#478 Vicky O'Neon- Drummer, Percussionist, Educator and More!
Photo by David Phillips.
This week’s guest is Vicky O’Neon. Vicky is a drummer, percussionist and educator from Finland based in the UK. She is the American pop star Anastacia’s touring drummer and percussionist in the American TV show ‘Name That Tune’. Vicky has played on TV live performances like Team GBs homecoming from the Olympics (BBC) at Wembley, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (ITV), the opening of the Eurovision (BBC) with artists like Nile Rodgers, Anne-Marie, Kaiser Chiefs, Sugababes, Craig David, Keala Settle, Zara Larsson, Steps, Heather Small, Birdy, YungBlud and many more. In 2020 she worked closely with Brian May from Queen releasing 2 songs, one of which hit no. 13 in the iTunes chart. She has also performed with Hans Zimmer and friends (inc. Pharrell Williams & Johnny Marr) at the Hammersmith Apollo and Clean Bandit for the MTV Music awards as well as played at BBC Breakfast’s record breaking 24h Drumathon for Children in Need.
Vicky studied at Drum Tech in London (now called BIMM) from 2010-2013 to receive a BMus (Hons) in Popular Music Performance. After her first year of studies she received the school’s prestigious ‘Top Overall Drummer Award’ which encouraged her to push the boundaries as a drummer.
Vicky is known for her musical approach to drumming with the ability to reproduce authentic grooves of popular music genres. She is also an experienced percussion player and has performed alongside DJ’s all over the world in venues such as Atlantis Royal Beach (Dubai), Nikki Beach (Ibiza/Thailand) and at events like FIFA awards and Elle Style Awards.
Vicky is also a passionate educator and actively involved with work related to gender inequalities in the music industry. She is a co-founder of the non-profits Girls Rock London and Rock Donna and has created an educational Youtube series called ‘Drumming Through The Decades’.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to Dr. Donnie Johns! Don Johns is an in-demand percussion performer and educator in the Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan area. He is a regular substitute musician with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Johns is also Principal Timpanist of the Apollo Orchestra in Washington, D.C.. In addition, he is the lead percussionist for Soulful Symphony (Columbia, MD). Moreover, Dr. Johns is a proud member of both the Gateways Festival Orchestra (Rochester, NY) and the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra (Charleston, SC) - two groundbreaking groups that spotlight professional black classical musicians.
Along with orchestral work, Dr. Johns has played drum set and percussion for music productions at the Kennedy Center (DC), Hollywood Bowl (LA), Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY), Moore Theatre (Seattle, WA), Lincoln Theatre (DC), Atlas Theatre (DC), Signature Theatre (VA), Studio Theatre (DC), Onley Theatre (MD), and Toby’s Dinner Theatre (MD). He also plays drum set and timpani for several churches in the Washington, D.C. area. Dr. Johns is the Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Bowie State University in Bowie, MD. Dr. Johns is also the Percussion Director at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, MD. His percussion ensemble was the featured high school percussion ensemble for the Percussive Arts Society’s 2017 Maryland/Delaware Day of Percussion.
In addition, Dr. Johns was the percussion coach for the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program for thirteen years (2006-2019). From 2005-2015, Dr. Johns taught band and orchestra in both Prince George’s County Public Schools (2005-2011) and at KIPP D.C. (2011-2015). In May 2022, Dr. Johns completed a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Percussion Performance at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. He has a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance (2011) and Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education (2005), both from the University of Maryland. In addition, Dr. Johns has served on the music grant reviewing panels for the Washington D.C., State of Maryland, and Prince George’s County Arts and Humanities Councils.
He is endorsed by Yamaha Corporation of America, Innovative Percussion, and Black Swamp Percussion. Dr. Johns also serves as President of the Maryland/Delaware Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. In 2017, Dr. Johns created a non-profit organization called the DMV Music Academy. Its mission is to expose, engage, and enrich young people through all forms of instrumental music education. He was born and raised in Howard County, MD, and currently resides in Hyattsville, MD.
