Burleigh Drummond is one of the founding members of the 5 time Grammy Nominated band, Ambrosia. Along with David Pack, Joe Puerta and Chris North they formed the band in 1970. They had a string of hit sons; How Much I Feel, Biggest Part of Me, You're the Only Woman, Holdin' On to Yesterday, I Just Can't Let Go, and other great songs very popular in the Prog Rock world. They have been through some changes over the years but they are still touring and making great music together. I was lucky to have been introduced to the band many years ago while doing engineering work for David Pack. Recently I have been doing some FOH mixing for Ambrosia and it has been a lot of fun and musically rewarding. Burleigh is a very humble guy who is a very talented drummer, percussionist, songwriter, singer and producer. His bandmates include Joe Puerta, Chris North, Mary Harris, Ken Stacey, and Doug Jackson.

If you get a chance to see them live, you will not be disappointed.

Listen to Burleigh tell the whole story of how Ambrosia got started and how their career progressed over the many years they have been together.

Please Share, Comment, Like and Subscribe

Tyson Leonard AKA TROPO is a very talented Violinist, Artist, Producer, Songwriter, Audio Engineer, Stage Manager etc.

I met Tyson on a Jeff Bridges tour we did together several years ago. Recognizing Tysons many talents, I hired him to work with me on the Alan Parsons Live shows. Tyson has worked on the AP tours as Stage Manager, Monitor Engineer and this last year, Tyson has been featured playing violin on stage with Alan.

Tyson produces his own records performing as TROPO as well as many other artists. Tyson also plays live, sometimes with a band and sometimes with only his computer at many EDM festivals around the world.

He started his musical journey very early in life learning the violin and eventually teaching himself other instruments allowing him to record and produce his own music.

You can easily find TROPO's music on line.

Tyson is a truly dedicated to the art musician who has sacrificed possible fame to be true to his art. I am happy to know and work with Tyson on a regular basis.

Please Share, Comment, Like

Roberto Vally, Bassist, Producer, Songwriter, Artist, recently sat down with me and told his story from start to now. Roberto has written many #1 hit songs in the Jazz/Smooth Jazz world and has played with some of the best musicians in the world. We also talked about our shared Italian heritage just for fun.

It is so amazing how all these musicians seem to rise to the top in many different ways. They all have one thing in common...DRIVE and that's what it takes. Can't give up if you want to be a real pro.

Guy is the bass player and background singer in the Alan Parsons Live Project. Guy spends most of his time, when not on the road with APLP, writing songs and composing music for various television shows.

Guy came to Los Angeles from Israel in the early 2000's to be a professional bass player. He has had his share of ups and downs achieving his goals and is now a successful session player and composer.

In this interview Guy tells his story from his life in Israel up to now and all the twists and turns that a professional musician must go through to make a living in this difficult business.

Guy has worked with many very successful artists such as Ziggy Marley, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Love Hewitt to name a few.

Alan Parsons was born in London England and first became famous for his work with Pink Floyd at Abbey Road Studio. Alan recorded and mixed "Dark Side Of The Moon". This album won him the respect from regular fans as well as the entire record industry. Alan also recorded and mixed Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" and worked on Ummagumma. Some of Alans other big hits were The Hollies "The Air That I Breathe" and He Aint Heavy, He's My Brother". Alan also Produced Al Stewart's "Modern Times" and "Year Of The Cat". He went on to Produce two albums with Ambrosia and many other artists, he has been nominated for Grammy Awards eleven times in his career.

In his early years in the studio, he had the honor of working with The Beatles as a Tape Operator and worked on the famous "Rooftop Recording Session". That led to him engineering several records for Paul McCartney.

Alan eventually met Eric Woolfson who started out as Alan's Manager and then became his partner in the "Alan Parsons Project" that made nine albums. Alan is still very active in the music business. He tours the world with his band, "Alan Parsons Live Project". I am very happy to be working for Alan since 2013 as his "Front Of House" Engineer.

Alan is currently working on a new Alan Parsons record in his new studio using members of his touring band and other great musicians. I believe we will see this new album released later this year.

