Dumfries Drum Day: Sharing the Funk and Coming Home Inspired
Some days remind you exactly why you fell in love with playing drums. Dumfries Drum Day was one of those days.
Education room in full flow
On Saturday 19 September, I headed to Loreburn Hall feeling delighted and humbled to have been invited by organiser Bob Irving to appear as a featured educator. Sharing a bill with Audrey Tait, Stu Brown, Callum Edwards and fellow educator Lesley McLaren was something to look forward to—and the day more than delivered.
I’ve attended, performed at and helped organise plenty of drum events over the years. Yet I still came home from this one buzzing with ideas and itching to play. It was just the tonic this drummerboy had been needing.
Showing my stripes!
My two workshops were aimed at intermediate learners, sharing a few favourites from my teaching repertoire that offer plenty of scope for exploration.
The first featured an adaptable sticking and note-grouping exercise built around RLLRLLRL.
It’s a great way to develop hand control, then take those ideas around the drum set to create fills. A small amount of material can open up a surprising number of possibilities once you start experimenting with where the notes land.
My second session focused on the Linear Phrase Builder, exploring coordination and flexibility between the limbs to open up creative possibilities with grooves. With 12 two-beat options that can be paired into 144 four-beat combinations, there’s plenty to get stuck into!
The aim was to give players manageable ideas they could combine, explore and make their own.
Both sessions shared the same goal: taking a practical exercise and turning it into music – more on these 2 staples of mine to follow…
Right Place, Wrong Time by Dr. John
Naturally, I also found time for a wee trip back to 1973 N’awlinz, playing along to Dr John’s Right Place, Wrong Time and introducing the students to the glorious funk of Zigaboo Modeliste.
Everything was well funky!
It was lovely to hear from Bob afterwards that there had been great feedback about the education sessions. Sharing something you love and hearing that people enjoyed it is a very satisfying feeling. 
The incredible Roland kit supplied by the event organisers.
Lesley McLaren — songs, bands and the joy of playing
Lesley McLaren’s sessions were well attended and focused on the most important part of drumming: playing songs and contributing to a band. Her material included one of my all-time favourites, Blondie’s Call Me and Siouxsie and the Banshees Spellbound bringing the room firmly into song-playing territory.
Lesley’s own experience is wonderfully eclectic. She has performed with many bands, shared stages with many artists and even had Clem Burke (of Blondie!) retweet a video of her playing Call Me. She also fondly recalls Budgie ( from Siouxsie and the Bansheees!) watching her entire set with Lola in Slacks from the side of the stage at Doune the Rabbit Hole. Two great experiences featuring Lesley’s playing and 2 of her all time drumming heroes!
Bob was delighted with the education room and the positive feedback it received. Lesley’s and my combined experience, approach and passion created an engaging and supportive environment that fitted the spirit of the whole event perfectly. 🥁🙌
Lesley’s alter ego Animal also showed up at the event.
Main Stage Performances!
With my attention largely centred on the education room and the responsibilities surrounding it, I unfortunately only caught brief glimpses of the performances throughout the day. That’s why my reflections on the three performers are relatively short. The whole day seemed to pass in a wonderfully chaotic blur — full of conversations, drumming, soundchecks, workshops and the constant movement that comes with an event like this.
That said – the main-stage sessions offered a fantastic variety of approaches to making music.
Callum Edwards Main Stage performance
Callum Edwards’ performance included live musicians and playing with backing tracks. When I asked him about his session afterwards, he explained that it explored approaching drum recording when producing a track, layering additional sounds to bring it to life, and then translating those ideas into live performance. A valuable connection between what happens in the studio and what we take onto the stage.
Stu Brown Main Stage performance
Stu brought a whole multimedia dimension to proceedings. Edited visuals and audio formed part of his performance as he triggered electronic sounds and visuals, anchoring everything with bass-and-snare grooves. With material from Peatbog Faeries alongside his own MNDMTH compositions, it was a fascinating demonstration of the creative possibilities around the drum kit.
Audrey Tait Main Stage performance
Then there was Audrey Tait. What a performance!
Her headline session felt almost like being at a gig as she rocked through tracks by Franz Ferdinand, Broken Chanter and Girl Who Cried Wolf. Energetic, polished and thoroughly professional, she brought the day to a close with a performance met by huge applause and appreciation.
Among all that, Bob’s local students provided some of the day’s most memorable moments. Throughout the event, they performed with a live band to an excellent standard. Other featured performers were commenting on just how good they were—and rightly so.
As an educator, seeing young players get that opportunity was a real highlight. I can only imagine how exciting it must have felt to play with a band in front of an audience at an event like this. They had every reason to feel proud.
The exhibition and demonstration area was busy too, with keen attendees getting hands-on and exhibitors happily encouraging people to try their beautifully handmade instruments.
Dumfries Drum Day Display and Demo Characters!
brought kits and snares from his Jalapeño drum company, Fraser Murray displayed his Murray drums, and Mattie Faulds showcased his handmade cymbals. Alongside performing, Stu Brown had percussion additions at his MNDMTH stall. Scott Burrell was displaying his Rhythm Within book, while Tommy Boyle offered a look at advance copies of his forthcoming Rhythms, Fills, Loops and Tracks book and education product.
There was plenty to discover, plenty to talk about, and no shortage of enthusiasm.
It was brilliant catching up with familiar faces and making new acquaintances. I was particularly pleased to see people who had travelled down from the central belt. I’d love to see that continue as word spreads, because this gathering deserves to grow.
Education department ! Lesley McLaren and myself.
A special mention also goes to my wee sidekick, Libbi: travel companion, roadie, photographer—and workshop participant! She absolutely loved the day and threw herself into being part of it. Having her there to share the experience made it all the more special.
My Girl ❤️
Me, Audrey and Libbi.
The inspiration followed me home. The next day, I was back behind the kit, recording and filming a wee inspired happy dance as a musical thank-you to Bob. That’s a pretty good measure of a drum day: you leave wanting to play more.
And there’s more to come from me. I’ll be filming follow-up lessons covering the workshop material, giving attendees somewhere to revisit the ideas and continue exploring them at their own pace. I’ll share those in a future blog as they come together. Bob’s attendees deserve that extra value, and I’m very happy to provide it.
A massive thank-you to Bob Irving, everyone involved in making the event happen, my fellow performers and educator, the exhibitors, the students and everyone who came along.
I went to Dumfries to share a few ideas. I came home with renewed enthusiasm, lovely memories and a very full musical heart.
Keep learning. Keep playing. Keep it funky.
dD🥁❤️