Louie Bellson Drummers Clinic and Pro Jam w/ David Northrup at the Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill -- December 15.
Sunday, December 15, 4 p.m.
Gypsy Highway Bar & Grill, 2606 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
With his many musical collaborators over the years including the likes of Wohn Waite, John Mellencamp, Wynonna Judd, Travis Tritt, and the Oak Ridge Boys, gifted percussionist David Northrup hosts the Louie Bellson Drummers Clinic and Pro Jam on December 15, with fellow musicians and music enthusiasts welcome to attend this special event featuring and hosted by the lauded Nashville session and touring drummer.
Born in Syracuse, New York, Northrup grew up in the small town of Chittenango, New York, where he attended Chittenango High School and graduated in 1987. He studied privately with many of Central New York's premiere teachers such as John Dixon, Frank Briggs, Wilby Fletcher, and Ron Keck. In 1990, Northrup relocated to central Florida to continue his studies and quickly became involved in the Tampa Bay Blues and top-40 music scenes. The following year, he crossed paths with guitar great Les Dudek, who recruited Northrup to record the title track for his CD release Deeper Shades of Blues. Dudek originally began the project in 1990 with the late great Jeff Porcaro, who recorded on all other drum tracks. Also during his time in Florida, Northrup toured with entertainer Dennis Lee, performing at fairs and festivals throughout the United States and Canada.
In 1995, Northrup relocated once again to Nashville, where he began working with The King of Cajun Jo-El Sonnier and blues guitarist Christian Hastings. His most notable early work though, where his name became established, was with country superstar Travis Tritt from 2000 to 2009. Northrup spent a total of nine years with Tritt, performing on several live DVDs and CDs, also appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Jimmy Kimmel live, and awards shows such as the CMAs, CMTs, and ACMs. He also performed with Tritt and jam band sensation The Disco Biscuits at 2005 Jammy Awards at The Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.
Northrup augmented his work by continuing to be an active session player and producer in Nashville, doing drum clinics for his endorsement companies and often touring with other Nashville national acts during downtime from Tritt's touring schedule with artists such as Tanya Tucker, Joe Diffie, Doug Stone, Lee Greenwood, Ty Herndon, John Waite and Jo Dee Messina. After leaving Tritt's outfit, Northrup was quickly recruited by country artist Pam Tillis to be her touring drummer. In 2012, he toured with Wynonna Judd, the following year with classic country artist Connie Smith, and in 2014, Northrup accepted the drum chair in mighty Oaks Band for the Legendary Oak Ridge Boys, where he would stay until 2017.
In 2018, he performed tour dates with '80s country artist T. Graham Brown and in 2019 with rock legend Rick Derringer, while in 2020, Northrup released his debut solo Instrumental CD Shapes, produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Shane Theriot. It includes performances by Theriot (Hall & Oats, The Neville Brothers) and Mike Miller (Gino Vannelli , Chick Corea) on guitar, Adam Nitti and the legendary George Porter Jr. from The Meters on bass, and Pat Coil and David Torkonowsky on keyboards.
The Louie Bellson Drummers Clinic and Pro Jam with David Northrup begins on December 15 at 4 p.m., musicians are invited to bring their instruments, and while there is no charge for the clinic, donations to help offset some of Northrup's travel expenses are appreciated. For more information, call (563)232-8890 and visit TheGypsyHighway.com.
