About Ryan Brown
Ryan Brown is a professional drummer and percussionist in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his gig as the drummer for Dweezil Zappa, he plays with Los Angeles-based bands The Young Royals, Black Belt Karate, SexTapes, AM/FM, The Fuxedos and Madras, and in the bands of artists Arrica Rose, Karem Malicki-Sanchez, Colin Armstrong, Josh Canova, Space Oddity and rapper J Naugh-T.
He has toured with Taiwanese pop star Chyi-Chin and L.A. bands OWL and Ultraviolet, performed on “Last Call with Carson Daly” with Ingrid Michaelson and played the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland with R&B artist Niki Haris. He has recorded tracks and albums with producers Marti Frederiksen, Mark Hudson, Mikal Reid, Russ Irwin, Rob Seals, Glen Laughlin, Rob Shrock, Brian Dobbs, Klaus Derendorf, Brian Paturalski, Billy Morrison, Larry Crane and David Weisberg, including the hit single “The Real Thing” from Bo Bice.
Ryan can also be heard on releases by Foreigner, Circus Diablo, Hannah Montana, Clay Aiken, Cassie Davis, Nick Lachey, Jesse McCartney, Heather Graham, Suzie McNeil (Rock Star INXS) and Stephanie McIntosh, as well as on the movie soundtracks for Ice Age: Continental Drift (Adam Schlesinger), Kung Fu Panda (Hans Zimmer and John Powell) and The Dark Knight (Hans Zimmer). He’s performed on recordings with Alex Lifeson, Earl Slick, Elliot Easton and Rudy Sarzo.
Ryan has also appeared as a sideline musician in numerous TV shows and movies, including Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End, Desperate Housewives, Jag and Samantha Who?. He plays all styles of music, including rock, R&B, jazz, ska, funk, blues, folk and country. He is on the drum faculty at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Calif., and teaches private lessons as well. A native of Denver, Colorado, he has played drums and percussion since he was 11 years old. Ryan graduated from Indiana University with a degree in jazz studies and percussion.
Ryan,
I heard you play last evening at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. Fabulous drumming!!! Your drums sounded fantastic – really liked the tuning. What drumheads were you using – two ply? They sounded like Remo Vintage Emporer heads as they had a great full sound with nice low end.
Best regards,
Dave Ruetz
Thanks so much, Dave! I appreciate it. Sorry for the delay. The heads were clear pinstripes.
Take care!
Ry
Ryan! My name’s Chelsea and I saw you and Zappa plays Zappa play March 1st at Westbury! I had pink hair and I wanted to say thank you so so much! I hope you guys come around again and you’re one of the most talented drummers I’ve seen!
Hi Chelsea!! Thank you so much! It was great meeting you after the show. That was one of my favorite shows of the tour…I love that venue. I really appreciate the kind words. Hope to see you again soon!! 🙂
Hi Ryan, we’re excited to catch the next incarnation of ZPZ here in the SLC on Fri 4/24. Dweezil is doing his guitar clinic but I was wondering if you’d be interested in giving a drum lesson to my 14 yr old son … he’s good. If you’re at all interested, I can send a vid to get an idea of where he’s at musically (he leans toward the complicated … Zappa, Miles Davis, King Crimson, Bill Laswell, etc).
Thanks!
-Kevin
Hi Ryan, this is Justin (the San Francisco Giants fan in PA) we talked last night after the Sherman Theatre gig in Stroudsburg, PA. Just wanted to give you my email address if you ever have time and want to go to a baseball game like you mentioned. Nice talking to you guys last night. Keep in touch and keep rockin’ the rest of the tour!! I’ll see you next time you guys are in the area.
Hi Justin!! Thanks for the message. See you this week?!
Just wanted to say what a prevleag it was to meet you last night in Ponte Vedra fl. And thank you for the stick. You guys were amazing!!!🎼
Thanks Steve!! Sorry for the delay, I hope all is well! We will be back in Florida in January. Keep an eye out for dates!
STATE THEATER – State College, PA 9/16/2015 – MY GAWD you blew me away. The whole band was firing in 12 cylinders. That show remapped all my neural pathways. I am a new man!!—that old dude in the front row, stage left.
Awesome, thanks John!! I really appreciate it. I hope all is well, sorry for the delay!!
Saw ZPZ show last night in Omaha, flabbergasted by the level of musicianship. Thanks for taking time to shake hands after the show, continued success to you Ryan!
Richard, thanks so much!!! Sorry for the delay, I hope all is well!
[…] hij is zeker de kwaadste niet. Bij vlagen zag ik zijn vader staan. Van de rest van de band verdient Ryan Brown een eervolle vermelding voor het tweeënhalf uur onafgebroken lekker drummen. Als relikwie […]
Hi, thanks so much! I just used Google translator:)
ryan-hello-my son & I saw you at the stone pony Asbury park on sept.18th-you might remember me-I was the guy in front with the happy smiley face who was having the best time in the world-we told you we wre both drummers and ran-sorry-I was concerned about the parking meter running out of time -which it did -got a parking ticket anyway-I should have stayed to talk more -great show by all accounts -great hand and foot action-just wanted to touch base and say -man ,thank goodness for real kick-action music-still thinking of all the great music that night -hopefully to see you again,next time around -thank you again-kevin lees-Vincent
Hey Kevin! Thanks for the message I appreciate it!!! Sorry for the delay AND sorry you got a ticket!! Hope to see you again soon!