Mindi Abair has two Grammy Nominations for her artistry as a saxophonist, vocalist, author, and is the National Trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

She toured with Aerosmith during their 2012 world tour and has also played with Bruce Springsteen and Max Weinberg at the Beacon Theater in New York. She has also been featured with Paul Shaffer on the David Letterman Show.

She has had ten number 1 radio singles and two number 1 Billboard Jazz CDs. She played saxophone on the American Idol television show in 2011 and 2012.

I went to Mindi's home to squeeze in this interview during a brief break from her hectic touring schedule. (Pardon the trash truck noise that was unavoidable during this interview.)

Mindi has redefined her sound by joining forces with "The Boneshakers" featuring Randy Jacobs and Sweet P Atkinson. The "Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers" band is a high energy rock blues band, a far cry from smooth jazz.

Mindi is a true entrepreneur who passed up some very comfortable gigs working for other artists because she knew she wanted to be her own artist and has made herself a success with loyal fans everywhere. I have worked for Mindi many times and I can say she is one of the nicest artists I have worked for in my career. I am happy for her success.

David Benoit is a Artist, Musician, Composer, Arranger, Conductor and Radio Personality. He is a five time Grammy Nominee and Emmy Award Winner. Benoit has made over 25 albums. He is also music director for the Asia America Youth Orchestra.

David tours most years in December with "A Tribute to Charlie Brown Christmas" where he plays several songs from the popular Charlie Brown Christmas Special along with other selections from his recordings.

David's biggest hits include, Linus & Lucy, Kei's Song and Freedom At Midnight. Freedom At Midnight was really a groundbreaking sound that started the Smooth Jazz era.

Over his long career David has scored films and TV shows, mentored young musicians and made many wonderful recordings.

I have had the pleasure to work with David for many years as his engineer for his live shows and worked on one of his records. I hope you enjoy hearing from him as he recalls his early years and tell the story of how he started and became the great artist that he is today.

Chris Walden is a 7 time Grammy Nominee. He was born in Germany and came to Hollywood to seek his fortune as an Arranger and Composer for the Music, Film and TV industries. I interviewed Chris in his writing room at the historic Capitol Records building in Hollywood California. When I visited Chris, he was working on an orchestral arrangement for Celine Dion. Chris also works for many great artists such as David Foster, Barbara Steisand, George Michael, Andrea Bucelli, Aretha Franklin, Phil Ramone, Michael Buble, LeAnn Rimes, Rod Stewart, Josh Grobin, Christopher Cross and many others. Chris also did years of arranging for American Idol and The Tonite Show with Jay Leno.

Listen to Chris's story of growing up in a musical family in Germany and rising to the top arranging and composing music. When he had done everything he could do in Germany, he made the move to the US where he could find bigger challenges.

Chris is now truly in demand here in the US and he still does work in Germany.

Please subscribe to the Rossaround Backstage Podcast, give me feedback on this and all the podcast episodes I have published. I will have new episodes for you every Wednesday.

Thanks, for listening, Ross Pallone

PART-2

PJ Olsson is a Grammy Nominated Singer, Songwriter, Recording Engineer, Studio Owner, Entrepreneur and Lead singer with the Alan Parsons band. PJ has worked with hundreds of artists and producers over his long career and has really lived the life of ups and downs of the music business. His story is so great and interesting that we ended up recording this episode for two hours. I did not want to cut out anything so I decided to split it up into two parts.

Please share and subscribe to my podcast, leave me feedback and hopefully give me positive reviews. I need this to be able to continue to bring you stories from other people in the entertainment business. I have big plans to bring you interviews with many other great people.

Thanks for listening, Rossaround

PJ Olsson is a Grammy Nominated Singer, Songwriter, Recording Engineer, Studio Owner, Entrepreneur and Lead singer with the Alan Parsons band. PJ has worked with hundreds of artists and producers over his long career and has really lived the life of ups and downs of the music business. His story is so great and interesting that we ended up recording this episode for two hours. I did not want to cut out anything so I decided to split it up into two parts.

Please subscribe to my podcast, leave me feedback and hopefully give me positive reviews. I need this to be able to continue to bring you stories from other people in the entertainment business. I have big plans to bring you interviews with many other great people.

Thanks for listening, Rossaround