Rush drummer Neil Peart, for a fourth straight time, has been voted drummer of the year by the readers of Drum! magazine. It was a very tight race with Neal winning over Travis Barker by just a few dozen votes.
click all images (1)
Other winners Though Travis did not win as drummer of the year, he picked up his 15th and 16th Drummie Awards in the Punk and Mainstream Pop categories.
There were plenty of other previous winners as well. Thirteen-time Drummie champ, Giovanni Hidalgo, was voted Latin Percussionist of the Year.
Carter Beauford, who is a 14-time winner and previous Drummer of the Year, won the Jam Band category. Another 14-time winner, Luis Conte, won for best Studio Percussionist. Nine-time winner Dave Weckl won Jazz Drummer of the Year. Jim Riley of Rascal Flatts repeated as country drummer of the year.
First time winners There were also lots of first-time winners, including Galactic\'s Stanton Moore got his first Drummie Award in the Funk drummer category. YouTube drumming phenomenon Cobus Potgieter received the Rising Star of the Year honors. Aaron Spears of Backstreet Boys and Usher among others, picked up his first win as Studio drummer of the year and doubled with a victory as R&B/Blues drummer.
Frank \"Knuckles\" Walker of The Roots, who are currently gigging on Jimmy Kimmel\'s late-night show, got his first win as Live Performer.
Jazz/funk vibraphonist Stefon Harris picked up his first win in the Mallet Percussionist category; Marcie Chapa won the Percussion Rising Star category. The ensemble D\'Drum won the Percussion group category. Aaron Gillespie, formerly of the band Underoath, won the Live Performer category.
Pearl Drums picked up industry awards for the Pearl MHP Masters Mahogany Drum Set, the Pearl Eliminator Demon Drive Pedal and the Pearl Jingle Cajon - a triple win that no company has accomplished before.
Craviotto Drums won Custom Drum Maker of the Year.
Virgil Donati\'s \'Double Bass Freedom\' and Benny Grebs\'s \'The Language of Drumming\', captured the book and dvd categories.
About 2010\'s Drummies Close to 6,500 drummers casted 100,000 votes in the 40 categories that make up the Drummie Awards, initiated by Drum! magazine.
The Drummies are a chance once a year to honor those musicians who made a contribution in the past year, and inspired thowe who want to play better.
Next year: Hall of Fame In the fifteen plus years of the Drummies a dozen drummers have five or more category wins, and they will be inducted into the Drummie Hall of Fame in 2011.