Well, well, well…..see what happens…I go to bed and the next thing I know it’s a new year! Yes, after a short hibernation over the holiday period I decided to start my babblings here on the site again. I’ve been called all kinds of names over the holidays, Grinch, Miserable Git, Party Pooper……ugh whatever, I’m just glad they’re passed now. It’s a difficult time of the year as it is for many others…I miss my Father and my best friend Spencer even more at that time of year and my Mom wasn’t here this year so that made me sad as well.

On December 12^th my mate Bill Miller lost his battle with cancer and retired to the great drum solo out in the ether. Bill was the Editor in Chief at Modern Drummer Magazine. A great guy who I’d only known a couple of years but one whose passion for music and drumming was profoundly evident from the first time I met him. Two years ago at the NAMM show in LA I introduced Bill to my friend Daniel Adair, drummer for Nickelback. We all met one day, sat down and talked and Bill told Daniel that he wanted to do a cover feature on Daniel when the next Nickelback album was made and he then told me that I was the one he wanted to do the shoot. Modern Drummer is the gospel of drumming magazines for professional and amateur drummers alike and just being inside the magazine is an honor within that community so as you can imagine Daniel was stoked at this prospect. Cut forward to summer ‘08 and I’m calling Bill saying “hey, new album, what about this cover we’re supposed to do?” So we set it up, I went up to Canada into the Rockies for a couple of days to become Bear bait with Daniel whilst we made the pics that you’re seeing below.

Daniel Adair & Bill Miller

Dear Bill loved the photos and to my knowledge, this was his last full Modern Drummer issue. It’s a bitter sweet endeavor. Bitter because a great guy lost his life prematurely but sweet also because we got such a great feature and photos from this project, one that Bill was most pleased with.

I’m truly happy for that.

Enjoy….

ASH