The sound of drums will rumble across North America once again on Sunday, November 7 with the addition of four more locations, as 15 Five-Star member drum shops participate in The Big Beat and raise money for worthwhile causes. Billed as the world’s largest multi-city drum set event, last year’s Big Beat drew 1202 drummers and about 3500 spectators in 11 cities and raised more than $62,000 for charity.
Each location will have a variety of fun events throughout the day, including guest appearances by major-name drummers, World’s Fastest Drummer contests and raffles and giveaways of percussion gear from the industry’s best-known manufacturers, with top Big Beat pledge-raisers in each city being awarded special prizes. There will also be a national raffle with the grand prize winner getting a Dream Theater replica tour bass drum head signed by the members of the band! But, the highlight of the day will be at 5:45PM Eastern time when all of the drummers in each of the 15 cities play the same groove in unison. This feat will be achieved through a video internet connection, with the director in each city following the conductor in Seattle.
Drummers of all skill levels and experience are encouraged to get involved and contact one of these participating Five-Star stores for details:
Buffalo Drum Outlet - Depew, NY - pmbdo934@aol.com
Colorado Drum & Percussion - Ft. Collins, CO - drummin1@coloradodrum.com
Columbus Percussion - Columbus, OH - jrupp@columbuspercussion.com
Donn Bennett Drum Studio - Bellevue, WA - donn@bennettdrums.com
Drum Headquarters - St. Louis, MO - jimdrumq@aol.com
Drum World - Tulsa, OK - drumsforfood@yahoo.com
Ellis Drum Shop - St. Paul, MN - info@ellisdrumshop.com
Just Drums - Toronto, ON - dave@justdrums.com
Lemmon Percussion - San Jose, CA - ryan.drumsusa@me.com
Original Long Island Drum Center - Plainview, NY - lidrum@optonline.net
Resurrection Drums - Hollywood, FL - jeff@rezdrums.com
Rhythm Traders - Portland, OR - brad@rhythmtraders.com
Skins-n-Tins - Champaign, IL - lizatskinstins@aol.com
Stebal Drums - Willowick, OH - john@stebaldrums.com
The Percussion Center - Houston, TX - donna@percussiononline.com
Big Beat events will benefit the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and in some cities the addition of a local charity, as well. Founded in 1996, MHOF donates new and refurbished musical instruments to underserved schools, community music programs and individual students nationwide, in an effort to give youngsters the many benefits of music education, help them to be better students and inspire creativity and expression through playing music. Since its inception, MHOF programs have benefited more than 500,000 students and have enabled hundreds of dedicated teachers to provide a better learning experience in school.
The Five-Star Drum Shops group is a non-profit organization of independently-owned specialty percussion stores in North America that are dedicated to advancing the art and science of drumming. For more information, visit www.fivestardrumshops.com.
