Meinl Cymbal artist Ben Sesar is hitting the road with country superstar Brad Paisley in support of his soon to be released album American Saturday Night.

Brad, Ben and the rest of the band are in Nashville, TN in production rehearsals. Here's some photos from those rehearsals.

This just in from Canadian Meinl Cymbal artist Andrew Stricko and his band Hello Operator from their MySpace blog- 

"Take Me Away" hit # 1 today on the Much on Demand Daily Top 10!KEEP IT AT # 1 !!!!HERE'S WHAT TO DO:1. GO TO www.muchmusic.com/tv/mod20/daily10.aspx2. CLICK AND DRAG "HELLO OPERATOR - TAKE ME AWAY" + 3 OF YOUR OTHER FAVORITE'S INTO THE GREY SPACES ON THE RIGHT AND THEN CLICK SUBMIT!!THAT'S IT!! AND THE BEST PART IS, YOU CAN DO THIS AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT!!

Within less than a week, I have been to no less than four southern US cities visiting with various Meinl Cymbal artists, seeing (and hearing) what they have been up to.

1. Nashville, TN - went to SIR rehearsal studios and visited with Nate Young of Anberlin, while he and the band rehearsed for a US run. Nate is always such a kind and hospitable host. His drumming is always tasty and mean too! Photos attached. Videos coming soon!
2. Atlanta, GA - checked in with Tom Hunting from Exodus and watched him and the band rip through a killer set of old favorites and new crushers. Photos attached and video coming soon!
3. Asheville, NC - spent time with Brann Dailor of Mastodon and Danny Walker of Intronaut. Mastodon are out on a headlining run in support of their latest masterpiece, Crack the Skye, and they brought Danny and Intronaut out with them to warm up the shows. Photos attached and videos coming soon!
4. Franklin, TN - just hung out at a beautiful studio out in the country with Aaron Gillespie while he is recording the new The Almost album. Heard some unmixed tunes...WOW is all I can say. He's using a Meinl Spectrum Ride on most of the tunes I heard, and once again, I am blown away by just how many killer sounds can be coaxed out of that cymbal. When Rodney Holmes helped design that cymbal, he really assisted in coming up with a winner! Photos attached.

 - Chris

Meinl Cymbal artists Rigo Collazo and Carlos Maldonado will be performing with Millo Torres y El Planeta Jazz at the world famous Heineken Jazz Fest in Puerto Rico.

For more information on the festival, click here.

Meinl Cymbal artist Jean Paul Gaster and Clutch have just hit the road, with dates in the US, Europe, and Canada this summer. Click here to see if they are coming to a city near you.

Also...there's a new Clutch album out soon. Strange Cousins From the West is due to hit the shelves July 07. For detailed info on the album, click here.

Congratulations to Meinl Artist Stef Broks of the band "Textures" for being nominated for the Dutch popmusician "Duiveltjes Awards" in the category Best Drummer.

Stef Broks

Check out Meinl Cymbal artist Max Duhamel's new project - Ex Deo. Heavy stuff!...

PS - Kataklysm is still happening, this is simply a side project...

www.myspace.com/exdeo

Meinl Cymbals is pleased to welcome Adam Jarvis of Misery Index and Alex Shelnutt of A Day To Remember to its family of cymbal artists.

Adam and Misery Index are one of the hardest hitting bands to come down the pike in quite awhile. Formed in Baltimore, Maryland, Misery Index grind out a raw and convincing blend of anarcho-punk and death-core that screams and rages against society's ills. Adam's drumming is a precision-based pummeling machine that drives Misery Index down the freeway of metal insanity. Currently, Adam and MI are touring in support of their late 2008 release, Traitors.

Alex and A Day To Remember are currently making their way to the top of the pop-punk heap as a musical tour de force that's raking in legions of fans day by day while out in support of their most recent album, Homesick. With a style that blends equal parts vintage Cheap Trick and an updated metallized version of Thrasher Magazine's Skate Rock, ADTR is a super fun listen. Check them out this summer on the entire VANS Warped Tour.

Check out Brann Dailor's and Mastodon's performance of Oblivion on David Letterman from last Friday night.

Extreme Metal Band "Obscura" with drummer Hannes Grossmann present a drumming contest. Watch this YouTube video of Hannes Grossmann playing Obscura's track "Anticosmic Overload". Then videotape yourself drumming to this song and upload your entry as a response to this YouTube video no later than June 11th 2009 at 12:00am EST.

The contest will be judged by Hannes Grossmann himself. The Grand Prize will be a Meinl Cymbal signed by Hannes.

Check out the official contest rules on sickdrummer.com here.

Meinl Cymbals welcomes Eric Spring in 't Veld of the Dutch Rockband "Intwine" to its family of cymbal artists.

Eric is using Byzance Brilliant, Soundcaster Fusion, Mb10, and Generation X cymbal series.

Check out Eric's artist page here.

Check out Rodney Holmes with Jim Weider's PRoJECT PERCoLAToR (yes, that's how Jim spells it...) in a new video posted on youtube.com. Awesome grooves and melodies. Lots of energy!

The tickets for the 2009 Meinl Drum Festival in Moscow, Russia on June 06 are now available online. They can be purchased on www.parter.ru (both Russian and English languages), and on topticketline.ru (Russian only).

For more information about the festival, go to meinldrumfestival.com or to ok-co.ru.
You can also call Meinl's Russian distributor O.K. & Co. on +7-495-968-78-52 for details.

Meinl Germany welcomed US dealers Brad Boynton, Alan Rosen, and Marc Kray, and Meinl USA employees Juan Berrios and Adam Anderson, who visited the company's headquarters and factory on Monday, May 04. During its stay, the group toured Meinl's production facility and logistic center, and also sat down with the Meinl team to exchange the latest in product development and market research information.

Pictured from left to right are:

Juan Berrios - Meinl USA
Udo Heubeck - Meinl Germany
Brad Boynton - Rhythm Traders, Portland, Oregon   
Marc Kray - West Music and Percussion Source, Coralville, IA
Alan Rosen - Bananas at Large, San Rafael, California
Adam Anderson - Meinl USA