Backstage at The Enharmonic

A Music Industry Podcast

Through my decades in the music business as a performer, composer, arranger, and/or educator I’ve accumulated a vast rolodex of the world’s leading musical innovators.  From this pool of contacts, I came up with the idea of creating this podcast, Backstage at The Enharmonic, to dispel misconceptions about the guest's tastes, to surprise and educate listeners and fans, and to entertain and take listeners to an unexpected point of resolution and to think differently about musical categorizations.  

Trey O'Toole  

February 19, 2024 Drummer, teacher and entrepreneur Trey O'Toole is the next guest on Backstage at the Enharmonic!

Trey is a professional percussionist and instructor with over 30 years of experience and is co-owner of Pulse Drumming MusicWorks in Ventura, CA. 

He holds Bachelor of Music with emphasis on orchestral percussion and has a strong understanding of western harmonic theory, ethnic studies, world music, and jazz. He is passionate about teaching and serving his community in California and beyond…

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Jim Riley  

April 7, 2023 Busy Nashville drummer, Jim Riley is the next guest on Backstage at the Enharmonic!

Jim is the drummer and bandleader for multi-platinum group, Rascal Flatts as well as being an Adjunct Professor of Drumset Studies at Belmont University Since moving to Nashville in 1997, Jim he has played over a thousand of sold out shows for millions of fans. His television credits include The Grammy Awards, The Tonight Show, The American Music Awards, The Voice, American Idol, Dancing with the stars, Oprah…

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Hail to The Chief: Remembering Joe Goebel   

October 28, 2022 This episode is about two years overdue!  It is a tribute to my late undergrad percussion professor, Joseph Goebel (11/8/39-10/26/20) who passed away on October 26, 2020.  He was truly, one-of-a-kind!  This episode features me and my memories of The Chief.  It begins with the first time that I met him, at my undergrad percussion audition.  Through a series of vignettes I attempt to paint the picture of studying with and observing Joe.  I talk about his studio, what was meaningful to him…

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On the phone with, Harold Jones!  

March 25, 2022  This short edition of Backstage at The Enharmonic features a recorded phone conversation that I had with the legendary big band drummer, Harold Jones.  He was helping me prepare for a university-level master class.  We dicusss: learning brushes, warming-up, plastic brushes, preparing to play new material with a big band, and more!

[This phone conversation was placed on February 7, 2020, exactly one month before the world shut-down.  Just something to keep in mind as we are referencing his…

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Jimmy Wormworth  

Wednesday, September 30, 2021, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia: I had the privilege to sit down and chat with drum legend, Mr. Jimmy Wormworth!  Jimmy is best known for playing drums with the groundbreaking vocal jazz ensemble, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, plus his work with Al Haig, Lou Donaldson and for being house drummer at the Five Spot in 1959.

This edition of Backstage at The Enharmonic is very special, it’s the first interview that I’ve conducted live and in person, and would like to thank bassist Mike…

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Dame Evelyn Glennie  

Friday, June 18, 2021 My next guest is certified super-star, Dame Evelyn Glennie!  I've been following and admiring her career for 20+ years now.  Through video conferencing technology I was able to chat with Evelyn based in London, from my home studio in Philadelphia. In today's segment, Dame Evelyn discusses her earliest music lessons in school, learning percussion with none of the traditional method books, the most important lessons that she learned from her two most influential teachers (Ron Forbes and…

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The Drum Rudiment Edition with Tommy Campbell, Clayton Cameron, Liberty DeVitto, Matt Howard, David Lu, Sherrie Maricle, Berumda Schwartz, Chihiro Shibayama, Michael Vosbein, and John Wooton  

June 13, 2021

THE DRUM RUDIMENT EDITION

Ten of my favorite drummers tell us about their favorite Drum Rudiment!

The panel includes:

  • TOMMY CAMPBELL
  • CLAYTON CAMERON
  • LIBERTY DEVITTO
  • MATTHEW HOWARD
  • DAVID LU
  • SHERRIE MARICLE
  • JON BERMUDA SCHWARTZ
  • CHIHIRO SHIBAYAMA
  • MICHAEL VOSBEIN
  • JOHN "DR. THROWDOWN" WOOTON

Please consider checking out all of these great artists online to see/hear/learn more about their percussive artistry.

Thanks for listening!

Julian Bliss  

May 21, 2021  At long last, Julian Bliss, internationally renowned clarinet phenom, and I get to chat!  It's been two years in the making, but through the beauty of video conferencing we were able to conduct the interview.  The interview starts well, at the beginning, discussing when and why Julian fell in love with the clarinet.  From there we hit a lot of topics, including, performing for the queen at just 12 years old, transitioning to a professional adult musician, his love of danger, on and off stage…

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Anthony J. Cirone  

March 5, 2021, I'm very happy that one of my longtime inspirations in the field of percussion agreed to chat, Mr. Anthony J. Cirone.  Anyone who has ever studied percussion has said the name, 'Cirone!', countless times, due to his groundbreaking snare drum solo book, Portraits in Rhythm.  The book is used at every high school, college, and percussion studio in the world as a barometer of a student's reading ability and musicality on the snare drum.  I've been using this book since the mid-1980s and still…

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Host/Producer

Sean J. Kennedy

 













The picture exemplifies why I started this podcast, it is from a gig that I did a few years ago.  Yes, a car caught on fire and exploded in the woods right behind my drumset.  (No one was injured.)

Everyday is an adventure! 

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