03/02/05

MAPEX CO-SPONSORS “WOODSTICK 2005” WITH DONN BENNETT DRUM STUDIO

The Tacoma Dome begins to fill with drummers of all ages.

Gregg Bissonette joins in the fun.

Nearly 500 participants brought in their kits to Woodstick.

Donn Bennett of Donn Bennett's Drum Studio.

Thousands of dollars were raised to benefit music eduction in the Pacific Northwest.

Imagine nearly five hundred drummers playing their kits in time, simultaneously. Well, if you were in attendance at Donn Bennett’s “Woodstick 2005” held recently in the Tacoma Dome in Washington, you got to experience it for yourself.

“It’s loud, that’s for sure,” said Scott Sasser, National Sales Manager for Mapex USA. “But it’s a great event for drummers to gather together and compare gear and technique, and let’s face it, everybody likes to show off a little.”

Woodstick is a fundraising event for Northwest schools music programs, and an annual attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for drummers playing drum sets simultaneously. Participants play a simple 4/4 beat for six minutes to break the record. Drummers also played along with recorded songs and with live bands, The Wailers and Randy Hansen.

Donn Bennett of Donn Bennett’s Drum Studio in Bellevue, Washington has hosted the event for the past three years.

“It’s a blast,” says Bennett. “We set the record last year with 502 drummers. This year, we came up a little bit short with 477, but we still had a great time.”

Participants in the event bring in their own kits and set them up on the floor of the Tacoma Dome for the big jam. Because the event is a fundraiser, drummers are encouraged to gather sponsors to pledge dollars for their participation.

The money raised helps support severely under funded local public schools’ music programs. Over $20,000 was raised at this year’s event to benefit local music education programs.
Bennett sees the event as not only an opportunity to raise money for strapped educational systems, but as an opportunity to encourage people to play drums.

“It’s amazing the stories I hear from the participants,” says Bennett. “For some of these kids, this is their very first opportunity to play along with a live band.

“Because it’s a large group event, there’s no pressure for them to play along. Many of them get that first taste of playing with a band and realize to themselves that they ‘can actually do this,’ and walk away with a new sense of confidence and dedication to playing.

“I also talked to an older gentleman that hadn’t played in several years. When he heard about the event, he decided to drag his kit down from the attic and attend. He had a wonderful experience and now he’s taking up playing again. It’s a win, win situation. Not only do we raise money for a very worthy cause, we get a chance to hang out and visit with some great players and great people.”

One of those great players was Mapex endorsee, Gregg Bissonette. Gregg visited with those attending and signed autographs. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” exclaimed Bissonette, “All these kids with their drum sets – and adults too – it’s awesome.”

Woodstick is strictly not-for-profit. The only major expense taken from the proceeds is the rental of the venue. The staff is a volunteer workforce.

“This event requires a lot of hard work by some dedicated people,” explained Bennett. “It’s amazing how many people willingly volunteer to work on this. This year we had nearly fifty volunteers. They don’t get paid. They do it just because they love music and they believe in the cause.”

Trevor Greenwood raised the most pledge money at this year’s event and won himself a brand new all-maple Mapex Orion drum set, complete with cymbals by Sabian, Remo heads, Protection Racket cases and sticks donated by Vic Firth. Another lucky winner won a Mapex 5-piece VX Series drum set.

“What a cool event to be a part of. The ages of the participants ranged from four-years-old to seventy-five,” added Sasser. He also let us in on the event’s “unofficial” motto, “No saxophone players allowed.”