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The Patriot Ledger
400 Crown Colony Drive
P.O. Box 699159
Quincy, MA 02269-9159
(617) 786-7000
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HE DOESN’T MISS A BEAT - LIFE IS ANYTHING BUT HUMDRUM: Musician, 12, to perform before hometown crowd
By JACK ENCARNACAO PEMBROKE - Twelve-year-old Daniel Banks has been around. The cherubic blues drummer has wowed audiences in Boston and Chicago. He appeared on the ‘‘Late Show with David Letterman’’ last January and drummed alongside Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra before a nationwide audience. Tomorrow, Pembroke’s drumming phenom will headline the inaugural Pembroke Jazz, Rhythm and Blues Festival at 7 p.m. at Pembroke Community Middle School on School Street. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students, and can be bought at the door or at 3D Guitars and Music on Route 53. For all the globetrotting he’s done, Daniel welcomes the chance to perform in front of people his own age. ‘‘A lot of his friends can’t come and see him play because he’s playing in bars,’’ said his mother, Christine. ‘‘It’s really late at night, and they’re not allowed to come out.’’ Daniel has lost touch with many friends since his parents switched him to a homeschooling program three months ago. ‘‘I’ll probably be reuniting with them,’’ he said. ‘‘I'll probably call them up and tell them to come down.’’ Daniel will perform with his Moondance Express band, which includes two 18-year-olds, one from Kingston and the other from Randolph, and a 16-year-old guitarist from Rockland. ‘‘I'm the youngest,’’ said Daniel, who turns 13 next month. ‘‘I get picked on a lot.’’ Tomorrow’s festival also will feature a set by young jazz singer Leah Souza and her trumpeting father, Johnny. Lonesome Jukebox, a seven-piece rockabilly and roots band, will perform, too. Moondance Express will be joined onstage by Boston blues guitarist Ricky King Russell. Proceeds from the event will go to the Pembroke Association for the Performing Arts, a parents group that supports music and drama programs at Pembroke High School. Although Daniel is glad to help the cause, whether he’s going to be attending the high school is unclear. His homeschooling program has been going well. His parents hired a math tutor to teach Daniel twice a week. ‘‘He's a bass player, so we get to jam,’’ Daniel said of his tutor. Daniel’s mother teaches him English and spelling. ‘‘It was a long, hard decision,’’ said Christine about homeschooling her son. ‘‘He wasn’t getting enough rest. He was out playing, getting home at 1, 2 in the morning, getting up at 6. He never said he was tired during the day, but he was.’’ Christine Banks said nurturing her son’s talent is paramount to her and her husband, Douglas, who moved to the United States from London 14 years ago. ‘‘It’s not that education isn't important to us,’’ she said, ‘‘but I think at the moment this is going to work for us because of his schedule. This way, if he gets any big opportunities, we don’t have to worry about school. We could do school on the road.’’ Such is the life of an in-demand prodigy. Daniel sees himself attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston one day, and he is pressuring himself to improve. ‘‘Because I'm getting more experience into me, and I'm playing with all these different bands, I have to get much better,’’ he said. ‘‘I really want to be playing with blues greats in the future.’’ Around the South Shore, Daniel has played with different bands at clubs such as Mount Blue in Norwell, Sea Note in Hull and F1 Boston in Braintree. On Oct. 16, Daniel jammed alongside drummers for Prince, Jennifer Lopez and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He also played in Chicago with B.B. King’s daughter, Shirley King. He got to meet the legendary blues musician after a recent Tweeter Center performance. After tomorrow’s performance, Daniel is facing another hectic schedule. ‘‘February I’m booked,’’ he said. Reach Jack Encarnacao at jencarnacao@ledger.com. Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger |
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The Patriot Ledger, 400 Crown Colony Drive |
