#396 Camellia "Cami" Akhamie Kies- Percussionist, Drummer, Songwriter, Educator & More!
Camellia Akhamie Kies is the founder and CEO of Akhamie Music, LLC & Beach Drum Shed ™, she is a military veteran, a graduate from the Navy School of Music, and a graduate from the University of Maryland University College. She currently holds a BS in Digital Media & Web Technology, a minor in Business Administration, and a Certification in Management Foundations
Born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1989, Camellia expressed deep interest in music from a very young age. During High School she began to study drums and percussion privately with Myles Overton III from The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own". For several years during and after High School Overton mentored and trained Camellia in all areas of drums and percussion.
In June 2008 Camellia graduated from Woodbridge Senior High School, and shortly after receiving her diploma she auditioned and was accepted into the United States Navy Music Program, she served 6 years in the US Navy Fleet Band as a full time drummer and percussionist, she lived in Yokosuka, Japan for the majority of her service and while she was stationed there she traveled the Pacific Rim performing in over fifteen countries with the US Navy 7th Fleet Band.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to friend of the show "Gabo" Lugo! Born in Puerto Rico, Gabriel “Gabo” Lugo’s production work has been nominated for multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards. He is not only a percussionist, but also a producer and audio engineer. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Old San Juan, he is always humble doing magic behind the scenes. Gabo received a Grammy nomination for his work on Tego Calderón’s 2008 album “El Abayarde Contra-Ataca”. Gabo’s thirst for knowledge led him to Berklee College of Music.
Happy Birthday to friend of the show Colin McNutt! Colin McNutt has instructed and arranged for the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps and the popular stage production Blast! He has also written for and instructed the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps, Magic of Orlando, and the Madison Scouts. Colin has served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he is an alumnus and received degrees in Classics and Music Education. Most recently, he was the Percussion Caption Supervisor and then Caption Head for the nine-time DCI World Champion Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps. This past year he became the Caption Head for the Boston Crusaders. McNutt started marching drum corps his junior year in high school in 1988 with the Boston Crusaders of Boston, Mass., then aging out with the Santa Clara Vanguard of Santa Clara, California, in 1992.
McNutt has made a career out of his passion for music and percussion, while in between completing his double major of music education and classics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1998. When not instructing drum corps, McNutt conducts clinics for the percussion companies Avedis Zildjian Co., REMO, Inc., and Vic Firth. He also writes music for marching bands in the United States, Canada, Thailand & Japan.
Happy Birthday to friend of the show Dafnis Prieto! From Santa Clara, Cuba, Dafnis Prieto’s revolutionary drumming techniques and compositions have had a powerful impact on the Latin and Jazz music scene, nationally and internationally.
Various honors include a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship, Up & Coming Musician of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a 2018 GRAMMY Award and Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album for Dafnis Prieto Big Band Back to the Sunset, a GRAMMY nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album for Absolute Quintet in 2006, and a Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist in 2007. Also a gifted educator, Prieto has conducted master classes, clinics, and workshops throughout the world. He was a faculty member of Jazz Studies at NYU from 2005 to 2014, and in 2015 became a faculty member at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
Since his arrival to New York in 1999, Prieto has worked in bands led by Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico and Arturo O’Farrill, Dave Samuels and The Caribbean Jazz Project, Jane Bunnett, D.D. Jackson, Edward Simon, Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Roy Hargrove, Don Byron, and Andrew Hill, among others. He has performed at many national and international music festivals as a sideman and as a bandleader featuring several of his own projects and music.
As a composer, he has created music for dance, film, chamber ensembles, and most notably for his own bands, ranging from duets to big band, and including the distinctively different groups featured on seven acclaimed recordings as a leader: About The Monks, Absolute Quintet, Taking the Soul For a Walk, Si o Si Quartet: Live at Jazz Standard, Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio, Triangles and Circles, and Back to the Sunset. He has received commissions, grants, and fellowships from Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, East Carolina University, and Meet the Composer. In 2016 Prieto published the critically acclaimed drumming instructional book, A World of Rhythmic Possibilities: Drumming Lessons and Reflections on Rhythms.
Gig Alerts
Women Who Drum Festival 2024 is happening August 11th, 2024 2p -9p at Black Bottom Park, Milwaukee Detroit, MI. The line-up includes this week’s guest Camellia “Cami” Akhamie Kies, Allison Miller, Sarah Whitaker, Love Williams, aka, “Ms. Love,” and many more. Read more about it here.
Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey Announces 2024 Christmas Tour Dates. 20 shows across the US this holiday season for the 30th anniversary of her Merry Christmas album. Article
The 2024 Steve Weiss Music Mallet Festival happening Aug 4th - 10th, Philadelphia, PA. Several friends of the show including, Christos Rafalides, Warren Wolf, and Tony Miceli will be performing in addition to many other wonderful mallet players performing. Additional information HERE.
Your host Damon Grant has some great gigs coming up in the north eastern part of the country Aug 19 - Sep 4th. Check out the schedule and come say hello. He’d love to meet you!
Damon will be with Billy Ruegger on Nantucket (Aug 19-25), in New Bedford (Sept 2) and Boston, MA (Sept 3-4).
