Meet Chris Adams

Chris Adams is a proud native of Endicott, NY. She began drumming at age twelve, spending middle and high school years in The Apalachin Grenadiers Jr. Drum & Bugle Corps, learning the basic rudiments and practicing all the time. "From the first rehearsal, I fell in love with drumming!" recalls Chris.

By 1970 she was touring with contemporary rock bands. In 1973 Chris moved to New York City where she spent the next seventeen years working steadily as a freelance drummer playing everywhere from CBGB’s to Broadway. During these years Chris became greatly inspired by the drumming of Steve Gadd. “No other drummer has ever moved me as deeply as Steve. The combination of his drum corps roots, smooth chops, instincts, sincerity, and heartfelt grooves touched something deep inside of me. ” Other influences include Billy Cobham, Art Blakey, Jack DeJohnette, Tony Williams, and of course the great drumming and teaching of Norman Grossman and Gary Chester.

After reading about Gary Chester in a 1983 Modern Drummer interview, and seeing some impressive playing by local Chester students, she called Gary and soon began lessons. Within months she was helping him compile his drum "systems" for the first "New Breed" book. "At one of my lessons, I happened to show him a chart I was writing," she remembers. "He was impressed with my hand written manuscript, and asked if I'd help him write book one. That's actually where our co-writing partnership was born."

When the time came for the sequel, Gary again enlisted Chris' help. "He called me very excited, and said he wanted to put all his most challenging systems in another book," she says. "We had planned to get together the week after his vacation to begin work on the book. On Sunday of that week, I got that fateful call from Katrina very early in the morning telling me that Gary had a heart attack and....was gone. That's one of my most difficult memories."

Initially Chris wasn't sure whether to continue with the book. "It took me many months, and many signs, which I believe were right from Gary, before taking pen to paper," she relates. "I was lost for a good while, and humbled by the fact that I couldn't light a candle to the likes of our great Gary, but during our last conversation talking about the book, he said this to me... 'Chrissy, it's important for me to know that when I die, my work will go on and on.' And I replied by saying 'I know, Gar.' Well, after grieving for many months, I realized that those statements were a commitment to one another, and I understood what I had to do. Fortunately, he had told me EXACTLY what bonuses and unexplored areas he wanted in Book II, so I had a great starting place. I trusted, and went from there. It took me two years to complete. The hardest part was not being able to call him and say... 'so, what do you think Gar? Is that what you had in mind?' My heart still hurts when I let myself think of that emptiness. But I'm grateful to have been a small part of helping him get his ideas out there, and honored to have known, studied with, worked with, and enjoyed the loving friendship of such an incredible human being."

Today Chris lives in upstate New York where she teaches private lessons and classes at the studios of Drummers Intensive School of Drumming in Endicott and Binghamton, NY. She teaches The New Breed systems through correspondence lessons, and has been a Teaching Artist for The Southern Tier Institute for Arts in Education, grades K - 12; Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts, pre-school ages 3 – 5 years; and The Binghamton Philharmonic's Beethoven's Buddies Residency Program, grades Pre-K - 2. Chris feels that ‘finding your instrument’ is a great gift. She is dedicated to learning, teaching, and sharing her passion for drumming with her many students.