GANNON BURLEIGH

I basically grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, MI (give or take moving a few times here and there). I don’t really remember, but my parents say I took an interest in drums at about 3 or 4 years old. I used to set up all the pots and pans in the kitchen and bang on them, listening for the different tones I guess. Needless to say, that eventually drove them f-ing crazy, and they bought me a snare drum (yeah, smart choice there), and I pretty much banged around on it for a few hours a day. When I got into 5th grade I started taking lessons and playing in the school band. I did that throughout middle school, but band was just a fun place to goof off. I didn’t take it really seriously. In high school, I started playing in rock bands and feeling the power that comes from tapping into the source (that’s what I call the energy you get from playing). High school was great though, because I did so many different things: band, orchestra, marching band, theatre, comedy shows, gigs, festivals, etc. Any chance I had to get on stage, I took it. It was an addiction (to this day I still don’t feel truly comfortable unless I’m on stage). …jump ahead to college days… Fred Forney, the Director of Jazz Studies at Mesa Community College kinda took me under his wing a little bit and taught me a lot about music. That’s where I really blossomed the most as a musician and learned how important practicing is in terms of unleashing the fury on stage. I was playing in all of his bands over there, Jazz Combo, Latin Band and Fusion Band. After a couple years there I transferred to Arizona State University and started studying with Dom Moio. Dom is like seriously the man on drums…so smooth and effortless, even at like 260 bpm!! He taught me everything I know about Latin drumming and had a significant influence on my Jazz style, as well. He really opened my eyes to all the possibilities on the kit, but never hesitated to emphasize the importance of coming back to the groove (like never sacrifice the groove for complexity). Despite Dom’s positive influence, I eventually became disenchanted with the ASU music school as a whole, and eventually dropped out. I ended up switching over to the W.P. Cary School of Business and obtaining my B.S. in Accountancy. I’ve been in Arizona now for almost 10 years and have played with some great musicians. Most of my history here was spent with a band called Thoughts and another called Shawn Johnson & the Foundation. For those of you that have been around, you remember that back in the day it was all about Polliwog, Soul Cracker, (dare I say Isabella Starfudge?) and all those cats. Throughout all the bands and all the travels and adventures I’ve had, Badshoe is definitely the band I always wished for, and I’m grateful that it has come to be. That’s it. Peace.