Musical Instruments

This highly charged, mind-blowing, sport of the arts celebrated its second anniversary kicking off the November International Drum Month Celebration at The Candyman.

The Drum Battle competitors stepped into battle in one of three brackets, youth, amateur and professional at the Saturday, November 5th public event at The Candyman. The event was received by an enthusiastic audience who cheered wildly for all the contestants.

Also appearing were Jessica Preston and Sean Pilgrim who were on-hand to broadcast the event live through Project 101.5 and live stream via Santafe.com and supported the two-man Candyman host team of Milton Villarrubia, III and Mikey Baker.

The Drum Battle youth winners were chosen by a show-stopping tie between 9 year old Oliver Ricklin and 14 year old JuanCarlos Armijo. “The age difference was too great to be able to declare a clear winner,” remarked Mark Clark, one of three judges for the event. “The only way to be fair was to award both of these young men the top spot for this category.” Seth Garcia placed second while Ben Trujillo placed third.

The battle of the amateurs resulted in a 14-year old Jason Oehlschlager taking home the first place prize followed by Oliver Greer in second and Evan McAllister taking home the third spot.

The event closed with a thunder during the Pro battle. Geraldo Garcia wowed the audience earning the crowd favorite while Andrew Primm earned the championship from the judges. Mikey Chavez came in a very close second with just two points behind Primm. David Waldrop took home the third place prize.

“What a difficult task to have to declare winners from this monstrous talent.” Todd Lovato, editor of Santafe.com wrote in his follow-up article, “I feel bad for the judges, who had the difficult task of judging so much monstrous talent. The final odd-time-signature showdown between Mikey Chavez and Andy Primm was an exercise in aural pyrotechnics and technical prowess. Santa Fe has an amazingly skilled drum community. Congratulations to all of talented participants!”

SantaFe.com and Project 101.5 sponsored the Crowd Favorite Contest Winners. Votes were collected by ballet during the contest and winners were announced by Jessica and Sean. Winners in the youth bracket were Seth Garcia and Oliver Ricklin. Amateur bracket winners were Evan McAllister and Jason Oehlschlager. The pro bracket crowd faves were Geraldo Garcia and David Waldrop.

“The percussive talent in this town is incredible,” remarked Milton Villarrubia, III and drum department manager for The Candyman. “We’re just trying to show Santa Fe and the world how much we have!”

Over $900 in prizes were provided by Zildjian, Drum Workshop, Aquarian, and The Candyman Strings and Things.

“This year’s event was wall to wall excitement! It was the type of event I envisioned almost 3 years ago” said Cindy Cook, co-owner of The Candyman. “I’m thrilled to see how successful it has grown in just two years and to have such astute judges like Mark Clark, Peter Williams and last year’s Pro Winner, Dave Wayne, along with the many talented drummers that showed up to battle it out. What an amazing event put together by an amazing staff like Mikey Baker, Milton Villarrubia, III and Peter Williams to help organize it and take it to such a high level. The involvement of Santafe.com and Hutton Broadcasting to help bring it to the public in such an interactive way was more than my husband (Rand Cook) and I could have hoped for. We’re already looking forward to next year!”

A photo gallery of the event can be viewed on the Candyman Strings and Things Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/TheCandymanStringsandThings. For a replay of the video performances see The Candyman You Tube channel at www.youtube.com/TheCandymanChannel.

The month-long celebration also includes killer sales on all drums and percussion for the entire month of November and a free drum clinic day on Saturday, November 26th packed with free musical drum knowledge from top local professionals including the renowned Mark Clark, Peter Ahmal, Doug Franz and Milton Villarrubia. During clinician day there will be an amazing raffle for products from Vic Firth Drum Sticks and Aquarium Drum Heads, so those that attended drum battle are encouraged to bring their raffle ticket to the clinics to win tons of free drum stuff, including a DW5000 double bass drum pedal (retail value at $633.99!). Raffle tickets can also be purchased at The Candyman at $5.00 each for a chance to win these prizes.

For more information call The Candyman at 983-5906, see the website at www.candymanstringsandthings.com or stop by the store at 851 St. Michael’s Drive.