Joe Franco started his drumming career in the clubs of NYC and landed his first major gig in the mid 70’s with the New York band “Good Rats”. After recording six albums and touring constantly, Joe went on to play with artists such as Chilliwack, Fiona, Twisted Sister, Widowmaker and Magellan. Between band gigs, Joe has recorded and toured with guitarists Vinnie Moore, Blues Saraceno, Leslie West, and legendary Cream bassist, Jack Bruce.



Besides his playing, Joe made a mark for himself in Music Education with a book entitled "Double Bass Drumming". First published in 1984, the book is still used in many leading music institutes including Berklee School of Music and P.I.T. It was listed #15 in Modern Drummer Magazines’ top 25 drum books of all time. He followed up the book with a Video under the same title. Both book and video are currently distributed by Warner Brothers Publications. Joe has also traveled the world performing drum clinics and wrote articles for the leading drum publications.



Joe currently freelances as a session drummer in NYC. He recently played on Kelly Osbourne’s “Pappa don’t Preach” and has released a Drum Loop CD-Rom Package called Reel Drums. It can be previewed at www.reeldrums.com. Joe also puts a lot of his energy into the hit PBS TV series “Between the Lions”. For the show, Joe plays drums and composes the shows’ segue music. All the music and audio for the show is recorded and mixed at Joe’s facility, Beatstreet Productions (check out www.beatstreetnyc.com). Joe also recorded the drums, and mixed Magellan’s “100 Year Flood” at Beatstreet.



Joe also recorded all drum tracks on "Axes 2 Axes", the 2005 solo album of Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda (released through Black Lotus Records).