Hey MD drummers! I’m writing this from our tour bus. We recently finished up on the North American leg of the Ingrid Michaelson Lights Out tour. It’s hard to believe it’s my eleventh year as Ingrid’s drummer and live programmer. We’ve made some records that I’m pretty proud of, and it’s always fun to hit the road to support them.

What’s unique about this tour is that we have a dog with us on the bus, we rehearsed thirty-plus songs so we can rotate in old favorites with the many songs off the new album. Because we have so many song choices, we are changing up the set list from night to night. The variety is awesome and intense all at the same time.

During the recording phase of Lights Out, I had the honor of working with some seriously talented producers, including Jacquire King, Cason Cooley, Katie Herzig, Jeremy Bose, and my bandmate Chris Kuffner. We recorded at some of my favorite studios, including Let ’em In, Grand Street, Blackbird, and the Trophy Room. Advertisement

My favorite songs off the record are:

1. “Time Machine.” We tracked bass and drums together in a few takes.
2. “Warpath.” We tracked drums and cymbals separately for maximum compression and isolation.
3. “Girls Chase Boys.” I love the juxtaposition of the bombastic drums over the clean drum programming. We had fun performing this one on The Today Show, Conan, and VH1’s Morning Buzz.

Besides my work with Ingrid, I’m especially excited for you all to hear a forthcoming project with Vérité. We worked together to create a song called “Heartbeat,” on which I played drums, produced, and co-wrote. (You can listen here: http://goo.gl/35LF0n). Hope you enjoy it, and keep an eye out for the rest of the album. I’m also wrapping up two EPs with the talented Ryan Schmidt and Eric Leva.

In my time off from touring and producing, I’ve had the honor of playing live and in the studio with A Great Big World, the Vamps, Emily Kinney (from The Walking Dead), Wakey! Wakey!, Storyman, and others. Advertisement

I must thank my amazing sponsors for all their support. A big thank you to Yamaha, Vater, Sabian, Evans, Latin Percussion, Gator, Cympad, Roc ’N Soc, Big Fat Snare Drum, the Drum Clip, JH Audio, and Shure.

Last but not least, I want to thank Modern Drummer for the opportunity to write this blog. Look out for my upcoming article in the print magazine soon. I’ve been a faithful reader for twenty years, and it means a lot.

 

To catch more from Elliot Jacobson, check out @elliotjacobson (Twitter and Instagram) or visit http://elliot-jacobson.com.