Drums/Percussion Born in Richmond, VA

Powell has been a professional musician and instructor for over 14 years. A 1989 graduate of Berklee College of Music, Powell majored in song writing with a concentration in percussion performance. Powell’s classical/orchestral resume includes performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, The Virginia Symphony, and the Virginia Opera. As a studio musician, he has played on countless recordings... film scores, jingles and CDs for a wide range of clients. Powell can be heard on the score for the remake of Quo Vadis for Premier Pictures playing a wide range of percussion instruments. Additionally, Powell is an instructor in all styles and all levels on drum set as well as music theory, site reading and composition.

What equipment/instruments do you use?
"For the Windborne Music shows, I play DW drums and use various snare drums from Ludwig, Tama, Yamaha, Slingerland, Pearl, and DW. I'm really excited to be playing Dream Cymbals exclusively now. They have cymbals to fit any and all of my playing situations from an Eagles ballad to an explosive Zep tune. These cymbals deliver the goods every time! I also use DW drums, remo heads and Vic Firth sticks."

Who are some of your musical influences:
"I started being interested in the drums after seeing the drum section in the hometown parade. After that I saw Buddy Rich on TV and that made a big impression on me. After I started drumming I got into John Bonham, Keith Moon (I watched "the kids are alright" movie over and over),Peter Criss from Kiss, Buddy Rich, Neil Piert, Stewert Copeland from the Police, Terry Bozzio from Frank Zappa,Missing Persons, and UK. I also liked alot of Funk and Rand B drumming like Average White Band, Earth Wind and FIre, James Brown and Parliment Funkadelic. There are so many bands that influenced me in all styles it's hard to include them all. I would play drums to anything we had around the house. In college I got into more Jazz and fusion drummers like Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, Max Roach. On the Led zep DVD John Bonham starts his drum solo by playing a Max Roach solo idea. I can tell John Bonham listened to alot of Jazz and Big Band drummers."

Tell us about "The Music of Led Zeppelin" show and how it impacts you:
"It's been a lifelong goal to play with such talented people and to big audiences that really appreciate what we are doing. Randy really sells the show and Brent's arrangements of the music are outstanding. Symphonies are used to getting golf claps and it's great to watch their reactions when the crowd goes nuts. It's definitely a Rock Symphony and I have the best seat in the house."

What's on your IPod?:
"I have about 4000 songs on my I-pod right now. Everything from led Zepplin to Jellyfish, Fiona Apple, The Beatles, James Brown, Coldplay, Miles Davis, Karizma, John Coltrane, AC/DC, Jamie cullum etc..."