#432 Davey Chegwidden- Percussionist, Producer, Songwriter and More!
This week’s guest is Davey Chegwidden. Born and raised around the Philadelphia area, Davey Chegwidden first got into music when he received a ukelele for his eighth birthday. He traded it in for a guitar the next day and started taking private lessons, continuing to play guitar through his teens with school jazz ensembles and local rock groups. In high school, he shifted his focus to visual arts, but continued playing music with his bassist/guitarist brother Mick in various local bands. In 1988, while attending his first year in college as a fine arts major, he received a pair of bongos as collateral on a loan to a bandmate. He instantly got bit by the percussion bug, purchased a conga and some hand percussion and started taking private lessons with Mark Beecher. In 1991, he moved to the Denver area where he continued studying with Felipe Brun, Eric Robnett, Ty Burhoe, Geoff Johns, Christian Teele, and Jose Rossy. He also performed and recorded with local bands.
In 1996, he settled in Los Angeles where he has been working steadily as a professional touring and recording musician with a diverse group of popular and underground artists including: De La Soul, Feist, Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray, fun., Donna Summer, Breakestra, Kneebody, The Lions, Sam Sparro, Primal Scream, Game of Thrones Concert Tour, The Heptones, Jem, SOJA, Greyboy All-Stars, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Talib Kweli, Brett Dennen, Sharon Jones, Rakim, Brother Ali, Nikka Costa, Dan Bern, Aloe Blacc, Big Daddy Kane, Barrington Levy, Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra, B.O.B., Mark Isham, Bitter:Sweet, Angela McCluskey, Rhythm Roots Allstars, Peanut Butter Wolf, Jody Watley, Mike Andrews, Indigo Girls, Mos Def, Common, Tangerine Dream, Tyler the Creator, The Game, Fred Armisen, Blue Jean Committee, Slick Rick, Woody Jackson, Brand Nubian, EPMD, Too Short, Redman, Jonathan Richmond, David Holmes, Doyle Bramhall II, Marcelo Alvarez, Gary Jules, Kes the Band, Lyle Workman, WAVVES, the Upsiders, Eric Benet, Lily Tomlin and many others.
Davey has numerous credits for film, television, video games, and commercials including: Ocean’s 13, Captain Phillips, Grand Theft Auto V, The Heat, Identity Thief, Daddy’s Home, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Bad Teacher, American Hustle, Neighbors, Neighbors 2, Togetherness, Red Dead Redemption, 40-Year Old Virgin, Horrible Bosses, Money Monster, Sex Tape, She’s Out of My League, Orange County, IMAX: Coral Reef Adventure, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Fox, Nike, Mercedes, Target, Apple and more.
Davey has ventured into songwriting and production as well, working with De La Soul, Ghostface Killah, Aloe Blacc, The Lions, Raheem DeVaughn,, Rhythm Roots Allstars, The Upsiders, Scion and Facebook.
R.I.P.
Rest in peace to Marco Soccoli. Sending out condolences to Marco's family, friends, loved ones, and all of artists whose lives were touched by Marco and his passion for music.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to the legend, Steve Gadd! Also, lots of love to him and his family for the loss of their son.
Happy Birthday to Rob Humphreys! Originally from New Mexico, Rob currently lives in Los Angeles and has quite the impressive list of professional credits having played and/or recorded with Billy Ray Cyrus, Celine Dion, Karon O, Kacey Musgraves, Leonard Cohen, Theo Katzman, Elle King, Scary Pockets and MANY MORE.
Happy Birthday to Mark Powers! A drummer, educator, author, speaker, actor and more, Mark Powers has studied, performed, and taught throughout North America, as well as in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the South Pacific. As a teaching artist, he facilitates a variety of percussion programs—educating students of all ages in schools, presenting at youth/adult correctional facilities and leading businesses and organizations in rhythm-based leadership and team building workshops. Mark is a two-time TEDx speaker, co-author of Alfred's Drumset Method: Book 2 and The 2-in-1 Drummer, and author of Solo in Style (all three published by Alfred Music), as well as author of two children's board books, I Want To Be A Drummer and I Want To Be A Reader (both published by Blue Manatee Press). He has written for Modern Drummer Magazine, Percussive Notes, and other percussion publications, and releases 60-second video drum lessons on DrumItInAMinute.com. Mark plays and endorses Tycoon Percussion instruments, REMO drumheads, SABIAN cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks, ProLogix practice pads, Humes & Berg cases, and Cajon Brush. Find out more at PowersPercussion.com.
