About Rick Hodes

Rick Hodes has been teaching professionally for over 25 years (Music & Arts: 22 years, Jammin Java Music School: 15 years, Privately: 27 years) , playing since 1985, and gigging since 1990. He studied classical/rudimental percussion privately for 7 years with the former section leader percussionist for the Army Band, William Messerschmidt, studied percussion performance at East Carolina University with Mark Ford and Harold Jones, and recently (2016) studied hand technique/body ergonomics with top LA session drummer Dave Elitch (Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, The Mars Volta).  He also has studied with various professional players over his 35 year music career to become familiar with guitar, piano, bass guitar, and recording technologies. He has been teaching guitar and bass guitar since 2008.

A seasoned performing artist who has done every type of gig from musicals to big band jazz to zydeco to speed metal. He is also a recording artist and international performer for Shrapnel Records with the band Timelord. He has toured throughout the United States and keeps a busy performing schedule here in the D.C. Metropolitan area with various bands and solo artists as a freelance drummer.  Rick also proudly plays for the Nation's number one Dave Matthews' tribute band, Crowded Streets, for which he won an audition for in 2015.  

Rick has also created and recorded much of his own original music and has songwriting credits with all of his former groups, most notably, The Blackjacks (formerly The Echoes); which have had commercial success through licensing songs to Ford Automobile commercials.