Sometime around March or April of 2010, I went to the Baked Potato in Studio City to catch my cousin Gannin Arnold play a show. Gannin had just released his second solo record, Not From Here, a collection of guitar instrumentals backed by an insane list of guest drummers including Simon Phillips, Jimmy Chamberlain, Stephen Perkins, Gary Novak, Tris Imboden and Pat Mastelotto.

Taylor Hawkins also guested on three tracks, a connection dating from Gannin’s time in The Coattail Riders, the slyly-named side project Hawkins started in downtime from his better-known day job (Gannin played guitar on the first two Coattails records, Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders and Red Light Fever).

While that drum dream team couldn’t all make it out to Studio City on a weeknight, plenty of heavy hitters turned out to help kick off the new record. Bassists Tim Landers, Rudy Sarzo and fellow Coattail Rider Chris Chaney all sat in, along with drummers Drew Hester, Jonathan Mover and Hawkins, with Gannin leading different combinations through songs from the new record, covers and a grab-bag of collective favorites.

I was lucky enough to catch the proceedings with camera in hand. Being unaccustomed to the new Nikon DSLR I’d borrowed from work, I couldn’t get shutter speeds and apertures dialed in before the gig, and I didn’t want to use flash during the performances. Thus the blurry, darkened images you see here. Wished I’d done better, although the images do have a woozy, ethereal quality that I’ve come to appreciate especially in the wake of Hawkins’ death.

Not From Here is a drummer’s buffet. Probably the only drummers missing from Gannin’s wish list might be Stewart Copeland and Billy Cobham (along with one other legend; see our Q&A with Gannin below). You can see who played on which tracks here at Discogs. Not From Here is at turns fiery, tender, athletic and complex. There are straight-forward rockers, proggy workouts and searching ballads, all reflecting Gannin’s wide range of influences, and perhaps none deeper or more durable than the late master Jeff Beck.

Also check out Gannin Arnold Project: 5 World Class Drummers, a video series produced by Drum Channel where Hawkins, Chamberlin, Phillips, Novak and Terry Bozzio all take a swing at the album’s title track. Here’s Hawkins, Chaney and Arnold — Coattail Riders 1.0 — putting down their version. Ridiculous unison lines all around on the head, with Hawkins’ tight, trademark phrasing and fills.

And now, some photos from that evening…

all photos copyright dan frio 2025

Q&A with Gannin Arnold

What are some highlights you remember from that night? How’d you get all those guys to come out?
Playing with Jonathan Mover and Rudy Sarzo was a highlight. I grew up listening to both of those guys on various recordings and it was so cool to share the stage with them.

I seem to recall you saying most of the drummers recorded their parts at their own studios.
Most of them did, but there were some exceptions. Jimmy Chamberlain, Taylor Hawkins and Stephen Perkins all recorded their parts at my home studio in Burbank.

You’d played with most or all of those drummers in some contexts before, correct?
Everyone except Jonathan Mover. I only spoke to him on the phone, I believe, and we played together for the first time that night.

Had you played with Jimmy Chamberlain before recording Not From Here?
Yes, I went on tour with his band, The Jimmy Chamberlain Complex. We opened up for Tears For Fears and did a bunch of shows in Europe. There’s some footage of that band on YouTube. That band was intense! I love Jimmy’s playing. He really has his own thing.

Jeff Beck is obviously a central influence on your playing and the material on Not From Here. I’d say I also hear some Steve Vai in there.
That album was really was about all my classic rock influences. Ritchie Blackmore, Joe Walsh, etc. I was really trying to capture that spirit in a fusion context.

Do you have any lasting favorites from that album? Any tracks that stick with you more than others?
I like “Blue Ships” a lot harmonically. The title track has also really endured the test of time. That’s a fun one to play and Jimmy sounds great on that track.

Were you still playing with Coattail Riders at the time you finished and released Not From Here? 
Yes, we had recorded the first record and toured together.

How did you first meet Taylor?
Through my friend Drew Hester who was playing drums with Joe Walsh at the time. They were childhood friends growing up in Laguna Beach.

What were your first impressions of him? 
Super high energy. Very intelligent and knew his rock history. We had a lot of the same influences, especially Rush and Queen. We became friends pretty quickly.

Did you guys bond over any Orange County-isms?
Not really, interestingly enough. I mean we understood the culture for sure, but we didn’t talk about it very much.

How well did you know his playing before you started playing together? Had you listened to much Foo Fighters before?
I knew those early Foo Fighters records and I saw him play with Alanis Morissette. I loved his high-energy style of playing.

Can you describe his playing in a few words?
Powerful, intelligent and raw.

Playing alongside him, could you hear his singing/songwriting ability come through on the drums?
Yes, he had a compositional way of playing. You could definitely tell he approached the drums in a musical way, and not just as a drummer who likes to hit things!

If you could have fit more drummers on Not From Here, who else would you have asked?
Bill Bruford. I actually reached out to him, but he declined because he was retired at the time.

When’s the follow up?
No follow up yet. I would like to make a jazz record with some of my favorite jazz drummers. I would have loved to play with Jack DeJohnette. I was so sad to hear he passed away. What an amazing musician he was!