGqEM?si=394a671317ba4347

Feel free to reach out to me on https://www.drummermindset.com/contact


Don't miss out on the amazing live musical talent in Asheville or wherever you live.

Thom is an incredible multimedia artist and musician that puts out monster sounds that can disturb your sensibilities as easily as soothe them. We had a lovely chat and I was honored to have him over to learn more about what makes him tick and for him to grace my drums. I was amazed at how easily he seemed to adapt to a kit not set up for him and without his usual double kick rhythms.
You'll get a chance to hear his solo at the end of this conversation.

Check out his IG for some inspirational and truly original content. Don't miss his link tree with so much original music of the last several years.
@thom_nguyen__

Backline some of his gear!
www.batteriabackline.com

His Drummer Mindset Playlist contribution:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FsCyxEflpIL4Hnwjp0qdK?si=6a4977a9fa794213

Go see him live!
The folllowing dates are for 2024
Feb 4th - Brett Naucke duo GAZA Benefit at Static Age
Feb 9th - Vurn at Static Age
Feb 10th - Vurn at the Cave (Chappel Hill)
Feb 22nd - Min Xiao-Fen, Mari Ohta Trio at Folkmoot Center
Feb 28th - Wind Cults at BMCM
March 1st - Drums of Doom (Scott Middleton*, Elanti, & I) at Eulogy

*Scott Middleton did the podcast! Go back and check it out here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-drummer-mindset-podcast/id1695051119?i=1000638723699

Please don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, leave a review, follow, and share with your drummer and musical friends. Also let me know if you have a drummer you'd like to hear on the podcast.

Thanks for listening!