Happy Birthday to Jake Chapman! Jake is a multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. His specialties include vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, and keyboards. He is a session musician, performer, and songwriter with a lot of experience in a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, hip hop, R&B, funk, pop, rock, video game music, and classical. He studied at Juilliard, and until COVID was a gigging musician in the NYC and LA music scenes. He has toured in the US, Singapore, and China. Jake enjoys utilizing his craft to help musicians, songwriters, and producers achieve great tracks and live performances.
Happy Birthday to Robert Marino! Robert was named Principal Timpanist of the United States Army Field Band, Washington, D.C., in 2006. He has been a featured soloist with the band at The American Bandmasters Association Convention and The Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference. In 2010 Robert was a guest soloist at the Interlochen Summer Music Festival.
He is a 2005 graduate of the Eastman School of Music with a double major in percussion performance and music education. While at Eastman, Robert earned the coveted Performer's Certificate, was named principal percussionist for the Eastman Wind Ensemble's highly acclaimed 2004 Asian tour, and was the timpanist for the Wind Ensemble's celebrated appearance at Carnegie Hall in 2005. Marino began his graduate studies at Boston University where he was the timpanist for the Boston University Symphony Orchestra's Carnegie Hall appearance. After leaving Boston University to join the Army Field Band, Robert completed his Master's Degree in Percussion Performance at the University of Maryland in 2010.
Robert Marino has also been active in the marching arts activities as a performer, instructor, arranger, and adjudicator. Since 2007 he has been an instructor for the nine-time DCI world champion Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. He has also taught the Madison Scouts and Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. Robert has been the caption head and arranger for the Boston University Marching Band and its award-winning winter percussion ensemble, as well as for many award-winning high school marching bands. As a marching member of the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps from 2000-2003, he won a DCI World Championship in 2000 and the three-peat high percussion trophies from 2001-2003.
Robert Marino is a Vic Firth Educator and Endorser and can be heard on Summit Records 2006 recording of Danzante where he was the principal percussionist, as well as on the Footprints album by Michael Udow. His instructors include John Beck, Tim Genis, Joe Periera, John Tafoya, Tony Ames, Gordon Stout, Ben Ramirez, Tom Aungst, Steve Kieffer, and John Wagner. Robert currently resides in Baltimore, MD, with his wife Elizabeth.
Happy Birthday to (Scott) Garrison! Garrison is the Artist Relations/Marketing/Manufacturers Representative at Drum Workshop Inc. and he was Tony Williams drum tech from 1994 through Tony's passing in 1997.
Happy Birthday to Drew McKeon! Drew McKeon is an NYC-based session drummer/multi-instrumentalist who has toured and performed with Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, Hall & Oates and Daryl Hall (solo), Grammy Award winner, Michael Bolton, Oscar winning duo, Pasek & Paul, Jimmy Buffett, Peter Cetera, Richard Marx, Julian Lennon, Todd Rundgren, Living Colour, Ben E. King, Dave Mason, Ron Pope, Bill Champlin, Shelea Frazier, Sam Moore, Antonique Smith, Hundred Hounds, The Broadway Boys, Darian Cunning, Harbor Party, Natalie Weiss, Carrie Manolakos, Chad Hollister Band, Jeff Tuohy, SEAL, and many others.
He currently serves as musical director for The Voice Season 10 winner, Alisan Porter, as well as Amanda Brown (Alicia Keys, Adele) and tours the world playing drums while conducting the orchestra for Michael Bolton in support of his latest release- A Symphony of Hits.
Happy Birthday to Elena Bonomo! Elena is a drummer, percussionist, band leader and music educator based in the NYC area. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, she holds a Bachelors Degree in Performance.
Actively involved in both the pop/rock and musical theater scenes, Elena strives to create fluidity across all musical genres. She has performed at venues across NYC including Feinstein’s/54 Below, Birdland, The Blue Note, Symphony Space, The Green Room 42, Rockwood Music Hall, Pianos, The Bitter End, and many others. She is currently in the house band for FEMME Jam, and all-female led jam session that takes place once a month at Brooklyn’s C’Mon Everybody (led by Camille Trust, Melissa McMillan, Alita Moses and Miranda Joan).
