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Erik Smith

Erik Smith is one of Europe's most respected and versatile drummers. Inspired by his father and mother´s music making, he started out playing piano and drums at the age of 3 and before he was big enough to sit behind a regular drum set, he built his own set from boxes, cans and toy cymbals. At the age of 12 he became the regular drummer with his fathers band playing a wide variety of styles. At 14, Erik got into the clubs and studios of Norway´s capital Oslo to start his almost 30 year long professional career. His extensive work has involved studio sessions, countless TV shows, tours, shows and musicals as well as leading his own bands and receiving the highest honor in Norwegian music, the Spellemann award, Norway's "Grammy" as part of the legendary big band "Oslo Groove Company." Erik has worked with the majority of artists and entertainers on the Scandinavian scene as well as many well known artists such as Michael Bolton, Art Garfunkel, Neil Sedaka, Josh Groban, Donna Summer, Engelbert Humperdinck, John Miles, Boney M, Johnny Logan, Wenche Myhre, Lisa Nilsson, Samantha Fox, Carlene Carter, Al Jearrau, Randy Crawford, Frank Gambale, Bobby Shew, Andy Sheppard, Eddie Daniels, Niels Landgren, Bart Van Lier, Bill Champlin, Phil Woods, Putte Wickman, Ed Palermo, Django Bates, Bob Mintzer, Hector Bingert, DeeDee Bridgewater and Gerald Wilson. "Erik´s time and groove is awesome and his chops have chops. A great guy and an awesome musician." - Bill Champlin Erik has been teaching drums since the age of 15 and he is the first Scandinavian drummer to tour extensively in support of his endorsing companies to inspire and teach. Erik has done clinics, masterclasses and workshops in Scandinavia, Germany, Turkey, USA, China and South Africa to name a few. In 2003 he appeared at the Yamaha Groove Night in Los Angeles and also held a clinic at the worlds largest and most prestigious drum and percussion event PASIC in Nashville in 2004. His clinic was so well received that he was invited back for PASIC 2008 in Austin TX sharing the bill with among others Roy Haynes, Ed Soph, Dafnis Prieto, Chad Wackerman and Steve Ferrone. 2008 also saw him perform at the Yamaha Groove All Stars concert in Frankfurt with Tom Brechtlein, Rick Marotta, Tommy Aldridge and Wolfgang Haffner. Erik has done duo clinic tours with Yamaha colleagues John "JR" Robinson and Akira Jimbo.

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