Texas BigBeat 2011 Rocks!

The 5th Annual Texas BigBeat rocked the warehouse on Sunday afternoon November 6th as 107 drummers grooved together on their drumsets to raise money for music and educational programs for Houston area schools!

Photos taken by Juan Ibanez and Christy Tucker now available for viewing at:

www.photobucket.com/texasbigbeat2011

Through the dedication of 61 volunteers the drummers packets were ready, the prizes were displayed, the stage and sound system were set up, the floor was marked off in sections and the media had been notified.  Fox News showed up to document the event along with videographer and photgtraphers, David Franklin and Steffan from Franklin/Nava, Juan Ibanez, Niko Flores, Christy Tucker, and Mark Heibert. 

The crowed was wowed by performances by the Cook Elementary Drumline, Shadydale Elementary Drumline, Lone Star Choppaz and Humble High Trash Can Band!  And then Dan Egger-Balendria (who came over from Austin) got the whole crowd rock’n as over 22 hand drum players joined him on stage and through his direction played along with the drumset players.

Meanwhile, there was a lot of activity and friendly competition going on in the Fastest Drummer Contest booth as Casey Thomas wowed everyone with his over 900 strokes per minute! As a result Casey was the big winner of a Tama pedal.

Volunteers Naomi and Brittany wandered through the crowd selling raffle tickets and the lucky winner of the special Mapex Texas BigBeat Snare Drum was Belinda Fernandez who was so excited to be drumming for her first time at the Texas BigBeat!  And as a fundraising she also won a cymbal bag!

And thanks to Juice Girl (Gretchen) and It’s A Wrap and Pi Pizza there was a great mix of delicious food and drinks for everyone to enjoy!  The ArtReach booth had people making holiday wreaths by coloring plastics bottles and then cutting them and connecting them to make an awesome artistic wreath.  At the Clear booth people were getting some goodies along with great information about Clear’s products and services.  And Earnest Potts and Evan DeMonte were at the Percussion Center booth assisting people in purchasing tshirts, earplugs, headphones, giant drumsticks and other Texas BigBeat memorabilia!  And next to them was a table full of freebies – literature and stickers from the music vendors.

The main program was kicked off Texas style with God Bless Texas led by the band Barry Sea Paradox and joined in immediately by the 107 drummers.  After a couple of songs, the celebrity drummers Erik Hargrove, Daniel Glass and Mike McPhee, each performed for about 10 minutes each and then together they jammed to the delight of everyone there.  Dr. Aubrey Tucker from Houston Community College has been the Texas BigBeat conductor all five years, using one of the Texas BigBeat giant drumsticks to keep everyone in time.

The afternoon consisted of giving away over $15,000 worth of prizes to the fundraisers who raised over $17,000 for the two charities, The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Cherish Our Children International.  The funds raised goes to Houston area schools specifically for the No More Victims program for children whose parents are incarcerated and to under-funded music programs.

Barry Sea Paradox with Barry Siegel on saxophone and Bobbie Siegel on drums continued to play classic rock songs for everyone to play along to throughout the afternoon.  And then at 4:45, following the lead of the conductor at the Seattle Big Beat, they played along with drummers in 14 other cities – same beat, same time – over 1300 drummers!

The Big Beat – The World’s Largest Multi-City Drumset Event!

Thanks to the Texas BigBeat Vendor Sponsors: Mapex, Sabian, Promark, Vater, Vic Firth, Evans, Remo, Universal Percussion, Grombal, DW, Tama, Dream, Zildjian, Pearl, Tempus, Ludwig.

Product/Services Sponsors: DrumChannel.com, Pierpont Communications, James Coney Island, Franklin/Nava, Clear, Niko Flores Photography, Mike Evans, Lexus, All-Ure Photography, Juan Ibanez Photography, Chik-fil-A, Alliance Business Systems

Thanks to an awesome group of volunteers/vendors/sponsors:

Leadership Team: Eddie Corral, Barry Calnan, Darren Witmarsh, Spike the Percussionist, Sam Lindley, Arlene Levy, Mary Lee, Mike Ross, Donna Fisher

