John Aldridge's career path to drum making began as a teenager playing rock 'n' roll music. He played various gigs into his late 30s and spent time teaching music as well. But there came a point when he knew his hobby could be a full-time endeavor.



John Aldridge is a rarity in the world of drums: he custom hand-engraves snare drums, and his unique instruments are played all over the world. Aldridge comments in the shop behind his Shawnee home:

"It's a dying art form. No one does much engraving anymore. Most everything is done by machines. But the older guys have an appreciation for vintage drums."

John Aldridge creates drums for companies around the world and works directly with musicians to make their ideal drums. He produces a variety of artwork and designs to enhance each drum's appearance.



For many years Aldridge has also been publisher and editor of the magazine Not So Modern Drummer, a quarterly publication that chronicles everything a drum fanatic could want to read.



Biography

John Michael Aldridge was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma in 1960. Influenced by Sal Mineo playing Gene Krupa in the Gene Krupa Story, he began playing drums when he was 11 years old. John began playing in sixth grade band, took a few lessons, played in the High School band, and practiced, practiced, practiced. His first drumset was a cheap Taiwanese kit (Green Oyster Pearl) bought for $ 300.00 from paper route earnings. He learned how to play drumset mostly by listening and watching other drummers and played the usual dances, parties, and club dates through junior high, high school, and college.



About a year before graduating from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, John got married, made a record and toured for a while with a Gospel Quartet as he finished his last year of college. Moving to Tulsa to work on his Masters degree, he soon dropped out of grad school to teach music at a private elementary school. He really enjoyed teaching young children. One year later, John began teaching general music at a public school and continued teaching elementary music.



His next break came when his former drum teacher was fired from his gig with an established band/booking agent. Having subbed on the job before, John was called to replace him. That kept him busy for the next six years. As the first call drummer for Sammy Pagna, John was presented with a wide variety of musical situations from trios to big band music.



A few of the national acts that John has been called to use his drumming skills on are, Freda Payne, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., Charlie Pride, Pat Boone, The Platters, Foster Brookes, and Hank Thompson. During this time, he was also teaching drum lessons privately at the Hank Thompson School of Country Music at Rogers State College in Claremore, Oklahoma. Teaching at the school provided John with a steady stream of drum students.



John Aldridge played gigs with many of the older swing band players who also taught at the school which was an education in itself. When asked about a favorite musical memory, John replies:

“Playing western swing with a group of original members of the Bob Wills band. Even though these men were in their 70’s and 80’s, they could still swing you into bad health and laugh all the way.”

January 2006 saw John Aldridge announcing the sale of Not So Modern Drummer magazine to one of the most famous families in the drum industry. The new publisher and owner of the magazine became Bill Ludwig III.