Roy Burns was born on November 30, 1935 in Emporia, Kansas.
Roy Burns is one of the very few drummers whose career has encompassed virtually every aspect of drumming and the music business. He has been a big band drummer, teacher, author, clinician, featured soloist, studio drummer, publisher, and now one of the owners of Aquarian drumheads & Percussion Accessories.
At the age of 20, and on the advice of Louie Bellson who had heard him play, Roy left Kansas to study drumming in New York. Within a year he landed the gig as Woody Herman’s drummer. Roy soon became famous as a big band drummer in his early 20s performing with Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton _ Verve Records, and Woody Herman.
In the ’60s, Roy concentrated on studio work and freelancing in the New York area. He played a number of top TV shows such as the The Merv Griffin Show and the Tonight Show as well as TV and radio commercials. He also led his own jazz group and performed regularly at clubs such as The Metrepole and Birdland Jazz Club in New York. During this time Roy was in demand as a teacher. It was from his teaching that Roy was inspired to write a number of drum instruction books, several of which are considered “classics” to this day, including “Finger Control”, “Elementary Drum Method”, “Advanced Rock Drumming”, “New Orleans Drumming” and “One Surface Learning.”
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Roy was one of the first artists to conduct drum clinics and is credited with pioneering the concept. His background as a drummer, teacher, author and studio musician made him an ideal teacher/performer. In many instances, a Roy Burns drum clinic was the first one attended by young drummers in the U.S. and internationally. Roy was also the first American drummer to present clinics outside the U.S. in a number of countries such as, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Denmark. He literally set the standard for today’s drum clinicians.
During the ’70s, Roy was also the house drummer for the Monterey Jazz Festival and backed some of the greatest names in jazz and blues.
In 1980, Roy began writing a column in Modern Drummer Magazine. Thousands of drummers read his “Concepts” column in Modern Drummer Magazine. It was one of the most successful columns in the history of the magazine and ran an unprecedented 12 years.
On June 13, 1980, Roy, along with co-owner Ron Marquez, first formed The Aquarian Accessories Company before focusing on drumhead production. Roy’s experience in music and drumming combined with Ron’s extensive engineering and manufacturing background helped to build an innovative company dedicated to helping drummers play music. On January 1, 1987, Aquarian first introduced their drumheads to the world.
Aquarian experienced tremendous growth in a relatively short time because of innovative ideas and unique products of superior quality. As Roy says, “In everything we do, we keep the drummer in mind. We focus on helping the drummer attain a musical sound and achieve a better performance.”
Some of Aquarian’s innovations include their Safe-T-Loc™ patented hoop which prevents de-tuning and “pull outs”, their Sound Curve™ collar design which allows their drumheads to seat automatically and reduce tuning problems, and more recently their inHead acoustic/electronic hybrid drumhead and onHEAD portable electronic drum surface.
The company also boasts an impressive artist roster of endorsers like Jack DeJohnette, Chris Adler, Daniel Glass – Drummer, Author, Educator, Mike Johnston, Johnny Vidacovich, Randy Black, Dylan Wissing, Gregg Potter Fan Page, Seven Antonopoulos, Joe LaBarbera, J. J. Johnson, Tommy Clufetos, Paul Collier, Brian Blade, JD Blair, and Danny Seraphine.