Happy Birthday to Clayton Cameron! Los Angeles, California native Clayton Cameron began showing an interest in drumming at the young age of seven. According to Clayton, his parents were always supportive of his pursuits and they bought him a drum kit and had him taking lessons by the time he was twelve. After High School, Clayton went on to earn a degree in Music from California State University. While in school he played around the Los Angeles area with some of his mentors and early influences such as Ernie Andrews, Teddy Edwards, Larry Gails and Gerald Wilson. After graduating from college, Clayton settled in Las Vegas where he played regularly with a small Jazz trio known as The Kirk Stuart Trio and continued to develop his skills as a brush player. Clayton quickly found that the small jazz club settings and trio groups called for mostly low volume playing, and as a result, Clayton developed a distinct and potent style of brush playing. Today, Clayton is widely known as a brush master.
During his time in Las Vegas, Sammy Davis Jr..'s musical Director George Rhodes hired Clayton to be his drummer. Clayton cites Sammy Davis' tap dancing as an influence on his brush playing. Clayton also played drums for Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra during this time. In 1988/89, Clayton toured with the three members of the "Rat Pack" an experience he will always treasure.
In 1990, Clayton completed and released his instructional video entitled "The Living Art of Brushes". This was the first drum instructional video dedicated to brush playing. At this time Clayton also toured with Jazz legends Joe Pass, Joe Williams and George Shearing.
In 1993, Clayton became the drummer for music legend Tony Bennett. He has recorded six Grammy nominated albums and played on many world tours with Tony. In 1994, Clayton shared in the honor of Tony Bennett's Grammy award for his "Tony Bennett Unplugged" album. This was the first Grammy awarded for a live recording.
Clayton has also released the book Brushworks, a comprehensive text on the subject. Aside from being the definitive reference book on the art of brushes, Brushworks will for the first time allow novice brush players insight into the mechanics of the art form. Clayton continues to tour and record, and work on his many drumming education projects.
Happy Birthday to Sarah Hagan! Sarah Hagan is a drummer and former teacher, who joined Zildjian as a marketing and events coordinator and was promoted to artist relations manager for the East Coast before becoming director of artist relations– worldwide in 2014. Sarah founded Sarah Hagan Media & Consulting, LLC, in the Greater Boston area. She provides specialized marketing and artist relations consulting for the music industry. The business focuses on leveraging industry experience, with Sarah Hagan active as a drummer and content creator, often featuring drum-related content on her professional platforms. She is now the Artist Relations Director for Gibraltar Hardware and Rogers Drums. She has also worked with Drumeo and SJC drums, and hosts a podcast called Sarah Hagan Backstage.
Happy Birthday to Brandon Estes! Brandon is the Associate Director of Bands at Naperville Central High School where he co-teaches concert bands, marching band, pep band, percussion ensemble and instructs the Music Appreciation course.
A native of Houston Texas, Brandon holds a B.M. in Music Education from Texas State University San Marcos (2004) as well as his M.M. in Music Performance-Percussion from Northern Illinois University (2006).
Mr. Estes extensive drum corps experience includes membership with the Pioneer (1998 00), as well as the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps (2001 02). He also served as Co-Arranger and Percussion Caption Head of the Blue Stars (2005) and has been on staff with the Madison Scouts. Brandon currently serves as Director and a performing member of the Chicago Bears Drumline and is a founding member of the Chicago Bulls Stampede Drumline.
As an orchestral musician, Mr. Estes has performed with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Elmhurst Symphony of Elmhurst, Illinois as well as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Brandon currently resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and anxiously awaits the birth of his first child. He is very excited at the opportunity to work with the staff and members of the Phantom Regiment!
Happy Birthday to Cheryl B. Engelhardt! Cheryl B. Engelhardt is a GRAMMY®-nominated composer and songwriter.
Cheryl started her career as an advertising and film composer in New York City, creating scores for several nationally airing commercials and short films before hitting the road with her pop band. Her music has been heard on dozens of TV shows including “So You Think You Can Dance” and “All My Children”, on airlines, and on meditation apps like Insight Timer.
Engelhardt also composes for social justice choirs and was recently featured in People, Harper’s Bazaar, and Forbes Magazines for her collaboration with Martin Luther King’s goddaughter, Donzaleigh Abernathy, in her song “The Listening”.
Her unique journey as an indie artist has landed her on stage singing with Sting, writing a musical (“Boiler Room Girls”), scoring documentaries and live theater, and on a train: being the first person to compose and produce an entire album on a cross-USA Amtrak trip. This album, “The Passenger”, became her seventh commercially record (her third in the New Age genre) and was nominated for a GRAMMY®. Her GRAMMY® red carpet look of a crop top made of her fans’ signatures and ball gown skirt landed her in Vogue.
