Mike Portnoy was born on April 20, 1967 and raised in Long Beach, New York, where his interest in music started at an early age. “My father was a rock n’ roll disc jockey, so I was always surrounded by music constantly. I had this huge record collection when I was real young and loved the Beatles and then later on Kiss. It was inevitable that I’d become a musician.”
Blackwell, born in Columbia South Carolina, was raised in a very musical family. John’s father, John Sr., was a very well known professional drummer who performed with acts like The Drifters, The Spinners and Mary Wells. John Jr. got his first drumset at age 3 and was brought to many concerts that came through South Carolina by his father. While in high school, John was playing in the High School Jazz and Marching Band while performing every weekend with the Jazz/Fusion group, Robert Newton and Lotusfete as well as with Billy Eckstine.
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1972, Branly began playing drums at the age of 13. Branly has performed with nearly every major group in Cuba in virtually every musical genre from straight-ahead jazz to fusion to hardcore dance music.
Jeff Salem started out performing with several local rock, jazz, latin, country and tribute acts throughout the Toronto area. This eventually led him to performing and recording with well known rock bands such as Fist (A&M), Sword (Aquarius), Saints & Sinners (Savage/BMG), Lee Aaron (Attic), Randy Bachman, Robben Ford, Kalan Porter (Canadian Idol Winner 2004) as well as Blues artist Coop De Ville.
Jeff Queen has marched in the snare lines of the Bluecoats, Velvet Knights, Santa Clara Vanguard, Blue Knights, and the University of North Texas. He was the D.C.I. Individual and Ensemble Snare Drum Champion in 1994 and 1995 as well as the P.A.S. Individual Snare Drum Champion in 1994 and 1995. Jeff is an original cast member of the Tony and Emmy award winning Broadway Show BLAST!, where he was a solo performer and battery instructor from 1999–2003.
Jason Bittner, started taking formal drum lessons at the age of ten years old, however he had been banging on pots, pans, and garbage cans since he was about five. A native of Albany, NY, he continued to take lessons and perform in his middle school and high school jazz and orchestra ensembles before heading off to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in 1988.
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