DRUMMER CAFE

Neil Peart, who turned 55 on September 12^th, received some pretty cool belated birthday presents from Enter Music Publishing, publishers of hip/percussion magazine worldwide, such as DRUM! And Traps Magazine.  During this year's “Drummies” Peart was nominated “Drummer Of The Year” by 4000 drummers, who participated in the readership survey conducted by DRUM! for the Drummies. The runners-up were: Danny Carey, Vinnie Colaiuta, Thomas Lang.

Additionally Peart won four more “Drummies” for "Progressive Rock Drummer," "Live Performer," "DVD: Anatomy Of A Drum Solo"; and, "Drumming Album: Snakes & Arrows by Rush.. The awards are announced in the "Drummies" story in the November Issue of DRUM! Magazine, scheduled to hit newstands on October 7, 2007.

While Peart has received numerous awards for his drumming over his career, this marks the first time that he has won DRUM!'s prestigious Drummer Of The Year. "Neil Peart was on our June cover because we suspected this would be a big album for Rush," said Phil Hood, publisher of Enter Music Publishing. Even though our audience skews younger than Rush's fan base, he's a huge influence on all drummers, so it's not surprising he finally won this award from DRUM!'s readers" continued Hood.

The following is a summary of the drummers, who won in other categories.

DRUMMERS 

• Drumming Rising Star: Jason Bittner
  Runners Up: Brann Dailor, Andrew Hurley, Benny Greb
• Progressive Rock Drummer: Neil Peart
  Runners Up: Mike Portnoy, Danny Carey, Gavin Harrison
• Metal Drummer: Jason Bittner
  Runners Up: Chris Adler, Joey Jordison, Tomas Haake
• Jam Band Drummer: Carter Beauford
  Runners Up: Matt Abts, Stanton Moore, Rodney Holmes
• Funk Drummer: Chad Smith
  Runners Up: David Garibaldi, Dennis Chambers, Zoro
• Mainstream Rock/Pop Drummer: Chad Smith
  Runners Up: Carter Beauford, Travis Barker, Daniel Adair
• Alternative Rock Drummer: Travis Barker
  Runners Up: Danny Carey, Matt Cameron, Taylor Hawkins
• Punk Drummer: Travis Barker
  Runners Up: Tre Cool, Andrew Hurley, Josh Freese
• R&B/Blues Drummer: Zoro
  Runners Up: Steve Jordan, Aaron Spears, John Blackwell
• Jazz/Fusion Drummer: Dave Weckl
  Runners Up: Steve Smith, Billy Cobham
• Country Drummer: Paul Leim
  Runners Up: Eddie Bayers, Chuck Tilly, Kenny Aronoff
• Drum Clinician: Dom Famularo
  Runners Up: Thomas Lang, Virgil Donati, Mike Mangini
• Studio Drummer: Vinnie Colaiuta
  Runners Up: Josh Freese, Kenny Aronoff, Steve Jordan
• Live Performer: Neil Peart
  Runners Up: Danny Carey, Mike Portnoy, Joey Jordison
  
  

• Percussionist Of The Year: Luis Conte
  Runners Up: Marc Quinones, Zakir Hussain, Alex Acuna
• Percussion Rising Star: Taku Hirano
  Runners Up: John Mahon, Gumbi Ortiz, Reid DeFever
• Latin Percussionist: Giovanni Hidalgo
  Runners Up: Luis Conte, Alex Acuna, Richie Flores
• Jazz/Fusion Percussionist: Airto Moreira
  Runners Up: Luis Conte, Ralph McDonald, Raul Rekow
• Rock/Pop Percussionist: Luis Conte
  Runners Up: John Mahon, Fausto Cuevas, Taku Hirano
• World Beat Percussionist: Zakir Hussain
  Runners Up: Arthur Hull, Glen Velez, Karsh Kale
• Percussion Ensemble: Blue Man Group
  Runners Up: Hip Pickles, Global Percussion Trio, Drumbassadors
• Drum Circle Facilitator: Kalani
  Runners Up: Arthur Hull, Christine Stevens, Zorina Wolf
• Percussion Clinician: Luis Conte
  Runners Up: Jesus Diaz, Richie “Gajate” Garcia, Giovanni Hidalgo
• Studio Percussionist: Alex Acuna
  Runners Up: Luis Conte, Sammy Figueroa, Lenny Castro