Drum Captains: David Jenett, Darren Whitmarsh, Mike Henry, Earnest Potts, Brian Bell, Patrick Courtney, Kris Ardolino, Sam Lindley, Greg Patton, Eddie Corral, Ken Evesson, John Pitale, Chris Bodin, Desiree Broussard, Danny Hite, Oscar Oviedo, Stephen Meaux, Lyn Green, Kevin Lee, Trey Willis, Evan DeMonte

Entertainment/Media/Sponsors – Mary Lee

Saturday/Sunday Set Up – Eddie Corral, Darren Whitmarsh, Mike Evans, David Duerr, Kolin Wisner, Randy McKinney, Barry Calnan, Dave Ely

Delivery of Drumsets to Warehouse – Darren Whitmarsh

Drummer Packet Preparation and Packet Pickup – Joanne Balagtas, Darren Whitmarsh

Drum Patrol – Jaime Najera and her family and friends!

Prize Coordination – Terry Ross, Brooke Ross, Mike Ross

Financial Reporting – Terry Ross

Welcome Desk – Terry and No More Victims Children

Drummer Entrance – Marilyn Gambrell and No More Victims Children

Meet & Greet – Darren Whitmarsh, Debi Poindexter, Mary Lee

Food Vendors – Eddie Corral

Adrienne Brown – School Outreach

Raffle ticket sales – Naomi, Arlene, Brittany and friends

Fundraising spreadsheet – Ruth Lacey

Tuning Booth – Evan DeMonte and Dave Ely

Fastest Drummer Contest – Eddie Corral, Joseph Polichino

Parking Lot Attendant – Larry Shudra

Stage Manager/Emcee – Pat Brown and Eddie Corral

Houston Airport Systems – Ronnie, Shauntel and entire crew for providing such a wonderful facility and being great to work with!

Graphic design of our beautiful poster, flyer, club cards – Joanne Balagtas

Creation of an awesome 15-second and 30-second promotional video – Spike the Percussionist and Bryan

Getting posters and flyers printed – Eddie Corral.

Printing postcards/club cards – Evans Drumheads

Randy McKinney and the Bellaire Men’s Club for stage, clipboards and other supplies!

Vendor Reps – Kevin Kline with KMC Music and Brian Hayes with Zildjian!

Printing and laminating lanyard card – Alliance Business Systems

Bottled water from Lexus.

Lunch for Saturday Set-up volunteers – Chik-fil-A

Food for Meet & Greet – James Coney Island

Flowers, table cloth and supplies for Meet & Greet – Mary Lee

Mike Evans – World Tour Sponsor and providing laser!

Connecting us with DrumChannel.com, Erik Hargrove and Clear – Barry Calnan

Setting up router for Internet access – Clear

Pierpont Communication – Julia and Jordan – sending out press releases and media alerts and getting coverage from Fox News.

Thanks to Mary Lee for connecting us with Jeff Balke at the Houston Press 

Thanks to Mary Lee for creating news blast fromNARIP and SugarHill Studios.

Thanks to Mike Henry for arranging lodging/transportation for celebrities.

Thanks to Janet Buller for connecting us with Dan Egger- Balendria and for creating the ArtReach children’s activity.

Thanks to Evans and Remo for providing supplies for the drum tuning booth and to Dave Ely and Evan DeMonte for handling the booth.

Thanks to Eric Hughes for arranging for Daniel Glass to join us as one of our celebrity drummer!

Videographer and photgtraphers, David Franklin and Stephen from Franklin/Nava, Juan Ibanez, Niko Flores, Christy Tucker, and Mark Heibert. 

94.5 The BUZZ – Rod Ryan, Jessica, Theresa and Doug for promoting the Texas BigBeat and having us on your show!

To Chrystay, Bill, T and everyone at Staging Solutions and PSAV who for the great stage and sound system set up!

Hats Off to ALL THE FUNDRAISERS:

Aaron Andrus – Drummer Up Dreams Winner

Kris Ardolino

Kelly Armbruster

Joanne Balagtas – 5th Place Fundraiser

Chris Bodin

Chris Borgman

Carson Broussard – 2nd Place Fundraiser

Barry Calnan – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Russ Eckhardt –

Mike Evans – 1st Place Fundraiser

Ken Evesson

Belinda Fernandez – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Donna Fisher

Matthew Fu – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Lyn Green

John Hammer – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

William Hammer – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Justin Harris

