Meat snare drum raffles. Choice raffle-models, often the sole ambassadors of womankind within eyeshot. The manic buzzing and pinging and rumbling din of wood, brass, bronze, and…meat? Tech-geek jargon spewing from every direction. You half expect to see Mr. Cunningham in a Poobah hat, or someone shoot you the Vulcan greeting (?). But, this is not the local hardware store owners’ convention or sci-fi nerdfest. It’s time once again for the L.A. drumming community’s very own local convention and nerdfest: The Hollywood Drum Show. And we couldn’t be happier.

By Any Other Name
While the descriptors “Custom and Vintage” have recently been eliminated from the formal moniker, custom shop manufacturers and vintage collectors remain the anchors and spirit of the two-day event. Its soul, of course, comes from the L.A. drummers—pros and enthusiasts alike—who now habitually flock to the gathering to commune among their kind and indulge the nagging gear jones.

After 12 years, the Hollywood Drum Show returns to its very first home at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. This year’s incarnation will feature 35 exhibitors and 6 clinicians, including Bernie Dresel, Cindy Blackman, and Todd Sucherman.

Hail the Grand Poobah
For this, and the 11 previous productions, we have founder and organizer Kerry Crutchfield to thank. Indeed, appreciation and personal satisfaction are all he really ever asks for his efforts—the whole thing is truly a labor of passion. HollywoodDrum.com is pleased to present our Q&A with Crutch. We covered origin and direction, preparation, motivation, and good-humored humiliation. That’s plenty, you say, but I later wished I had asked him why we no longer get the customary Ford/Caputo Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa drum battle reenactment—that was always pretty cool, I thought. I’ll ask him at the show.

And if you happen to run into Crutch at the show, be sure to shake his hand and thank him for his effort and dedication as host of the L.A. drum community’s yearly celebration. A traditional non-Vulcan greeting will do.

The 2009 Hollywood Drum Show will be held Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18 at Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, CA 90038. Admission is $10 in advance or $14 at the door, per day. Visit the site for more information.

What It Isn’t
Hollywood Drum is not Drum Channel. We dig Drum Channel. They have a kick-ass sound stage, cutting-edge technology, world-class drummers, and VLT (Vertical Low Timbre) innovation at their disposal. We have Carl’s apartment, pummeling-edge technology, the goodwill of friends, and moxie at ours. We like it that way. Yeah…you can keep your big box of crayons. Who needs burnt sienna, anyway?

Well, that crayon sharpener on the back is pretty cool. Those guys can crank out a slick 5-camera video summit with Bozzio, Peart, Erskine, Lang, Wackerman, Chambers, Cobb, Acuña, Novak, and Laboriel Jr. without breaking for lunch. Our latest, and only second, video interview with Jeff Friedl (Ashes Divide, Puscifer) was a solid month in the making. Carl was busy, and that’s a lot of chroma-key video data to render.

What It Is
I’m quite pleased with the result of our humble efforts, here. Jeff has a cool and inspirational L.A. tale to tell, and our personal production bar has been elevated above limbo-expert level. Although, I think even that had its charm.

Jeff is a lefty. And while not a note was played, I think that somehow comes across in this interview. He’s had quite a year, and he puts it all into context for us with humility, humor, and his own off-name brand of quirk. We had a lot of fun putting this together, and think you’ll enjoy. Catch him here before he ventures out for the Puscifer fall tour. Alright, he’ll still be here.