John Wackerman

Born into a musical family, John Wackerman continues the musical legacy which started with his father Chuck, a music teacher for over 45 years and proceeds with his three brothers: Chad (drums with Frank Zappa, Barbra Streisand, Allan Holdsworth) Bob (bass with Maynard Ferguson, Keiko Matsui, Henry Mancini) and Brooks (drums with Bad Religion, Avril Levigne, Suicidal Tendencies). Starting piano lessons at the age of five was John Wackerman's introduction into performance, but his true passion for percussion began when his father decided to sell his boat to purchase a Vibraphone. "My Mom and Dad would drive me to all my lessons and music competitions and were very supportive" John said in a recent interview, "I was doing all of these private lessons and going to school and things were really hectic, but it taught me persistence and determination". John studied under such greats as: Ruth Ritchie(Mallets), Murray Spivack(Classical Snare Drum), Chuck Flores(Drum set Independence), Charlie Shoemake(Jazz Studies), and Earl Hatch(Classical Marimba). At age 16 John Wackerman joined the Bill Watrous Big Band and from there moved onto playing with Maynard Ferguson, Kazumi Watanabe, Bunny Brunel, Patrick Moraz (Moody Blues, Yes), and Lindsay Buckingham (of Fleetwood Mac). John also played on the Grammy nominated album African Choir-Two Worlds, as well as a varied of sessions including: Mad About You, Comic Strip Live, Family Matters, Amen, Sea World, IBM, Nissan, Virtual Pool, Shock It, Lens Crafters, Disney, CNN, Circo, Warner Bros., Generation X, Vivian Cambell, Cartoon Circus, LA Fitness, and Mass Mental. John Wackerman has produced a Drum Duet Album that features duets with: Steve Gadd, Alex Acuna, Clayton Cameron, Adrian Young, John Ferraro, Ricky Lawson, Josh Freese, Brooks, Chad and Chuck Wackerman and the list of artist is growing.