Gretsch Drums Signing Session Sunday 29th September at 2pm at The UK Drum Show 2024

The UK Drum Show are thrilled to announce that at 2pm, Sunday 29th of September at The UK Drum Show, Gretsch artists, Ash Soan, Giulliana Merello, Keith Carlock, Mike Johnston and Nic Collins, will be on the Gretsch Drums booth for an artists signing session.

Ash Soan has been working professionally as a drummer for over 20 years. His live experience includes tours and performances with many artists including: Performing at Woodstock 94, supporting The Rolling Stones, REM, Bon Jovi, Van Hallen, Oasis and Bryan Adams at Wembley with his first band Del Amitri in 1994-97, to touring and playing with Marianne Faithfull, Sinead O’Connor, Sheryl Crow, Robbie Williams, James Morrison, Will Young, Squeeze, Lewis Taylor, Hamish Stuart, The Waterboys, Jeff Lorber, Trevor Horn and Seal, Rumer, Terry Reid, Ronnie Wood, Dionne Warwick and many more.

Other experiences Ash has played includes the 2012 Olympic games opening ceremony with Mike Oldfield, being the house drummer on the BBC TV show The Voice and played on the soundtrack  of the 2015 film the Terminator movie for composer Lorne Balfe.

The main part of his career has been involved with the recording industry and over the past 20 years Ash has recorded 51 top 20 albums for artists including: Cher, Seal, Robbie Williams, Billy Idol, Adele, Enrique Iglesias, Dionne Warwick and Rumer, James Morrison, Cee Lo, Celine Dion and Ronan Keating. 45 of the albums reached the top 10. His discography also includes 21 top 10 singles and to date, he’s recorded 18 number 1 albums and 11 number 1 singles which have featured on various pop and rock charts around the world.

Giuliana Merello is a professional drummer and composer with 20 years of experience, from Argentina, Buenos Aires, currently based in New York City. She leads her own project, Top Queens, and the drum duo project “Back to Back Beat” with Helen de la Rosa.

Career Highlights:
● 2019: Drummer for Concha Buika, performing at major festivals and venues worldwide.
● 2020-2024: Drummer for Karol G, touring for four and a half years, performing at some of the world’s largest and most renowned arenas and stadiums. Notable performances include Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, The Latin Grammys, Macy’s Parade, Billboards, and Tiny Desk.
● 2022: Featured on the cover of “Modern Drummer” and performed on “Late Night Seth Meyers.”
● 2022: Nominated for the Drumeo Awards in the “R&B Soul and Hip Hop” category.
● 2023: Won the Drumeo Award for Drummer of the Year in the “R&B Soul and Hip Hop” category.
● 2024: Signed with Gretsch Drums, a globally respected and renowned brand in the drumming world.

Tours and Collaborations:
● Toured the United States nine times in six years, sharing the stage with artists like Gary Numan, Computer Magic, Larry Braggs, and SIAMÉS Band.

Keith Carlock has been the drummer with iconic jazz-rock band Steely Dan for over 20 years. He has performed on every tour since 2003 and his first recording with them, “Two Against Nature” won the Grammy award for “Album Of The Year” in 2001.

Keith was honored to be voted the winner in the Pop, Fusion, and Best All-Around categories in Modern Drummer’s 2009 Readers Poll. He was also voted the winner in the Jazz category in 2010, and the Pop category in 2008.

He has also played with some of the greatest musical luminaries of our time. These include names such as John Mayer, Sting, James Taylor, TOTO, Christopher Cross, Diana Ross, Faith Hill, The Blues Brothers Band and Mike Stern, to name only a few.

His incredibly tasteful playing and exquisite sound are recognised worldwide: Among others, he belongs to the select group of top drummers who have their own GRETSCH signature snare model.

Mike Johnston is an American drummer and educator from Folsom California. He currently runs one of the world’s largest educational website for drummers, Mikeslessons.com, where he offers live and pre-recorded drum lessons. He also hosts 10 drum camps each year at the Mikeslessons.com studio in Folsom California.

At the age of 21 he received his first major label record deal with his band Simon Says and spent the next 6 years touring the world. During that time, he received a gold record for his contributions to the Varsity Blues soundtrack and appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman as well as on MTV’s Fashionably Loud.

Mike left the touring world behind in 2006 and has focused solely on education ever since. Teaching and performing in hundreds of clinics and drum festivals around the world over the past 14 years including the Meinl Drum Festival, P.A.S.I.C., The UK Drum Show, The LaBag Show in Paris, and countless others.

Mike is the only drum instructor in history to be featured on the cover of the 4 major drum magazines (Modern Drummer, DRUM, Rhythm, and Drummer UK) as well as iDrum Magazine and SA Drummer.

Nic Collins picked up the sticks at the age of 3 and never looked back. Being the son of legendary drummer Phil Collins, Nic gravitated towards the instrument immediately. His first vivid memories come from his father’s “Final Farewell Tour” in 2004, where Nic was able to watch his dad play drums and sing every night, igniting his passion for music.

Growing up in Switzerland, Nic played drums as often as he could. However, it wasn’t until he moved to Miami, FL, and began playing in different local bands where his passion for drums amplified. In addition to his father, Nic cites John Bonham, Danny Carey, Taylor Hawkins, Gavin Harrison, Stewart Copeland, Abe Cunningham, Chad Smith, and Dave Grohl as his main drumming influences.

Nic began playing drums for his father’s solo band at the age of 14 for various charity events. Those charity events turned into more serious performances, such as the 2016 US Open opening ceremony, until he was finally asked to fill in full time in his father’s band for the “Not Dead Yet” world tour from 2017-2019. By the age of 18, Nic had already played at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, Madison Square Garden, and various other arenas and stadiums around the world. Shortly afterwards, Nic was announced as the drummer for Genesis’ first reunion in 14 years for “The Last Domino?” tour in 2021-2022. Following that, Nic took up drumming duties for Mike & The Mechanics on their 2023 “Refuelled” Tour.

Most recently, Nic announced the launch of a new band along with Trev Lukather, Emmett Stang, and Steve Maggiora called The Effect with their debut album scheduled for release in 2024. In addition to that, Nic is working on new material in his own band with longtime friends Yang Waingarten and Joey Rodriguez. Nic is dead set on making a global impact as a drummer and songwriter and hopes to inspire the next generation of drummers along the way.