In addition to my work with the Atlanta Pops, I am keeping busy with a number of other musical projects. I plan to hit the road this spring with Allgood for a few shows to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their debut album Ride The Bee, I’ve got a few shows with my H.O.R.D.E. Festival tribute group, I have a date at Eddie’s Attic with Kristin Markiton to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Wandering Moon album I co-produced for her with Kirstian Bush back in 2005, and I’ll be appearing behind my collection of Ludwig and Musser gear in an upcoming episode of the ABC series Will Trent.

Photos: Top row by Kendall Rock: Gregory Alan Isakov with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra – March 24, 2025, Atlanta Symphony Hall; middle row left by Ashley Evans, Balsam Range and the Atlanta Pops Orchestra Ensemble at the Art of Music Festival – December 5, 2025, Stuart Auditorium; middle row right Oxford Performing Arts Center; bottom row left Angelique Kidjo with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra – March 30, 2025, Atlanta Symphony Hall; bottom row right Oxford Performing Arts Center with Sons of Serendip

Earlier this year I traveled with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra and special guest Chloë Agnew (Celtic Woman) to perform in theaters in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Alabama. I also recorded drums on the Atlanta Pop Orchestra Ensemble’s collaborative album with Balsam Range, which was released on the day we performed with them at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC. The album reached #5 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart when it was released and #6 on the Billboard Classical Chart the following week. Finally, I began my year-long term this fall as Vice President of the Atlanta Chapter of The Recording Academy, after serving on the Board of Governors for four years.

Other recording projects released this year include The Sundogs’ “Cut & Run,” which we recorded at Southern Tracks earlier this spring.

In addition to Eliot Bronson’s recording project, I have also contributed drum tracks in recent months to The Sundogs‘ single “Get It Right” and new songs by Art “Buddy” Edwards (for the film “Stuck Outside of Phoenix“), as well as vibraphone tracks to Khari Cabral‘s Clementine Sun and Kris Dale‘s Cinema Belvedere. Boxtop Jenkins‘ children’s album You’re Happier When You’re Happy (featuring Sean Mullins and the Indigo Girls) was recently released, on which I recorded drums and mallet instruments. Finally, Andrew Hyra recently released Curios, a collection of tracks he had recorded over the last decade – including previously unreleased songs we cut during the sessions for Spill in 1997.

Eliot Bronson –
Milwaukee

 

Khari Cabral – Clementine Sun

 

Andrew Hyra – Curios

 

Boxtop Jenkins – You’re Happier When You’re Happy

 

Upcoming shows include more dates with Bernadette Seacrest, as well as Ted Russell Kamp and the Atlanta Pops Orchestra.

Since getting off the Zac Brown Band “Breaking Southern Ground Tour” last summer, I have kept busy working on a number of projects in and around the Atlanta area. Some recent releases that I contributed to include Nic Cowan‘s Hardheaded, Sonia Leigh‘s 1978 December and Brent Cash‘s How Strange It Seems. I’ve also performed shows with Ted Russell Kamp, Eliot Bronson, Nathan Beaver, Kingsized, Sundogs and Sonia Leigh, as well as a few dates playing timpani with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra.