Joe Travers (Erie, Pennsylvania, USA) is an American drummer who has performed with Billy Idol, The Motels, The Wilsons, Duran Duran, Drake Bell and Z (Ahmet & Dweezil Zappa).



Joe is a self-confessed music addict, who experienced both his first concert and his first drum set at the age of five. His unusually advanced musical tastes led him to Frank Zappa by age ten and later he attended Berklee College of Music from 1988 to 1992.



Just months after arriving in LA back in 1992, the determined Travers landed the gig with Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa's band Z. That eventually opened the door to touring with Duran Duran during The Latest and Greatest Tour (through another Zappa alumnus, guitarist Warren Cuccurullo), plus concerts in Europe, Russia, Japan, and America in yearly 2000s.



Joe recorded tracks with Lisa Loeb and played select dates with The Motels. He has also used his earlier influences (John Bonham, Grand Funk Railroad's Don Brewer) for the power trio Ball, led by erstwhile drummer Brian Tichy (Ozzy Osborne, Billy Idol) on guitar. Since 1995 Joe has been Vaultmeister for the Zappa Family Trust. In the summer of 2004 he worked with Warren Cuccurullo on the as-yet-unreleased N'Liten Up album.



In the summer of 2008 he played the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands with Zappa plays Zappa.