Sweetwater recently put together Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WHINERY DOGS) and Phil Demmel (KERRY KING, CATEGORY 7, VIO-LENCE, MACHINE HEAD) to team up with four pro drummers — Tommy Aldridge, Calvin Rodgers, Art Cruz and Nic Collins — to a songwriting challenge with unique riffs and feels for each player. The results may shock you, so watch the video below to see how each drummer did.
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: Meet the Players!
00:34 – Tommy Aldridge of OZZY OSBOURNE and WHITESNAKE
01:47 – Phil Demmel‘s Reaction
02:00 – I Haven’t Played Gospel
02:46 – Calvin Rodgers Drum Solo
03:55 – Art Cruz of LAMB OF GOD
05:31 – Guitar Solo by Phil Demmel
05:52 – Billy Sheehan Bass Solo
06:33 – Nic Collins
08:00 – Phil Loves the Breakdown
08:25 – Songwriting Advice from Nic
09:30 – Reactions from Each Player
Sheehan has played with David Lee Roth, MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS, TALAS and SONS OF APOLLO. He’s also won Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Bass Player” poll several times and is in-demand at clinics and as a session player.
Sheehan has played bass on dozens of records and toured all over the world for many decades, with a unique and original style of playing that has been widely celebrated and documented. Starting in his former hometown of Buffalo, New York with the now legendary hard rock trio TALAS, he went on to join former VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth in 1985, along with guitarist Steve Vai and drummer Gregg Bissonette. In 1987, Billy left to start his own band, MR. BIG, and in 2002, he founded NIACIN, a fusion/blues trio that featured drummer Dennis Chambers. More recently, Billy joined DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist Richie Kotzen to form THE WINERY DOGS.
Born and raised in the San Francisco East Bay, Phil grew up watching local legends Y&T and METALLICA work their way through the clubs and achieve international success. Forming the legendary thrash band VIOLENCE (later VIO-LENCE) in high school, he would start his own journey into the music industry and worldwide acclaim writing songs and performing in some of the biggest metal acts on the planet.
Demmel has over 40 years of live, writing and recording experience, featuring a 16-year run (including a Grammy nomination) with MACHINE HEAD, immediately followed by fill-in spots with SLAYER (on their farewell tour),indie-rock stalwarts NONPOINT, thrash legends OVERKILL, several spots serving as LAMB OF GOD‘s man out of the bullpen (even playing bass with them in certain situations) and most recently jumping in at the 11th hour for Alex Skolnick in TESTAMENT. There have been multiple “jam” occasions with him playing alongside the largest names in the biz and his cover band called THE MERKINS, made up of some local rockers and his high school buddies. There was a BPMD release of covers songs with Bobby Blitz, Mike Portnoy and Mark Menghi and a new VIO-LENCE EP with his old band. He is currently holding down stage right for the KERRY KING band and played lead guitar on King‘s debut solo record. He also released an album with his band CATEGORY 7 with John Bush, Mike Orlando, Jason Bittner and Jack Gibson.
