Billy Ward is one of those rare talents that is able to “do it” (performing) as well as “teach it”(music educator). As an educator, Billy has performed in drum clinics and master classes all over the world; including The Montreal Drum Festival, Rhythm In Bath (England), Percussive Arts Society International Conference, Cape Breton International Drum Festival (Nova Scotia), Drummer Live (England), Musikmesse (Frankfurt), MusicScene (Australia) and twice has performed at the Modern Drummer Festival. In 2005, Billy also served as an Artist In Residence at the Rhythm Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a drum clinician, Billy emphasizes a more musical approach to drumming while at the same time re-enforcing the importance of drumming and musical fundamentals. He offers a very articulate real world approach in his teaching.
Billy’s book, “Inside Out… Exploring The Mental Aspects Of Drumming” and his instructional DVD film, titled “Big Time” are both available through Hal Leonard Distributors. “Big Time” offers a new approach to teaching about groove and time. It received the prestigious Modern Drummer Magazine Readers Poll Award for Best Drum Instructional of ‘05. Billy also was awarded the Eric A Bergquist Award for Excellence in Education in the Percussive Arts and regularly is mentioned in other drumming/educational reader polls.
As a performer, Billy Ward has toured and/or recorded with a ton of “blue chip artists”. All told, Billy has played drums on more than 60 albums and 60 film soundtracks. His first solo album, “Two Hands Clapping” received a (perfect) 5 star rating in Modern Drummer and was called “drummer’s album of the year”. Much of Billy’s work these days includes recording himself at his New York City studio “DrumPike”, which enables him to enjoy his home life with his family, yet still allows him to play with people from all over the world. This hands-on experience of recording has led Billy to become a teacher of the recording arts as well – particularly in terms of recording drums and general production lessons. Billy regularly participates in the Discussion Forum at his website, http://www.billyward.com