Musical Biography

Adam Silverman

I have been playing drums for over 25 years now. I was raised in a small town called Westminster, Maryland, which is a rural suburb about 45 minutes outside of Baltimore City. It was in that small town that I discovered my love for music at a very young age. I started playing music in elementary school, and continued my education, achieving a BA in Music Performance from McDaniel College in Westminster.

In college, I was fortunate to study drums and percussion with Professor Jon Seligman. I spent my time learning about 4-way-coordination, jazz studies, odd-time signature grooves, hand and feet chops, African and Indian drumming, as well as many other skills that I still draw from each time I play. I received the Excellence in Music Award at the end of my Senior year. It was in college that I developed my practice regiment of 4-5 hours a day. That discipline is still with me today as I work constantly to become a better drummer and most importantly, a more versatile musician.

After completing my education, I felt called to move to Nashville to pursue a career as a full-time musician. I moved to town with an indie band, and we made a hard run at trying to "get signed." Eventually, each band member felt called to pursue other things, and I broke off to start pursuing opportunities with many different acts in the Christian and Country music markets. I also started working on demo recordings for a few producers in town.

In the last few years, I have been blessed to see my career grow. I record drums for a lot of different artists, engineers, songwriters, and producers from Nashville to L.A.. I've been on several master tracking sessions this year, as well as demo sessions.

Recently I began working with UMG artist Lauren Alaina. Currently we are doing radio promotion shows, concerts, and national television appearances such as Good Morning America, Regis & Kelly, and The Ellen Degeneres Show. While 2012 touring has yet to be announced, we expect it to be a very busy and exciting year.

Current Projects

Touring: Working for a short time in different places; "itinerant laborers"; "the road show"; "touring musician".

Session: A meeting devoted to a particular activity; "filming session"; "gossip session"; "recording session"

Currently I am touring full time with 33Miles out of Nashville playing concerts at churches, concert halls, arenas and festivals of all kinds. Please check their tour schedule to see when we'll be coming to a city near you.

I am also doing fill in dates with artists such as Aaron Shust and other artists out of Nashville. So I am definitely keeping busy this year which is a really good thing in the current state of the industry. I am blessed!

Finally I am starting to do a significant amount of sessions tracking on Pop, Rock, Christian, and Country demos in different studios here in Nashville. I'm starting to do more and more master session work as well. So the recording part of my career is just starting, but I can't wait to see where it leads this year.

33Miles
33Miles Live in Mount Vernon IL

Musical Influences

These are the drummers that I spend most of my time listening to. They are on this list because they inspire me to be a better player. I hope that one day I can incorporate the things I have learned from these masters into my vocabulary so that I'll be able to carry on the gifts they have given me.

  • Jeff Porcaro - I love him for his work with Toto of course. Jeff had the best studio chops I've ever heard and I hope to be just like him in the future. He played on everything back in the day and there was a reason why.
  • Chris McHugh - Another fantastic studio drummer. Rock solid time and amazing drum sounds.
  • Zoro - R&B legend in the drumming community. He's called the Minister of Groove and he's hugely changed my playing.
  • Steve Gadd - Session legend and one of the best groove players I've ever heard. I love his work with Paul Simon.
  • Jim Riley - Jim is a rock star, a powerhouse Jazz/Country/Pop musician. The drummer and band leader for Rascal Flatts, and he's also my teacher. It's impossible for me not to sound a little like him... it makes me quite proud :)
  • Tim Alexander - First drummer for Primus. Awesome player. Need I say more?
  • Danny Carey - Drummer for Tool. I've learned most of what I know about odd time from playing through a few of the Tool records. Dannys 5/4 time blows me away.
  • Carter Beauford - Dave Matthews Band linear style of drumming is the bomb. I've been learning from Cater the importance of using both hands as the lead.
  • Teddy Campbell - Super fat feel, amazing Gospel chops. Teddy is the groove master.
  • Matt Chamberlain - Another excellent session musician. His style is just so laid back and very earthy. I love everything he plays on.
  • John Bohnam - You can't be a drummer without Bonham on your list of favorites. Powerhouse rock grooves and really made Zeppelin what it was.
  • Steve Smith - Steve has this amazing cross between being a fusion drummer trapped in Pop music. His work with Journey is so inspiring how he uses his chops but they aren't distracting.
  • Thomas Lang - Thomas's double bass and foot chops blow me away. I am amazing at how he uses those so well in the rock vein of music. I have learned a lot from his DVD's.
  • Dennis Chambers - Last but never least is DC. Dennis is just one of those guys you HAVE to listen to if you are going to be a relevant drummer in this century. He's got chops, groove, soul, and funk in everything he plays. Truly an inspiration to players like myself.

Tour and Session Credits

Here are some acts that I've either toured with, filled in for, done a record with, or some mixture of those things.

Adam Silverman Press Shot