Zurich, Switzerland,  Feb ’09 L-R: John Leventhal, Rosanne Cash, DM, Jeff Allen.

Pic’ courtesy of Tom Dube.

Greetings one & all from Boston's North Shore. As always, thanks for checking in; I always try to stay on top of the 'Live Gigs' list - getting to update this main page seems to take a little longer! It's been a full summer & fall for yours truly - here are some of the things that have been 'keeping me off the streets'...

If you've 'visited' this site before, you may know that for some time I've been working - sporadically when schedule permitted - on folk singer Debra Cowan's CD. It's my first time as a {sole} producer & I'm happy to tell you the CD is now available. Debra, myself & all involved - Joyce Anderson,Duke Levine Marty Ballou & Mike Barry among others - have put a lot of effort into this & we're pleased with the result. Go to www.debracowan.com - you can check out a couple of the songs for free. If it sounds like your 'cup of tea', Debra would be delighted to sell you a copy!

Dave Mattacks - 2008.

© Fotos by Folletts

Aside from Debra's project, there were recordings in Boston for both Adriana Stein & Kelly Sullivan as well as in Charlottesville, NC [with good friend John Jennings producing] for Robbie Schaeffer ["Eddie from Ohio"]. I also got to record in New Orleans - going there twice in about six weeks -for Judith Owen. Jude is a good friend from the UK - we first worked together there in the early 90's. She now resides in LA & Nola & as well as having a thriving solo career also sings with mutual chum Richard Thompson on his CD's & his "1000 years of Popular Music" show. I had a wonderful time on [& off] the Nola sessions, & a highlight was getting recorded by engineer /"Piety Street" studio co-owner John Fischbach. If his name isn't familiar to you, a record he engineered may be - "Songs in the Key of Life". I've also been working in Boston on a solo CD for top chum Mike Barry ["Super Genius"] - that's going to be another goodone. Look out for /"Google" all these artists/releases over the coming months - they're terrific.

Afternoon off in New England!

Pic’ courtesy of Dan King

There were also some good "CD-release" gigs in New England [I played on their recordings] for Judy Cooper, Celia Slattery & Digney Fignes; I also got to play the Marblehead Arts Festival [again!] - this time with another great songwriter/singer, Amy Fairchild - see the pic' below. Other dates further a-field included Terry Eagan's' "Healing Garden" music festival in Ontario, some NYC club dates with Judith Owen & also a few Rosanne Cash concerts. The Oct 18th Rosanne one - the "Pardon Johnny Cash" festival in Starkville, MS was most enjoyable - check out the story behind the festival in the Oct' 20th edition of the New York Times. We flew into Memphis for that gig & all went to the "Stax" museum the morning prior to the Memphis to Starkville drive. If you know anything about R'n'B/Soul music & are a fan, I highly recommend you make that trip sometime. Local "live" dates included ones with Dan King, Marty Rowen, Paul Ahlstrand, Dave Sag & Jason Crigler - if you're of the local persuasion, I hope to see you at one of their up-coming gigs sometime. NB: look for Dan King's new CD -another I've been working on - in the New Year.

DM with Amy Fairchild/Marblehead Festival/July 4th ’08

Pic' courtesy of Caron Mattacks

I was pleased to be asked to help out at The Berklee School of Music "Summer Five Week Programme." Due to my other commitments, I was only able to take private students for one day each week, but the whole exercise was enjoyable- hopefully as much for the students as it was for me! A one-off event/seminar at the "New England Institute for the Arts" in Brookline, MA - a "recording the drums in the studio" clinic - drew a healthy crowd & kudos is due to engineer Matt Ellard & organizer John Krivit for that. And while on the subject of drumming - to reiterate - if you're a player, contact me through this site if you're interested in taking a lesson.

Clover, Morris & DM - 2008.

© Fotos by Folletts

Hope to see you soon & again, thanks for dropping by. DM

MEDIA SECTION.

 BOOKS: "On Chesil Beach" - Ian McEwan / "An Uncommon Reader" - Alan Bennet.

CD's:"Sky Blue" - Maria Schneider /"Angel of the Presence" - John Taylor /"The Everest Years" - Jo Jones / "Stage Job" - Little Village[Bootleg!] / [new]"Pretenders" / [new]"BB King."

FILMS: "Charlie Wilson's War" / "Michael Clayton" / "In Bruges." / "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

P.S. UK Citizens .. check out the August issue of 'PERFORMING MUSICIAN' MAGAZINE FOR A NEAT ARTICLE ON DM

DM IS PROUD TO ENDORSE THE FOLLOWING:
ZILDJIAN Cymbals, YAMAHA Drums & Hardware, EVANS Drum Heads, PRO-MARK Sticks, LP Percussion, & PROTECTION RACKET & HARDCASE Drum Covers & Cases.