Danny Hite – 4th Place Fundraiser

Pete Holzer – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

David Jenett

Jack Lindley

Sam Lindley – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Stephen Meaux – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Della Mullan – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Earnest Potts

Charles Ross – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Steve VanHorn – Drumming Up Dreams Winner

Darren Whitmarsh – 3rd Place Fundraiser

Other Winners:

Most Outrageous Drumset: Marty Naul and Kris Ardolino

Best Vintage Drumset: Dave Ely and Gilbert Espitia

Most Original Drumset: Tim Qualls and Ken Evesson

Youngest Drummer: Kaylee Harris

Drummer Who Came the Farthest – Joe Thomas

Raffle Winner – Belinda Fernandez – Mapex Snare Drum

Photos at Texas BigBeat Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150383244404581.377180.18559954580&type=1

More photos and videos to come!

http://www.facebook.texasbigbeat.com

Texas BigBeat FAQ

Texas BigBeat 2011

Drumming Up Dreams for Our Youth, Our Schools and Our Communities!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Bush Intercontinental Airport

4500 Will Clayton Parkway

 The sound of drums will rumble across North America once again on Sunday, November 6th as the Percussion Center and 14 other Five-Star member drum shops host Big Beat drumming charity events and raise money for worthwhile causes. Billed as the world’s largest multi-city drum set event, last year’s Big Beat drew over 1200 drummers and about 3000 spectators in fifteen cities and raised over $62,000 for the Big Beat charities.

Texas BigBeat is open to drummers of all ages and skill levels.  It will take place at a warehouse at Bush Intercontinental Airport where there is room for 400+ drum sets and an unlimited number of hand percussion participants.

This big day will include play-alongs, activities and giving away prizes valued at over $15,000 from the industry’s best-known percussion manufacturers. There will also be a national raffle with the grand-prize winner getting a Big Beat Mapex Snare Drum!

Activities, including a Fastest Drummer Contest start at Noon and the record-breaking event of the day will be at 4:45 p.m. central time when the drummers from all 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.

Drummer Registration:  www.DrummersRegister.com

General Admission Tickets: www.TBBGeneralAdmission.com

Make a donation:

Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation:  www.GiveToMrHollands.com

Cherish Our Children International: www.GiveToCOCI.com

What will I do and see at the Texas BigBeat?

• Raise funds for Houston area schools by supporting the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Cherish Our Children International.
• Play along with our Texas BigBeat stage band, Barry Sea Paradox, and all the other drummers at the event!
• Texas BigBeat prizes given away – Create your own fundraising page for a chance to win some great prizes!
• Big Beat raffle drawing for a chance to win the Mapex Snare Drum.
• Participate in the Texas BigBeat Fastest Drummer’s contest and compete for prizes and the title of 2011 Texas BigBeat Fastest Drummer!
• There will also be a Hand Drum/Percussion activity so bring along your djembes and invite your hand drumming friends to join us!
• Perform The Big Beat with over 1200 drummers in 15 cities across North America and help set a new World Record!
• Spend the afternoon with tons of drums, hundreds of drummers and loads of drumming!

When is Texas BigBeat and where will it take place? 

• Sunday, November 6, 2011 at a warehouse at Bush Intercontinental Airport.  Load-in opens at 10 a.m. Activities  begin at Noon (Fastest Drummer contest, drumline performances, vendors, drumset contests) the band kicks off the BigBeat program at 3:00, internet hook-up for all 15 cities to play together is at 4:45, and the program ends at 5:00pm. All participants must be checked-in and set-up by 2:00 pm.
• The address is 4500 Will Clayton Parkway, Houston, TX, 77032
• For drummers visiting from out of town, there are several hotels at the airport that are within 5-10 minutes of the facility.

Where do I unload my drum set and enter the warehouse?

• Drummer load-in is from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Volunteers at the entrance to the parking area will direct cars to the entrance where you will SIGN IN, drive into the building, unload your drumset.  Volunteers will be available with carts for you to unload your drums onto a cart.  The volunteer will stay with your drums until you park your car and return to set up your drumset.
• All participants must be checked-in and set-up by 2:00 p.m.
• All hand percussion participants and spectators will drive directly to the parking lot to park and enter at the pedestrian entrance.
• Each drummer will set-up in their drum sets in a designated space (approximately 6’x6′).
• Drum bags and cases must be stored in your car.
• At the end of the day, drummers are responsible for getting their own drums from the warehouse to their cars in the parking lot.  Cars ARE NOT allowed to drive into the building after 2:00 p.m or after the event.
• Drummers be sure to sign in the attendance sheet so that we have an accurate count to turn in to document our world record!

