Young drummer of the year – Who will appear at The UK Drum Show in 2017?

The UK Drum Show is looking forward to welcoming The Young Drummer of the Year 2017 winner to the Mike Dolbear Masterclass room next September.

This inaugural competition kicked off in October 2002 when a story was posted on the mikedolbear.com website inviting young drummers from around the UK to enter the first annual Young Drummer of the Year competition. The competition was put together to give the country’s young drumming talent a national and indeed international platform, which we hope will be the first steps in their musical career.

Since then, the competition has seen tremendous growth, both in the number of entrants and the standard of the finalists. Sponsorship from various high profile companies has meant that the competition has continued to improve in terms of popularity and production.

Previous finalists include James Cassells (Asking Alexandria), Jen Ledger (Skillet), Dexter Hercules (Rita Ora, Ollie Murs), Paulie Stanly McKenzie, Brad Webb, Tristan Evans (The Vamps), George Barnet, Emily Dolan Davies, Ollie Harding (The Shires) Matty Brown, Bob Hall (Catfish and the Bottlemen), and Stephen Asamoah-Duah

Entries have now closed for the 2017 competition, with the top 40 finalists being announced on the 28th of November. Following this, the top ten will be chosen and head to the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington on the 5th of February 2017 where, after all 10 artists perform in front of a judging panel, the winner will be announced.

Gretsch drums, Meinl cymbals, sponsor the 2017 event and Rhythm Magazine is the media sponsor.