Travis Barker

Not every post on this blog will be about zombies, and today I want to write a post about Travis Barker.

Barker is one of the most important living drummers, and on Friday he was in a plane crash that killed several people and put him in critical condition.

Barker is known for playing with many groups, including Blink 182, and one of my favorite bands, the Transplants. 

Think you haven’t seen Barker before?  Well, if you watched the Superbowl this year, then think again.  Remember the silhouetted drummer you saw playing crazily over the opening sequence graphics?  That was Travis Barker.

In technical drumming terms, I think Barker’s biggest innovation has been the addition (in a traditional four-beat) of an extra hi-hat note, performed with the left hand, on the “and” of the “four” in each alternating measure.  You can hear him play it on songs like “Sad But True” and “Quick Death” by the Transplants.  But the beat gets picked up by everybody, and is really, really influential.

Barker has been a big influence on my drumming personally, and I hope that he recovers and gets well soon.  I am totally bummed about this!