Hi everyone, this is JD, director of DOA. Today I decided to share a bit of my own story on “Featured 15.” Percussion has always been a way for me to express myself, making a drum or marimba sing helps me say the things that I can’t verbalize.
As an early teen, I suffered through a horrible depression. It was brought on by some instability at home. To make matters worse, it seemed that I couldn’t express how I felt to friends or family without everyone taking it the wrong way. So I kept things to myself, and bottled up my emotions. This created even more problems.
Band class was the only reason I really got out of bed in the morning, the only thing I felt was worth living for at times. It was because I could put my emotions into the music. Once I realized that, I just started spending a lot of alone time with my practice kit and music books. This “alone time” eventually became my daily practice schedule. As my skills got better and better, so did life.
Percussion really helped save me from a dark place, and for that I am forever grateful. This is why I do what I do everyday now. I know there are more kids out there like me, waiting to find something worth living for. Music may be what saves them as well.
Drumlines Of America 