Garrettsville – Last year, the Street Beats drum line made their debut at Garrettsville Summerfest using boom whackers and performing as an impromptu flash mob through out the entire weekend. After a few performances, they developed a following and folks began to ask “Who are they? When will they perform again?” This led to a sudden rise in popularity until Summerfest ended, and the group sort-of disappeared as far as the public was concerned.
The Street Beats are a drumming group that was birthed when Nick Crawford saw a similar group at in 2012 while he was on vacation. Nick organized a group of fellow percussionists and began writing music, and doing the choreography for them to practice, with the ultimate goal of performing at Summerfest. The group held organized practices bi-weekly with many impromptu practices in between and then debuted at Garrettsville Summerfest in 2013.
The original group was comprised of James A. Garfield percussionists, Nick Crawford, Eric Eiermann, Chad Curry, and Mark Butto, however this year they added Ryan Everett when Chad’s schedule no longer permitted him to participate.
Nick was the organizer of the group and has quite a music history. Nick began to show an interest in music at a very early age. He started off playing the piano. In fifth grade, he tried out for percussion for the school band and has been drumming on everything since. Since that time, he’s played with the Notre Dame Indoor Percussion Ensemble for two years. He’s performed in numerous piano recitals. He played at NEOUCOM for a business dinner, played in the high school musicals as part of the orchestra, and for local churches as a substitute pianist. And most recently, he became a member of the Bluecoats Drum Corp.
Mark Butto has been drumming on just about any surface he can find since he was about six years old, when his older brother Nick taught him how to play and he hasn’t stopped since. One time, Mark got four paint cans and practiced playing them (like the quads) and then decided to bring the paint cans in the house and dropped the cans and paint spilt all over our dining room floor. The family got it all cleaned up but he will never live that one down! His teachers say they have to tell him to stop drumming on the desk with his pencil. Mark plays quads in the marching band, drums in the jazz band and drums for the youth band and worship team at his church (Life Church). His newest adventure is playing the snare drum for the Geauga Highlanders Pipe and Drum Band.
Eric Eiermann is the third member of the group. Eric started off playing the trumpet in the school band. In his second year of band, he switched to the drums. He currently plays the snare drum for the James A. Garfield High School Marching Pride and will be a senior next fall.
Ryan Everett is the newest member to the group and will be a senior next fall at James A. Garfield Schools. Ryan is the son of Casey and Shelley Everett and has been involved in music since he was very young. He started with the keyboards; he now plays the drums, the ukulele and bongos. His mother claims it can be a little noisy at their house as he drums on everything, using whatever he can find including pencils, silverware and such. Ryan is unsure what avenue he will take when he goes to college in 2015.
The Street Beats will once again be performing at Summerfest in flash-mob style. Come out and watch these young men as they dazzle you with their drumming talents and choreography. The guys may march to the beat of a different drum but they easily mesmerize a crowd.
Garrettsville Summerfest will begin Friday night June 27th and runs until Sunday night June 29, 2014.
