Joe Crabtree | Drummer, Educator, Developer

ABOUT JOE

Joe began taking piano lessons at age 5 creating a solid musical foundation in melody, rhythm and sight reading.

Brought up in a music loving household he developed a love for the drums and on his 11th Christmas woke up to find a drum kit waiting.
The drums became his first love, with guitar and bass following a year later.
Figuring out guitar, piano, and bass parts for his school bands gave him a good musical ear which proved useful in many of the bands he played with in later years.

He played his first professional gig at 14 and was teaching by age 15.
After studying Physics at Durham University (where he spent the majority of his time playing with function bands, small jazz bands and the university big band) he returned to teaching and playing in the North of England for a few years before moving to London to embark on a career as a professional musician.

He played and recorded with a number of original bands before joining the David Cross (King Crimson) band in 2004. He played shows with David Cross in Japan, Italy, and the UK before leaving to join Pendragon.
After a couple of European tours with Pendragon including 2 DVD releases he joined classic rock legends Wishbone Ash in 2007 and remains their drummer to the present day.

His sense of rhythm and melody led to production and and co-writing credits with Elena, the David Cross Band, and Wishbone Ash. Joe co-wrote songs on Wishbone Ash’s “Elegant Stealth” and “Blue Horizon”which he also co-produced.

The song “Take It Back” from Blue Horizon even features a guitar solo by Joe.

In his down time from touring Joe created an online music school and a popular musicians iOS App PolyNome (polynome.net)

TESTIMONIALS

Joe is a drummer who has got it all, he has an unbelievable ability to learn complex songs fast but with an accuracy and power that makes it feel as though he has been in the band for years!

Nick Barrett

(Pendragon)

Joe Crabtree is an incredibly versatile drummer who combines serious chops and groove – he has a vast knowledge of the instrument, and this comes across continually in his powerful yet elegant playing style.

Mike Sturgis

(ASIA, A-HA)

Pendragon are a band whose material is certainly not straight down the line groove music, with all the starts, stops, changes in tempo and timing it is enough to remember these let alone the fact that most of our songs are at least 10 minutes long!

Within 3 days of receiving our CD’s Joe Crabtree had learnt half of the two and a half hour set to a standard which I would only expect from somebody with a photographic memory!

Nick Barrett

(Pendragon)

Joe is a remarkable drummer. I have worked with him in both a live and a studio context and he has proven his reliability and impressed with his pure skill behind the kit, time and time again. His performance reveals equal measures of precision and invention; his timing is always bang on, while his playing is responsive and imaginative.

Jonathan Casey

(Solo Artist)

We were on stage in Tokyo with David Cross playing a very sticky moment in 17/8, when a drum stick landed at my feet. I thought he had disgarded it as broken, so with punkish arrogance I kicked it away. When I turned round to look at Joe he was laughing, as he had accidently dropped the stick yet was still playing the most demanding pattern with one stick. Listening back to a live mix of the track you’d never know Joe had dropped a stick.

Mick Paul

(David Cross Band)

Mick and I held auditions this month to select a drummer for gigs in the new year. It was not difficult at all once Joe Crabtree sat down on the house kit at Back Street Studios. He has an astonishing flair for playing odd time signatures and straight fours with the same easy flowing technique. Also, improvising with the three of us was exciting; lots of space and plenty of ambiguity.

David Cross

(King Crimson)

I’ve heard Joe playing in many different styles and he nails them all. He’s one of the best British drummers out there.

Gregg Bissonette

(David Lee Roth, Ringo Starr All Star Band, ...)

INTERVIEWS

Sweetwater Interview

Drumhead Interview

BeatIt Interview

STATISTICS

Subscribers

YouTube Views

Wishbone ash gigs

Countries

EDUCATOR

JoeCrabtree’s Music Lessons prides itself on providing the most in-depth drum lessons on the internet.

With over 200 hours of content it’s all the drum tuition you need!

Joe’s YouTube channel has over 5 million views.

DEVELOPER

Joe began development of PolyNome for iOS in 2011 and it has evolved into a fully fledged practice tool for discerning musicians.

With the ability to log practice, create practice routines and setlists, and download presets created by other users it has become the go to tool for many professional musicians including Peter Erskine (Steely Dan, Weather Report), Dennis Chambers (Santana), Virgil Donati (Steve Vai), and Chris Coleman (Chaka Khan)