Drum & keyboard
percussion lessons
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About Mike

Mike has been performing and teaching drums full-time for more than 30 years. His journey started at age 12, with lessons from Frank Russo. Frank began teaching Mike drumming fundamentals and how to read music notation. After developing a strong foundation, Frank then focused on teaching Mike the drum set and the importance of being a versatile drummer who can play all styles of music — Jazz, Rock, Fusion, Latin, Funk, and any other style he felt was important if Mike wanted to be a working drummer.

At age 15, Mike began taking marimba lessons with Rob Werntz. Learning to play keyboard percussion helped Mike get a grasp of reading melodic notation, as well as developing an essential skill if Mike were to pursue a college degree in percussion performance — which is where he knew he was headed.

In high school, Mike joined a band comprised of some very talented musicians at school. They called themselves Epstein — long before that name took on any kind of negative connotation, they were just four kids who loved to play music and had an affinity for the 70's TV show, Welcome Back Kotter. The band was considered emo rock, committed to writing and recording honest music. Their music eventually caught the attention of Jimi Haha, lead singer of local music heroes Jimmie's Chicken Shack, who signed Epstein to his label, Fowl Records. Epstein released their first full-length album, Permanent Winter Headcold, under the Fowl Records name — to say musical dreams were coming true would be an understatement! Eventually, Mike left Epstein to pursue other musical interests that mainly focused on preparing him for college.

After high school, Mike went on to earn a BA in Jazz/Commercial Performance from Towson University. During his sophomore year, he spent a week at the Drummers Collective in NYC getting world class instruction by drumming greats Michael Lauren, Memo Acevedo, Kim Plainfield, and Pete Retzlaff, among others. While studying music in college, Mike joined a band consisting of like-minded musician friends, and they called themselves Derivative. They developed an original sound that explored the many styles influencing them at the time — jazz, hip hop, latin, rock, funk, and prog rock were all thrown into the equation.

After graduating college in 2005, Mike joined the Baltimore jam band The Bridge. For the next six years, The Bridge recorded three studio albums, performed more than 150 shows a year, and toured the world playing festivals with major names in the scene. After they disbanded in 2011, Mike has divided his time between teaching and freelance playing, working with bands and artists like The Cris Jacobs Band, Super City, Carey Ziegler's Expensive Hobby, Junkyard Saints, Speakers of the House, Doug Segree, The Mike Gambone Trio, Ed Hough's Allman Brothers Collective, and most recently, The Morel Trio, an original funky/jazzy group.