Cheryl is a certified trauma-informed master coach and provides a variety of resources helping musicians build systems to automate, rejuvenate, and elevate their careers and lives. She is the facilitator and coach for the popular musician mastermind, Amplify.
A sought-after speaker, moderating panels at SXSW, ASCAP Expo, TAXI Road Rally, and many universities including her alma mater of Cornell University, Cheryl is also a voting member of The Recording Academy and part of their District Advocacy team. After graduating from Cornell with a double major in both music and biology, Cheryl’s first job was SCUBA diving for the United States Geological Survey. Six months into the job, she found herself in Rome, Italy, creating music for a friend’s video project and she never turned back. What followed was an apprenticeship at a NYC hip-hop recording studio, being hired as the tech and then music supervisor for a major jingle house, and moving on to scoring dozens of videos for the popular website College Humor.
Engelhardt also studied orchestration at Juilliard, and serves as the American Choral Directors Association’s Chair of Research and Repertoire for Contemporary and Commercial Music for the East Division.
Gig Alerts
The Jazz Foundation of America presents “A Great Night” Spring Gala on Thursday, May 21, 2026 in NYC.
The Ocean’s Calling Festival is happening from Sept 25th-27th in Ocean City, MD.
The D.C. Jazzfest is happening Sept 5th-6th in Washington D.C. Friend of the show Aaron Draper (episode #10 & episode #77) is playing with Cory Henry. Also, friend of the show, Nate Smith will be leading his own group.
Friend of the show, Jeffrey Barudin has posted new jobs on his website.
Educational Spotlight
There are several days of percussion coming up in the month of March. You can get more info from the Percussive Arts Society’s chapter page.
Iconic Recording
Vicky chose, “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys from the ‘Pet Sounds together’ album with Dennis Wilson on drums.
Music News
Damon mentioned the jury selection for the Live Nation trial has been completed.
The (NYC chapter) of the Musician’s Union has put out some tax tips.
This article is for musicians who want to D.I.Y. their taxes. There is also a tax class available.
This is important info on the new HITS Act that was passed with provisions that will help self employed musicians and producers.
Vicky O’Neon Interview
The song leading into the interivew is, “Not That Kind” by Anastasia from the ‘NTK live album’
Vicky and Damon start by talking languages. She’s from Finland and also spends time in London. She speaks Swedish, English and a little Finnish.
Damon mentions the “sibling rivalry” that the nordic countries have. And then mentions the Winter War with Finland and Russia.
Vicky really enjoys recent history in Europe.
Vicky talks about technology and nature growing up.
She started on classical piano until age 12. Then she joined a punk band.
Ebba Grön was one of the more influential bands Vicky listened to. So were the Spice Girls.
Vicky went backpacking in South America for a year after high school. She returned to school, did a year in Finland and then left to study in London.
Tech Music School was where she attended.
While she was attending Tech Music School, she was also was sorting out her education platform.
Vicky tells the story of her stage name.
She talks about her South America year starting in Cuba and the inspiration for Latin Percussion.
Damon mentions the Super Bowl and friends of the show, Roland Garcia and Lilliana De Los Reyes.
Vicky mentions friends of the show, Jacquelene Acevedo, Marcos Lopez, and Anthony Almonte at the Grammys.
Vicky talks about her rig with Anastasia.
Shout out to friend of the show, Axel Fagerberg and his company WTF Percussion.
Shout-out to Abelton Drummer.
Damon and Vicky talk about being in the houseband for TV shows.
Shout-out to friend of the show, Nate Morton.
Vicky and Damon talk about active listening and passive listening.
Vicky was involved with Girls Rock London and other camps in the past.
Vicky and Damon talk about imposter syndrome.
Vicky is expecting a baby boy and talks about scheduling and family planning.
Vicky picks the iconic recording for the week.
Vicky uses Latin Percussion Instruments, Dixon Drums, Remo Drumheads, Ultimate Ears in-ear monitors, Vic Firth Sticks, Zildjian cymbals, and WTF Percussion.
Shout-out to Markus Hilander and (friend of the show) Mike Dolbear.
You can follow Vicky on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The song leading out of the episode is, “Nobody Loves Me Better” performed by Anastasia from the ‘NTK live album’