Hey Ryan,
Thanks again for the drum lesson for my son Miles the last time ZPZ came through SLC … Wanted you to know I’ll be taking the whole family out to SF in Feb and will be catching the 2/12 show. Miles looks forward to saying hello.
PS – my 81 year old father will also be in attendance
Hey, you know what drums/percussion and flutes have in common? They’ve been played together for over 40,000 years. See you in SFO this Friday.
Nice 🙂 I hope all is well!
Ryan, saw you play last night at the “Egg”, second time, UNREAL !!!
Thanks, Jimmy!!
Hi Ryan,
Saw you play at the “Egg” in Albany NY couple nights ago, second time and WOW. You have taken all the great drummers that had the seat for Frank, and combined them into this ass whopping package, YOU can call your own. All the best on the road with this tour, hope to see you play again and again.
Jimmy Harte
I really appreciate it, thanks so much for the message and kind words!!!
Ryan, I’m a old drummer and familiar with many of the great drummers past and present. Be honest never heard your name come up. We were at the concert last nite at Berkley performance center. And it was a PERFORMANCE. You blew me away with your massive, powerful, fluid play, with incredible flurry of hand to hand strokes, rolls, etc around the with great dynamics. Not to say the whole band was top notch!!! BLOWN AWAY….
Wow thanks, Ron!!! So nice of you, I really appreciate it!!!
Berkeley was amazing. You were unbelievable!! Bombastic! Thanks so much. Larry
Thanks so much!!
Hey Ryan it’s Chandler from the dweezil Zappa concert. That was the best concert I’ve ever been to. It dosent even add up how you kept the dexterity for almost 3 hours!! and didn’t even break a sweat. You are the best drummer I’ve ever seen live. I’ve already went back to the videos I took to interpret your awesome fills. Thanks for the best show I’ve ever seen! I’ve learned a good majority of zappas songs on drums. In a couple of years I hope to try out for dweezil.
Chandler, WOW, thanks so much!!! I really appreciate the kind words!!! Thanks for coming to the show, what a fun night. Please stay in touch. Hope to see you again soon!!
Saw the show at Napa Uptown Theater last night April 30, 2017. Man your playing had me mesmerized. The whole show no matter what the style you just were killing it. Thank you!
Mike, thank you so much!!! I really appreciate it. What a nice theater you have in Napa. Hope to see you again soon!
Ryan, loved the show on the 5 the. Dude you really keep that beat going, non stop! Glad that you are part of helping keep the FZ legacy going! Hope the band returns to the la area soon! Mark.
Thanks, Mark! It’s an honor to keep this amazing music alive. I hope we have another LA hometown show again soon as well!
Ryan, GREAT!!!! seeing you play and talking after the “Dweezil” gig Tues. night in Ridgefield, CT. Joanne and I were so “high” from the whole night….Very cool!!!!!…..take care….Bill
Thanks, Bill! It was great to meet you and Joanne!
Ryan just saw you with Dweezil and crew you play great drums especially when Frank had Vinny,Terry,and Chad playing for him and those are some big shoes to fill and you nailed it with your own style DW kit sounded great but ditch the Sabians and Switch to Zildjian K’s or Paiste’s just my opinion they just sound much nicer to me
Thanks, Dave! I appreciate the kind words!
Hey Ryan just caught your show in Durango. You nailed it. The drums were super loud and full in the balcony. I have been a Zappa fan for a lot of years. It’s really inspiring to see such great player’s such as yourself come to Durango. The band was awesome. I knew the drummer was going to be as well. You did not disappoint.
Thanks
Wow, thanks Todd! I really appreciate it. What a beautiful venue you have in Durango! I was born and raised in Denver, so it was good to be back in Colorado:) Thanks again, I’m glad you enjoyed the show!
Ryan, I became a fan after catching you on the Cease and Desist Tour, Fresno 2017 gig. WOW. Love those DWs. Killer snare sound. You and the rest of the group blew me away. Freaking musical super heroes, that what you guys and gals are!
Thanks so much! I love the Tower Theater 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the show. Keep an eye out for 2018 dates…I will post here. Hope we go back to Fresno, please say hi!
Saw you with Dweezil a couple years ago at the Kant Stage in Kent, OH… You rocked (as well as the rest of the band) but what what really impressed me most was your humility /humbleness and how you stopped & hung out and talked with my friends & I outside for a while afterwards (with your iced-tea from the drugstore across the street if I remember right). It was a great conversation with us about music and how you wound up drumming for the band…. It left an impression
Keep on Rockin!!!!
Wow thanks so much, Ken!! I really appreciate it the message. I hope all is well, hope to see you soon!
I loved how you approached the statistical density of the Black Page #1. Freekin’ Awesome!
Thanks!!!
Hi Ryan, it’s Mark- the Crisco shirt from Detroit and Indianapolis. You and Kurt really drive the show and are obviously totally in-sync with each other. You sound like one- it’s very impressive. Thanks for being so gracious and approachable. Looking forward to seeing you guys again soon- I have been following Dweezil for many years, and the current lineup is absolutely the best. Schelia has always been fantastically talented and so entertaining. Best of luck to you Ryan!
Thanks, Mark! It was great to meet you in Indy! Thanks for driving all over to see the shows! Hope to see you in the fall, let me know if you are coming to some shows. I appreciate the kind words! Take care.
Hey Ryan…Coming out to see you guys at St. Charles this week. How do I get a MasterClass from you. LOL I’m gonna be watching like a hawk! :O) Have a great gig. You are a very special drummer. To play Frank Zappa’s Music is freaking me out…like O My God!
scottie
Hi Scott, thanks! Please say hi after the show!