John Tate - Vancouver Musician

HOME BIOGRAPHY APPEARANCES MEDIA GEAR CONTACT

I come from a very musical and artistic family. I grew up in Vancouver and started playing drums at age 6. Musically, everything began for me by listening to my parent's band rehearse in the living room, in the early '70's. They covered everything from CCR to Clapton to Booker T to Fleetwood Mac to Santana and all points in between. My Dad gave me three old, square, black rubber practice pads that looked like flattend out tire treads and a pair of 5A drum sticks. I can clearly remember laying the pads out on the floor in front of the stereo, puting the headphones on, dropping the needle on any one of a number of albums that were stacked up beside the stereo and doing my best to play along with what I was hearing. Amazingly, I was able to play along with almost anything and NOT sound like a 6 year old kid banging on some old tire treads.

Over the years, I've logged plenty of hours in recording studios, performing live and even had a couple of TV appearances. I've lived and played all over North America with musicians who have performed with such diverse and internationally recognized acts as ... Taylor Swift, Brett Eldredge, Randy Bachman, Colin James, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Mitch Rider, Hootie and The Blowfish, Eric Carmen, The Raspberries, Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, Honeymoon Suite, Alannah Myles, Harem Scarem, Doug & The Slugs, Barney Bentall & The Legendary Hearts and Aaron Pritchett.

Nowdays, I'm back in Vancouver and enjoying the diversity and flexibility of a regular gig playing guitar with my own Country/Rock band, 10 Miles West and drums with Country/Rock artist, Dave Hartney and/or Runaway Lane, depending on the venue.

The Drummer -

I look at playing in a band as a 'team sport' ... the team will only ever be as good as it's foundation ... and I have always approached drumming from a foundation perspective. I am all about solid tempo, not over-playing and locking in with the bass player ... these 3 things are the core traits that truly define my technique. When these things are happening; the 'team' is guaranteed to be that much better. My key influences as a drummer are/were Peter Criss (Kiss), Nigel Olsson (Elton John), Steve Smith (Journey), Chris McHugh (Keith Urban) and Dean Castronovo (Journey).

As a singing drummer, the stability of my playing becomes all that much more important. Whether its lead or backup vocal; I studied very closely, how some of the very best 'singing-drummers' ... guys like Peter Criss (Kiss), Dean Castronovo (Journey), Don Henley (Eagles) and Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger) ... approached that particular art. Ultimately, I found it was pretty simple ... Don't sacrifice the groove for the vocal, don't sacrifice the vocal for the groove and never overplay or over sing because you just won't find yourself getting a whole lot of work. It's not always easy to do ... but it is entirely necessary and entirely what the rest of the band will want.

The Guitar player -

Although I had always dabbled on guitar, it wasn't until somtime around age 28 or 29 that I started to play the instrument more seriously. The motivation to get into guitar more deeply was simple ... Kiss was about to embark on their 1997 Reunion Tour and I got it in my head to study every chord, solo and lick Ace Frehley had recorded with the band. So, disc by disc, I studied their catalogue and mastered what ever I heard being played. That lead to a pretty high-profile gig, performing as Ace Frehley, with one of the top Kiss Tribute bands in North America, ALIVE II, the very first time I threw my hat into that particular ring. From there, I was no longer just a drummer ... I was a drummer who played guitar or depending on the band I was working with, a guitar player who played drums.

At the core of my playing style, I'm a blues based guitar player who grew out of the influence of the best players from the '70's and to a lesser extent, the '80's. The power and simplicity of Ace Frehley (Kiss) and Mick Mars (Motley Crue), mixed with a touch of Paul Kossoff (Free) and Stevie Ray Vaughan is what my playing most closely resembles. That first gig with the Kiss Tribute band earned me the respect of the Kiss fan and Tribute band circles and the title of "The Canadian Ace", which is something that I'm really very proud of !!! Two guys I performed with in ALIVE II had been hand-picked, by Kiss, to double for original band members Peter Criss and Paul Stanley, during the live concert footage at the end of the movie Detroit Rock City.

HOME BIOGRAPHY APPEARANCES MEDIA GEAR CONTACT

2016 Appearances

July

01-02 - Rooster's Country Cabaret, Pitt Meadows, BC - 10 Miles West

16 - The Foggy Dew, Coquitlam, BC - 10 Miles West

29 - Sunfest Duncan, BC - Dave Hartney

August

04-06 - Gabby's Country Cabaret, Langley, BC - 10 Miles West

10-13 - Rooster's Country Cabaret, Pitt Meadows, BC - 10 Miles West

20 - Private Function, Aldergrove, BC - Runaway Lane

24-27 - Rooster's Country Cabaret, Pitt Meadows, BC - Runaway Lane

September

03 - The Foggy Dew, Coquitlam, BC - Runaway Lane

10 - The Foggy Dew, Coquitlam, BC - 10 Miles West

15-17 - Gabby's Country Cabaret, Langley, BC - Appaloosa

22-24 - Gabby's Country Cabaret, Langley, BC - Runaway Lane

October

06-09 - Gabby's Country Cabaret, Langley, BC - 10 Miles West

13-15 - Gabby's Country Cabaret, Langley, BC - Runaway Lane

19-22 - Rooster's Country Cabaret, Pitt Meadows, BC - 10 Miles West

26-29 - Rooster's Country Cabaret, Pitt Meadows, BC - Runaway Lane

November

24-26 - Gabby's Country Cabaret, Langley, BC - Runaway Lane

December

HOME BIOGRAPHY APPEARANCES MEDIA GEAR CONTACT

Photos Videos

John Tate / Guitar - w/Alive II - Akron, OH (2003)

John Tate / Guitar - Vancouver, BC (2007)

John Tate / Guitar @ The Plaza of Nations / Winter Olympics Vancouver (2010)

John Tate / Guitar @ The ACT Theatre - Pitt Meadows, BC (2007)

John Tate / Guitar @ Gabby's - Langley, BC (2013)

SRV tribute band - Couldn't Stand The Weather (1997)

Motley Crue tribute - Carnival Of Sin (2007)

John Tate / Drums @ Healey's - Toronto, ON (2000)

John Tate / Drums @ The Plaza of Nations / Winter Olympics Vancouver (2010)

John Tate / Drums @ The Cloverdale Rodeo (2009)

John Tate / Drums @ Gabby's - Langley, BC (2010)

Motley Crue tribute - Carnival Of Sin (2008)

HOME BIOGRAPHY APPEARANCES MEDIA GEAR CONTACT

Drums -

My current 'live' set up is a 4-piece Pearl Masters Custom Maple drum set in Lime Sparkle Fade (22, 13 & 16) with a Pearl Eric Singer Signature Maple snare drum in Silver Sparkle (10-ply, 6.5 x 14), Sabian cymbals (Paragon ride, AA crashes & HHX hats), Vater (5A wood tip) sticks, Aquarian, Evans & Remo heads.

Guitars -

My current 'live' rig utilizes Gibson and Orville guitars, strung with 9-46 gauge strings., Traynor amps and picks with DigiTech, Dunlop, Shure, Snark and Visual Sound processing, Yorkville cables and stands, DiMarzio pickups and Levy's straps.