 What equipment do I need to participate?

• Drum Set participants are required to have a minimum of a: bass drum, snare drum, stool, hi-hat with cymbals, at least one tom and a drum rug or equivalent.
• You are welcome to bring your complete drum set if you wish.
• Hand Percussion participants are required to have a single, hand-played percussion instrument.
• Ear protection is required! Earplugs and headsets will be available at the Percussion Center booth at the event.

 What is the Texas BigBeat schedule of events?

• 10:00 a.m. Drum Set load-in / check-in opens at the back entrance of the warehouse for driving in and unloading of drumsets.
• 11:00 a.m. Drum tuning booth, food vendors and other vendor booths open, and entertainment groups spread throughout the day.
• Noon: Fastest Drummer competition begins.
• 1:45 p.m. Celebrity Meet & Greet event with celebrity drummers, Daniel Glass, Erik Hargrove and Mike McPhee!
• 2:00 p.m. Texas BigBeat Percussion activity led by Dan Egger-Balendria
• 3:00 p.m. Celebrity artist performances, everyone playing along with Barry Sea Paradox, announcement of fundraising winners, drawings for prizes, announcement of drum contest winners, charity presentations!
• 4:45 p.m. Perform the Big Beat with over 1200 drummers in 15 cities in the world’s largest multi-city drum set event via an internet video connection.
• 5:00 p.m. Texas BigBeat 2010 comes to a rousing close! Take  down your drum kit and carry to your car.
• The schedule of events can change without notice. Watch percussioncenteronline.com and your email box for updates.

 How do I raise funds for The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Cherish Our Children International?

• All drummers are asked to raise money for the Texas BigBeat charities by setting up your own fundraising page at http://www.givetomrhollands.com and/or                  http://www.givetococi.com

• This is like other charitable events where you run, walk, bike or swim and get your friends and family to sponsor you, except for The Texas BigBeat you get to play drums!
• The top fundraisers will win individual prizes and will be introduced on stage during the event.
• All drummers who raise at least $200 will have their name entered in the “Drumming Up Dreams” drawing for a chance to win some of the $15,000 worth of prizes!
• Invite your friends and family to join you at the event as spectators. General admission is only $10 ($5 for young children) and they can join in on the activities and raffles, then cheer you on as you play along with over 1200 drummers in 15 cities.
• The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Cherish Our Children International are both 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations and donations are tax deductible, as allowed by law.

 What about the raffles and activities?

• There will be raffle drawings and Drumming Up Dreams drawings for merchandise valued at over $15,000 which was donated by our generous sponsors. Raffle tickets will sell for $5 a piece or 3 for $10 (benefiting our charities). The raffle prize is a special Mapex Big Beat snare drum.  A Pearl drumset, Ludwig snare drum and Tempus snare drum will also be auctioned off.
• The Texas BigBeat Fastest Drummer contest will take place from Noon to 2:30pm. A $5 fee (benefiting our charities) gives you two chances to play the Drum-o-Meter and record your results. Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers on stage at the event.

 Where does the money go?

• The Texas BigBeat raises money for two charities: The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Cherish Our Children International.
• The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation provides support of under-funded music programs so that children have a chance to gain the benefits of music education.  All the money raised by the Texas BigBeat goes to Houston areas schools.
• Cherish Our Children supports a local high school program, No More Victims, providing educational programs for children whose parents are incarcerated teaching them how to make choices to create a positive and productive future for themselves.

What if I’m not a drumset player?

• Hand drum players/percussionists are invited to join us for the special percussion activity led by Dan Egger-Belandria.  Just purchase a General Admission Ticket and bring your djembe, tambourine, guiro, bongos or other percussion instrument with you!
• There are activities and entertainment groups that can be enjoyed by drummers and non-drummers alike.  General Admission tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for ages 6 to 12 and free to children 5 and younger!

