JAMIE DOUGLASS
JAMIE DOUGLASS is one of the busiest drummers in Los Angeles – equal parts road warrior and studio ace, magnetic performer and virtuoso. It’s been an eventful couple of years for this veteran musician who, since coming to Los Angeles a dozen years ago, has recorded and performed live with countless bands and artists, demonstrating his wide dynamic range, musicality, and ability to blend into all types of ensembles. The press is paying attention: Douglass’s drumming has been mentioned/featured in publications including The Los Angeles Times, LA Examiner, Music Connection Magazine & The Santa Monica Mirror, and Jamie was recently interviewed at length on the blogs Music+Moxie and Milk & Honey.
Perhaps best known for his work with celebrated performer Andy Clockwise and rock stalwarts The Hang, Douglass has brought 100% commitment and fire-power to headlining shows at LA’s Troubadour, Roxy and El Rey Theatres, residencies at Satellite/Spaceland and Hotel Café, as well as tours to New York, the West Coast, Nashville, the Caribbean, Indonesia, Europe, SXSW, and the Palms Las Vegas’ Pearl Concert Theater. This year, Douglass played drums and percussion for the award-winning musicalSpring Awakening, presented in Hollywood by Over The Moon Productions. He is also featured prominently on The Hang’s recent recordings Playola and Unplugged in Dave’s Room, and in music videos by both The Hang and Clockwise.
Born in Greenwich, CT to an academic family with strong ties to the arts, Douglass began his musical career in the 3rd grade, singing classical music in a professional church choir. The experience of recording, performing and touring throughout the Northeast and in Europe had a strong impact on him: it taught him how to listen, and how to phrase.
Taking up percussion in the 5th grade, Douglass felt an immediate exaltation for drums that has only grown in the years since. Playing in bands and orchestras of all shapes and sizes throughout high school and college, he quickly developed an original yet adaptable sensibility that allows him to thrive in almost any musical situation. In his early years in Los Angeles, acclaimed live shows and recordings with bands like Echo Hawk, The Distants, Paul Chesne and Rembrandt cemented his reputation as a reliable, powerful musician.
Douglass admires artists who have pushed the boundaries of music, “whether it was through sound, or by actually breaking up the patterns that existed before,” including Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. “They had a lot of passion and fire, and that came through their music.” John Bonham, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Levon Helmand Keith Moon are major drumming influences whom Douglass cites.
Currently, Douglass can be seen playing almost any night of the week with one of many LA-based bands & artists including Jerks (featuring Clockwise bassist Josh Norton on guitar and vocals), Tripp Rezac, D Henry Fenton, Dannielle Gaha, Preston Smith, Mason Reed, Clare Means, Austin Hanks, and Brian Simpson. A frequent guest and sub performer, he frequently fills in with the likes of Johnny Moezzi, Brian Wright, Nic Jackson, and Lisa Zane, to name just a few.
La Sierra On: