The First Ever Ashley Baier Award in Percussion Excellence goes to...

...Daniel Records! I am honored to lend my name to this newly-established award,  given to an Allegany High School (my alma mater) graduating senior who demonstrates outstanding leadership and dedication to the highest level of musical performance.  

At Allegany, Daniel was a four year member of the marching band, jazz band, percussion ensemble, and indoor drumline. He now joins the Marine Reserves and will start college at Frostburg State University this fall where he plans to play in the school's percussion ensemble.  Here he is with Larry Jackson, Director of Bands, and Mark Gauthier, Director of Percussion Studies:

Congratulations, Daniel. Keep up the hard work and don't forget to practice! 

Trumpet Grrrl at the Way Station

It's going down tomorrow night in Brooklyn with Trumpet Grrrl! I always feel so zen when I'm hanging around Christina and tomorrow night should be no exception. 

Go See Live Music!

Sometimes you can learn just as much from listening to music as practicing it. Learning by osmosis is a real thing! Saturday night I checked out Start Making Sense: A Tribune to the Talking Heads at Brooklyn Bowl. They were on fire! Thanks for capturing the moment, Steve! 

Out Now: Craig Miller - A Spark

Congratulations to my pal Craig Miller on the release of his new LP, A Spark. Back in August, I recorded drums for several of the tracks with engineer Chris Takita. The whole album sounds amazing! Pick it up today over at Home Before Dawn. LPs coming soon! 

Mahler 2 at Carnegie Hall

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice a lot of triangle.

A post shared by A. Baier (@ay_bear) on Apr 25, 2017 at 1:48pm PDT

Last night was my third time playing the Big Room at Carnegie. This time it was the finale of Mahler 2. I played glock, chimes, on and offstage triangle, snare drum, and timpani. I was busy! The first two times I played at Stern was for the Higdon Concerto for Orchestra (AWESOME percussion feature) and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (STRESSFUL timpani part at the end). I hope to be back soon! 

Broadway Advocacy Coalition

This Sunday, I'll be joining the Broadway Advocacy Coalition for its monthly event series of performances and discussions. Come through to this free event! More info here. 

Mahler Prep

Not helpful.

A post shared by A. Baier (@ay_bear) on Apr 17, 2017 at 5:34pm PDT

If my assistant wasn't so cute she would certainly be fired. 

Trumpet Grrrl in Bed Stuy

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Photo by Ben Tufts

In a strange and cosmic occurrence, all three of us drummers who played on this show went to Maryland! As did TG herself! 

Post Trumpet Grrrl Rehearsal

Selfie from rehearsal last night at @spaceworksnyc! RSVP link in bio or comment for a DM. We will rock you! 😁 #music #musician #trumpet #trumpetplayer #show #gig #femalefrontedbands #thursdaynight #BrooklynMusic #livemusic

A post shared by Trumpet Grrrl (@trumpet_grrrl) on Mar 23, 2017 at 5:01am PDT

These are the faces of happy people after a rehearsal. Christina is so great to work with! Looking forward to our show in Brooklyn tonight. 

The Songwriter's Orchestra

My new cajon made its debut with the @songwritersorch this weekend! Here's a clip from "Ever So Fluid" by @brinaeali, who is also heard singing and TAPPING something fierce.

A post shared by A. Baier (@ay_bear) on Mar 14, 2017 at 7:13am PDT

I got to try our my new cajon with the Songwriter's Orchestra this weekend. Really well-curated program with a political bend.