In the theater realm, Elena has toured across the United States as the drummer for the 1st National Tour of the hit Broadway musical, Waitress (music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles). She originated the drum chairs for two Off-Broadway shows including The Hello Girls and A Strange Loop, and appeared as the drummer on both of their Original Cast Recordings. An active sub in the NYC Theater scene, her Broadway and Off-Broadway sub credits include Waitress, Be More Chill, Cagney, For Colored Girls, and A Taste of Things to Come.
Elena has shared the stage with Jordin Sparks, Brandy, Hillary Scott (of Lady A), Tony-award winning actress Patina Miller (Pippin, Sister Act), Annie Golden (Orange is The New Black), Nikki Renee Daniels, Constantine Maroulis, Desi Oakley, Christine Dwyer, Solea Pfeiffer, Natalie Walker, Heath Saunders, and jazz vocalist Jacqui Naylor. In addition to her US appearances, Elena has performed throughout the Caribbean, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe while working as band leader for Holland America Cruise Lines. She has toured nationally with Boston based Americana/Folk group, The Novel Ideas, with whom she also recorded an album.
After two successful runs at the American Repartory Theater in Cambridge, MA and at The Ordway in St. Paul, Minnesota, Elena currently holds the drum chair for Broadway's newest hit musical, SIX (by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss).
Gig Alerts
The Wonderfront Festival is happening May 16th-18th in San Diego, CA. Friend of the show, J.J. Johnson will be playing at it with Gary Clark Jr.
The Greenwich Town Party released their lineup for this year, happening May 24th in Greenwich, CT.
The Royal College of Music in London, England will have is Festival of Percussion on May 11th. Friend of the show, Will Fry will be participating.
Damon will be playing with the Hip Hop band, Concrete Jungle at Cisco Brewers, on Nantucket, MA Memorial Day Weekend for the FIGAWI sailboat regatta.
Educational Spotlight
The educational spotlight for the week are two upcoming Day of Percussion events.
The Magnolia State Percussion Fest, happening at Mississippi State University in Pervis, MS
and the Festival of Steel happening at the Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C..
Both events are taking place on Saturday April, 26th.
Iconic Recording
The iconic recording for the week is “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel.
Music News
Green Day’s headlining set brought the heat to Coachella with a firework that hit a palm tree, causing it to catch fire dangerously close to the crowd. -Read More
Riding a new wave of bipartisan support, the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act (TICKET Act) is one step closer to becoming law. -Read More You can see where things are at in the process by watching THIS VIDEO.
Amazon Music is once again the exclusive livestream partner for Goldenvoice’s Stagecoach festival. This year’s sold-out festival is taking place April 25-27 in Indio, California. -Read More
Davey Chegwidden Interview
The song leading into the interview is called, “Something’s Happening” by the Upsiderz.
Damon saw Davey credited in the movie Black Bag.
He also mentions friend of the show, Zach Danziger/Stix Jenkins and the David Holmes soundtracks to the Ocean’s movies.
Damon mentions the Birdman soundtrack by Antonio Sanchez.
Danny talks about working with the Greyboy Allstars and getting into playing film scores.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Brian Kilgore.
Shout-out to John Roesch and foley artists.
Davey worked on the latest De La Soul album.
Davey talks about recording with Jay Bellerose and Alfredo Ortiz.
Davey grew up in the Philadelphia, PA area and started on guitar until age 18 when he started learning percussion.
After Philly, he moved to Nederland, CO and after that Los Angeles, CA.
Davey plays drumset with the Greenhorn Brothers.
Shout-out to Mark Beecher, Eric Robnett, Geoff Johns, Christian Teele, José Rossy, Ty Burhoe, and Felipe Brun.
Damon shares a story about Nederland, CO.
Davey talks about living in Portland, OR before moving to CA. The Breakestra and some other experiences led to Davey living in Los Angeles. Shout-out to Lázaro Galarraga.
Davey talks about how he got into playing with more hip hop artists from some Scion promo gigs.
Davey played on the Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 soundtracks. Damon mentions the D’Angelo track on the second soundtrack. Shout-out to Woody Jackson.
Davey also talks about the process of recording for video games.
Davey plays with the band The Upsiderz and they have new music coming out!
Davey picks the iconic recording for the week.
Davey references THIS YOUSSOU N'DOUR ALBUM that came out the same year as the iconic recording for the week.
Damon mentions this STING & PETER GABRIEL TOUR.
Davey uses Latin Percussion Instruments and Alclair In Ear Monitors.
You can follow Davey on Facebook, and Instagram.
The song leading out of the interview is from the Black Bag Soundtrack that Davey played on.
