Achieving The Best!

Thursday 17th September 2020 will go down as a date which Joe will remember forever in his life after achieving everything he wanted and more at university.

Joe received some wonderful news in the morning via email confirming his final result after two long years of hard work and commitment at ACM Guildford, achieving a Bachelor of Honours Degree in Music Performance specialising in the Drums with a first class grade, the best result you can possibly achieve. The results and feedback in his practical performances received critical acclaim from many lecturers and professional musicians praising his creativity, consistency and time keeping as well as his diverse playing. Some of the comments can be seen below.

“This is top stuff here, Joe – great work. Well done on some great playing; groove playing, chops, skilful musical interaction.” – Nat Martin on Joe’s Elite Performance practical project, compromising of songs he covered originally by Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Rush and The Specials

“This submission demonstrates the ability to conceive & assemble a performance suitable for publication, the performance does demonstrate your technical facility & specialist knowledge along with all LO’s. On the whole a very well thought out performance/project.” – Toby Drummond on Joe’s Genesis tribute project ‘A Trick Of Three Parts’.

“This is a wholly successful submission that demonstrates strong and continued progress in all aspects of your technical development. ‘Tom Sawyer’. Very well prepared with accurate and articulate playing throughout. Strong time with clean transitions all of which is supported by ownership of all key elements. Consistent 16th note flow and solid unison phrasing throughout. Fill sections were well placed and really complimented the whole performance. ‘What is Hip’. Also very well prepared with accurate and articulate technical application throughout. Consistent time and musical growth demonstrated. Internal dynamic is my only minor critique for further development moving forward so that the key groove has a little more light/shade. These are two fantastic performances and it is clear you have worked hard so well done.” – Toby Drummond on Joe’s covers of ‘What Is Hip?’ by Tower of Power and ‘Tom Sawyer’ by Rush

“Played the notated drum pattern accurately. Followed the chart well. Good fills and embellishments which were stylistically appropriate. Very clear cue for the ending and set it up well. A solid take overall”. – Mike Nichols on Joe’s chart reading, band skills and musical direction.

There were some huge emotions from Joe on the Thursday as he achieved more than he originally set out to: “Honestly I am speechless, these past two years have simply flown by but I could not be happier with what I’ve achieved in that time and I have had the privilege of being taught by some incredible lecturers and brilliant professional musicians who I have learned so much from. I hope from here I can inspire young people to never give up on their dreams and ambitions no matter how difficult things look, if you work hard you can achieve anything. If you’d have said to me during my GCSE mocks that in five years time I would be finishing university with a first class honours degree I would have simply laughed and not believed a word, but now I am more determined than ever to make this my career and get out there to achieve even bigger things than I already have, thank you everyone for their support, I would not be here today without you guys and of course my wonderful family.”

Joe’s graduation ceremony is scheduled for November 2020 with a list of shows already booked and planned for 2021 with different artists and bands.