Other:

• Food Vendors include the Juice Girl, It’s a Wrap and PiPizza
• The Percussion Center will have a booth at the event with various drum supplies.
• Everyone attending the event must fill out a waiver required by Houston Airport Systems.
• The airport facility is a smoke free building.
• Lost & Found will be located at the Percussion Center booth.
• The Texas BigBeat sponsors and Houston Airport Systems. are not responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged property.  Everyone is responsible for what they bring with them.

Texas BigBeat

www.TexasBigBeat.com

www.DrummersRegister.com

www.TBBGeneralAdmission.com

www.GiveToCOCI.com

www.GiveToMrHollands.com

 

Calling All Hand Drummers!

We are so excited to have Dan Egger-Belandria joining us for the Texas BigBeat to lead a hand drum/percussion session.

Founder of New World Synergy, Dan has conducted percussion programs for companies including Qwest, Fujitsu, Sun Microsystems, Swedish Medical Center, Wells Fargo, Coors, StorageTek, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Ventana Medical Systems, AmeriCorps, as well as hundreds of schools, non profits and youth organizations.

Please pass the word around Houston for hand drummers to come join us as Dan leads us on an exciting percussion experience!

Texas BigBeat Promo Video

Spike the Percussionist and Bryan Leach have created a great 15-second promotional piece for the Texas BigBeat! You can see it on the Texas BigBeat Facebook Page! Check it out and then pass it on – make it go viral!

Texas BigBeat – Sunday, November 6, 2011

Celebrity Drummers on Texas BigBeat Stage

Join us at Texas BigBeat 2011 and you’ll get to meet and play along with three celebrity drummers: Daniel Glass, Erik Hargrove and Mike McPhee!

Daniel Glass – a member of the pioneering swing group Royal Crown Revue since 1994, Daniel has recorded and performed all over the world with many top artists, including Brian Setzer, Bette Midler and KISS frontman Gene Simmons.

Erik Hargove joined with The Late Great “James Brown” where he toured all over the world from 1998 until 2005.

Here’s a great video of our celebrity drummers from previous year jamming on stage: Latham, Matthews and Layton

Daniel Glass – Drum History Minute

Daniel Glass is one of our 2011 Texas BigBeat drummers!

He has a some great information on the history of drumming on his website

Learn the history behind one of rock’s all time classic openers: John Bonham’s intro to Led Zeppelin’s “Rock’n’Roll.“

Erik Hargrove Flying in for Texas BigBeat 2011!

Erik Hargrove is joining us on stage at Texas BigBeat 2011 as one of our celebrity drummers!

Erik joined with The Late Great “James Brown” where he toured all over the world from 1998 until 2005.

Erik has also done various gigs around the world with – Sister Hazel, Ken Block’s Solo Performances, Thomas McClary ( Founder of “The Commodores”, Guitar Player and Writer of the Hit Song“Brick House” and others.) Bootsy Collins in his “Tribute to James Brown” where he toured Europe and Japan in 2008 and 2009.

For more information go to: http://bit.ly/r7a0tP

We are so looking forward to meeting Erik and playing along with him at the Texas BigBeat!

Gold and Silver Sponsors Donating Prizes

Special thanks to the following vendors for sponsoring the 2011 Big Beat events! We will be posting our list of prizes soon. Every drummer who raises at least $200 for either The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation or Cherish Our Children International will have their name entered into the Drumming Up Dreams drawing and have a chance to win a great prize!

Gold Sponsors:

Dream Cymbals

DW

Evans

Promark

Remo

Sabian

Universal Percussion

Vic Firth

The Grombal

Zildjian

Silver Sponsors:

Tama

Vater

Largest Multi-City Drumming Event

Here’s the list of the 2011 Big Beat events taking place all across the country on Sunday, November 6th.  For those of you in cities other than Houston, please contact the organizing drum store in your area regarding registration.

Those of you in the Houston area, registrer at www.drummersregister.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 Center of Lexington – Lexington, KY – drumcenterlex@insightbb.com
Drum Circuit – San Luis Obispo, CA – howard@drumcircuit.com (New)
Drum World – Tulsa, OK – drumsforfood@yahoo.com
Ellis Drum Shop – St. Paul, MN – info@ellisdrumshop.com
Jeff Ryder’s Drum Shop – Austin, TX – jeffryderdrumshop@gmail.com
Jeff Ryder’s Drum Shop – San Antonio, TX – jeffryderdrumshop@gmail.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 – info@percussiononline.com