Damon is celebrating his BIRTHDAY (Aug 28th) with the Percussion People percussion ensemble. This concert in the West Village of NYC will be at The Players Theater at 7 pm on AUGUST 26th. The discount code is: Percussion20.
Education Spotlight
The 3rd round of artists coming to PASIC2024 this November in Indianapolis, IN has been announced. The artists include Gregory Hutchinson, Jeremy Kirk, Tracy Wiggins, friends of the show Andy P. Smith, and Wilson "Chembo" Corniel, Victor Rendon, Peter Erskine, and many more. More artists will be announced each week until the convention.
Friend of the show Sandbox Percussion Ensemble with David Skidmore is having a creator/mentorship program. Applications are due Aug 15th, 2024. You can learn more about this wonderful ensemble on their website.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording was chosen by this week’s guest Cami Akhamie Kies. She chose “Lingus” from the album "We Like It Here" by Snarky Puppy. Recorded and filmed live from October 7-10 at Kytopia Studios in Utrecht, Netherlands, for GroundUP Music.
Rest in peace to Shaun Martin, a grammy-winning musician known for his work with Snarky Puppy, Kirk Franklin and Erykah Badu.
Music News
Aerosmith has announced their official retirement from touring after frontman Steven Tyler’s vocal injury. The band made the announcement on Friday, August 2, almost one year after the 76-year-old Tyler fractured his larynx during a September 2023 show - Article
Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has sued online ticketing platform StubHub on Wednesday, July 31, alleging unfair pricing and deceptive advertising. The lawsuit claims StubHub utilizes deceptive advertising of low ticket prices to attract customers, who then pay vastly more by the end of the “intentionally” arduous checkout process - Article
Hearby Launches UK Service to Discover More Live Music Nearby - Article
Friend of the show Chris Robley mentioned in his recent news segment this week that youtube has a feature which lets you search for music by humming, singing, or playing a tune. Tik Tok also has a similar feature here’s some more information.
If you need help training your ear friend of the show Stefon Harris has an app for that!
The Washington Post announced if you need to renew your passport for travel you can now do that on-line.
Google Travel Tips. Looking for great food, or a music venue? Google Maps can help!
Music leading into the interview is “Hey Josep” featuring Cami Akhamie and Josep Traver from the album “I Choose Love” ℗ Akhamie Music, LLC Released on 11-25-2020
Camellia "Cami" Akhamie Kies Interview
Cami grew up in the DMV area. DMV means D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The DMV is a term that has been around for the last 30 years or so, referencing DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
Cami is playing at the aforementioned Women Who Drum Festival
Damon mentions the Hit Like a Girl competition and Tom Tom Magazine (featuring female drummers, percussionists, and beatmakers)
Cami Did a clinic at PASIC last year and talks about that.
Damon and Cami are on the Percussive Arts Society World Percussion Committee
Here are the links to the pages for that committee: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube.
Cami mentions musician Aislyn Sharp
Cami talks about her band personnel at the upcoming festival.
You can check out the spot on the Women who drum festival on CBS News.
Cami was born in Heidelburg, Germany on a military base. United States Army Garrison Heidelberg.
Cami doesn’t have dual citizenship, but her sister does. This is how to get dual citizenship.
If you are interested in the Navy, here is some info on Navy Fleet Band auditions.
Cami's teacher Miles Overton III was in the Pershing's Own band.
Here’s the layout of the various military ranks.
Damon mentions a couple of instagram accounts to follow:
(General) Creators is @Creators. Music Creators is @IGMusicPartners.
Shout-out to friend of the show Scott Pellegrom
Damon mentions the Hybrid kit he uses and also how he was introduced to Cami on her Hybrid kit variations.
Cami mentions the Reinvention of the OCTAPAD Roland SPD-30 and her uses of it.
Shout-out to Anderson Paak
Cami mentions the song “Let Me Tell You About My Lord and Savior” by Sam Rivera & Limoblaze
Shout-out to friend of the show "Master" Christopher Thompson and The Pocket Queen (Taylor Gordon)
Watch both Christopher and Pocket Queen together below!
Cami teaches online and in person at Guitar Center.
Shout-out to her son Julian!
Cami hosts the Beach Drum Shed. A Beach Drum Shed is a bit different than a Drum Circle. Instead of just using hand drums we are also using full drum sets. Research indicates that drumming accelerates physical healing, boosts the immune system. In addition specific studies conducted by professionals in the fields of music therapy and mental health show us that drumming: Reduces tension, anxiety and stress. Helps control chronic pain. Feel free to tag #BeachDrumShed online!
Shout-out to Miles Overton III.
Cami uses: Meinl Percussion, Meinl Cymbals, Tama Drums, ProMark Sticks, Evans Drumheads and X Click.
Shout-out to Robert "Sput" Searight for the introduction to Meinl.
Music leading out of the episode is Akhamie (Ft. Cami Akhamie) - “I Like It Hot” from the album “I Like It Hot.” Music Video shot on Padre Island, Texas.
You can keep up with Cami on her Website, Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, and YouTube
