Hi, I’m Al. I’m a multi-instrumentalist and composer, and I take photos too! Let’s create something together.

I’ve toured or performed live with some amazing artists like Hiss Golden Messenger, Andy Frasco & the U.N., Justin Mazer Telecaster Trio, Madeline Hawthorne, Bob Weir, Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller, G. Calvin Weston, Pickin’ on the Dead, Ace Engfer, Jackie Greene & Friends, Billy Martin’s Fang Percussion, Raina Mullen, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Kyle Morgan, Midnight North, Erik Deutsch, Superhuman Happiness, Ali McGuirk, John Kimock, Lewi Longmire, Marco Benevento, Yak Attack, Snarky Puppy Horns, Jennifer Pague, Teenage Mysticism, Gospel Heat, Gatos Blancos + Steve Kimock, Carolyn Hunter, Jimmy Wood, Michael Burton, & many others in a variety of “genres.”

As a drummer, percussionist, or keyboardist, I’ve toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and Virgin Islands (and played a surprisingly high amount of shows in Idaho). Some venues and festivals I’ve played include The Ryman Auditorium, Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Kennedy Center, the Academy of Music, Ogden Theater, Webster Hall, 9:30 Club, Theater of the Living Arts, Fox Theater, the Stone NYC, Wilma Theater, Rocks Off Germany, Electric Forest, LOCKN’, Northwest String Summit, Hangtown Music Fest, Winter Wondergrass, Sawtooth Valley Gathering (artist at large), Cayamo Cruise, Peach Music Fest, and even the Scranton Farmer’s market.

In addition to playing live, I love working in the recording studio- whether it’s dialing in the right snare drum sound, laying down a subtle tambourine/shaker part to lift up a chorus, tracking vintage keyboards for a singer-songwriter, or composing original scores for commercial brands/film. Please go to contact page if you’d like to work on a record or single. My approach is to serve the song as well as the artist’s vision. We also must live in the moment, and push others around us to embrace their unique sound/style and get out of their musical comfort zone. Whether on drums or keys, I strive to contribute richness and creativity while playing only what the music needs and making those around me sound their best. Some of my favorite composers are Danny Elfman, Burt Bacharach, Randy Edelman, Quincy Jones, Maurice Ravel, John Adams, Hermeto Pascoal, Henry Mancini, Ralph MacDonald, John Lurie, Michael Andrews, and Francis Seyrig. A few of my favorite drummers include Steve Ferrone, James Gadson, Carly Barret, Jim Gordon, Lewis Nash, Max Roach, June Gardner, Omar Hakim, Fred White, Idris Muhammed, Levon Helm and Victor DeLorenzo from Violent Femmes! There are SO many more, but I’ll stop there. On keys some of my biggest influences are Booker T Jones, Greg Rolie, Scott Storch, George Winston, James Cleveland, Kenny Werner, Barry Harris, Bill Payne, Shedrick Mitchell, Larry Goldings, as well as one of my former participants at SpArc Community Program in Philly, Erica Lowrey.

14 Random or strange career highlights:

  • Playing at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

  • Multiple shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater

  • Drumming live with Bob Weir playing his songs from “Blue Mountain”

  • Meeting Colin and Rod of the Zombies (they were super nice!)

  • Being an artist-at-large at Sawtooth Music Fest in Stanley, ID

  • Being personally signed to Sire Records by Seymour Stein along w/ my friend Craig

  • Bill Kreutzman of the Dead telling me to tune my snare drum much, much higher

  • Filling in for Brady Blade on a song I’d never heard while he used the restroom

  • Playing “Blue Sky” w/ Oteil Burbridge

  • Performing at High Sierra Music Festival

  • Seeing video of one of my original songs played by an amazing band while I was 3,000 miles away

  • Gig at an all-ages club in Bavaria, Germany that included a 21 minute version of “Gloria” while the singer wore a fedora-style cap and took his shirt off. Tour manager woke up on the front steps of venue the following day.

  • 25 minute jam w/ Steve Poltz and Megan Martinez where I drummed on a trash can and water bottle. Video is out there somewhere

  • Playing songs from ‘Terms of Surrender’ on international TV w/ Hiss Golden Messenger