Alex Shumaker Nine Year Old Demonstrative Drummer

Alex Shumaker on stage

I love playing drums more than anything in the world!   Alex Shumaker

 

Alex Shumaker Logo

Nine Year old Alex Shumaker heralds from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA and has had an interest in Classic Rock bands such as Journey, Foreigner, Reo Speed Wagon and Styx since age 4. When Alex was 5 his parents took him to his first live concert to see Journey, Foreigner and Night Ranger and he was mesmerized! 

Alex MakeShif Drum
Alex Self Made Drum

Following that concert experience, while most 5 year olds were headed to the Toy section at Walmart Alex would always ask to go to the Electronic Department to look at CD’s. On February 10, 2012 while browsing the CD’s Alex found a DVD of the band Journey with their new lead singer Arnel. Alex became fixated with drummer Deen Castronovo. Alex would get out an exercise ball, put it in front of the TV, and grabbing some kitchen utensils would proceed to play his make-shift drum set. He would watch the video over and over again and ultimately broke every kitchen utensil his parents had. To remedy that problem his dad created a pair of drumsticks out of plastic coat hangers for him to use. 

One evening while Alex was playing his homemade drum kit his Mom captured the moment on her phone and posted it to Facebook with the heading…… 

“You Gotta do what you Gotta do when your parents won’t buy you a drum set!” 

The phone soon rang and it was Alex’s Nana wanting to speak with him. His parents weren’t all that thrilled when he started screaming; 

“Nana and Papa are buying me a real drum set”.  

Alex received that little drum set and played it for hours on end, at least 3-4 hours a day watching the Journey DVD over and over trying to copy Deen’s every move. 

Every time Alex went to Walmart he got a CD. A few months later another DVD appeared, this time it was the band Foreigner with then drummer Brian Tichy. Alex became obsessed with Tichy’s theatrics of stick throwing and bouncing. 

Alex New Drum Set
Alex with his first Drum Set from his Grandparents

 

 

After a few months of playing, Alex’s parents enrolled him in weekly drum lessons with teacher Brian Rowan with whom he is still receiving instruction. 

Alex progressed and kept his passion for drumming. His tastes in music evolved and he started playing a wide variety of genres of music. His parents and grandparents realized at this point this wasn’t just going to be a childhood phase and decided to purchase an adult size full drum set for his 7th birthday. Instead of asking for toys for birthdays and holidays, Alex would ask for musical equipment. Thus, his drum set has become quite massive over the past two years. 

Alex rocken with Deen
Alex rocken with Jeff from Foreigner

 

Alex’s parents began taking him to more concerts and numerous local shows. Alex has had the chance to meet many musicians and has become friends with a number of them, some even inviting him on stage during their performances. 

 

His biggest moment was getting to meet his hero Deen at a Journey concert along with Ross Valory and Jonathan Cain before the show. Deen was simply amazing to Alex. Deen even called out Alex’s name in front of 30,000 people while on stage and is still in contact with Alex today. 

That concert also opened Alex up to Country Music. He instantly fell in love with Rascal Flatts who were touring with Journey at the time. 

One of Alex’s first times being on a big stage was with the band Foreigner in 2013. It was an experience he will never forget. Alex has met Foreigner several times since. One particular occasion was when Alex used tickets to their show awarded to him by winning a Tonight Show inspired Lip Sync ontest the band put on. 

 

Alex on stage with Jefferson Starship 2014

While attending a Jefferson Starship concert in Pittsburgh in 2014 Alex was taken on stage for the final song with the band. The band members had no idea he was a miniature musician but singer Cathy Richardson said she kept getting this vibe about this little 7 year old boy sitting in the front row she had to invite him up!  

Alex and his parents traveled to New Jersey to attend a show called the “Bonzo Bash” produced by his hero Brian Tichy. Brian puts on this show on the both the West Coast and the East Coasts to honor the late John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Brian brings in top drummers from many bands to each perform 2 songs by Led Zeppelin. Alex got to attend the rehearsals for this show at the Gibson Guitar Show Room in NYC the day before the show. At the end of rehearsals Alex was given the chance to play while Brian Tichy (who is mostly known as a drummer) played guitar, Michael Devin of Whitesnake played bass and Chas West of Jake E. Lee/Tango Down performed the vocals.

Continue reading “Alex Shumaker Nine Year Old Demonstrative Drummer”

Carson Lueders Washington’s Wonder Boy!

“I hope to be a positive influence and role model to others through my music and my actions.”

Singer, Songwriter, Performer Carson Lueders

Carson Lueders It’s been a big year of growth for Carson Lueders and his music since first appearing here on Rivenmaster’s Place.  Carson’s fan base has exploded and is reaching around the globe. His YouTube channel continues to gain new subscribers daily and his fan base is now made up from faithful Carson Lueders fans from 109 different countries!  (There are 196 total countries so that’s over ½ the world watching Carson’s videos)  It took about 3 years to get his 1st million YouTube views but only 3 months to get his 2nd million!!! Now he has gone over the 3 million mark averaging 10-20K views a day.

Because Carson is so young, having just turned 11, he seems to be standing out and separating himself from the pack of older teen boys that are competing in the saturated music market.  He is constantly being compared to other boys in the industry and often being called the next Justin Bieber, little Cody Simpson, or baby Niall Horan.  But many of his fans assure him he is not the next of anything but the FIRST & ONLY Carson! Everyday fans send him words of encouragement, compliments and even marriage proposals.  Carson appreciates it all, including all the fan videos and picture collages.

Carson has been playing and performing since age five. He has been a guest on local radio since age six, and has been featured on the local news throughout the years. At just the age of nine he also won a national songwriting contest.

Although he started out playing mostly country music, Carson is now leaning more towards pop music. Some have even said that Carson could be a cross over artist like Taylor Swift.

Carson and His Brother Perform Keith Urban Cover

 

His Mother exclaimed;

“It’s been a great honor for many artists to acknowledge and complement Carson on the covers songs he has done.  Some artists including Keith Urban, Aaron Carter and Australian teen Cody Simpson have even helped to promote Carson’s music through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.”

I asked Carson if he would do an exclusive interview for this article and I’m pleased that he took the time to do so.  The following is an excerpt from that interview:

Continue reading “Carson Lueders Washington’s Wonder Boy!”