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Bogie Bowles began playing drums at the age of thirteen. A native of
Greenville, South Carolina, Bogie's earliest influences were heavy metal bands
like Judas Priest and Black Sabbath. He remembers wanting to play drums at age
eleven and bugging his parents for a set. His Dad finally gave gave in. Bogie
credits MTV as an early inspiration,"I remember watching videos by bands like
Def Leppard and Toto. The drummers looked like they were having so much fun up
there." In high school, listening to classic rock, Bogie discovered Led
Zeppelin and as with most drummers, John Bonham's influence was a turning
point for him. "I had finally found someone who's playing I wanted to
reproduce, not just play the songs, but to somehow get into this guy's head
and figure out where it all came from and how he was expressing himself."
During a summer at Berklee College of Music, Bogie began exploring other
genres like R&B and Pop and admiring drummers like Jeff Porcaro, Steve
Gadd and Freddy White.
While attending college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, Bogie and some friends founded the alternative band,"Knocked Down
Smilin'"and began a seven year run, touring regionally and recording two
independently released CDs.
Continuing his education as a drummer has always been a constant in
Bogie's career. "About my sixth year with Knocked Down Smilin', I began to
feel that my playing had leveled off. I felt like I needed more of a personal
challenge and I also wanted to be able to express myself more easily in my
music." Bogie sought out local drum guru Frank Worrell. "Frank had played a
lot of jazz and had studied with Alan Dawson, I knew he could help me." Help
he did. Through a series of exercises and lessons over the next eighteen
months, Bogie's playing grew immensely. Still, he knew there was more he could
do.
When Knocked Down Smilin' broke up, it was time to move to Los Angeles.
Bogie's early admiration of Jeff Porcaro (Toto) led him to enroll at the LA
Music Academy, where Jeff's father, Joe Porcaro, was an instructor. Thus began
an intense, yearlong regimen of study and practice with such legendary
teachers and performers as Ralph Humphrey, Mark Schulman, Mike Shapiro and of
course, Joe Porcaro. "Those guys all had my respect before I got there. It
felt like an honor to study under them, rather than something I had to do."
Upon graduation, Mark Schulman referred Bogie to guitarist Stevie Salas
for a European tour. "That experience was life changing. Stevie was so
specific about everything he wanted from me and really pushed me." Upon
returning Bogie called Mark Schulman, "I told Mark I wanted to know every
single thing I could improve in my playing. He was so great and helped me come
up with three simple but challenging exercises. I worked on them for about six
months at different tempos and dynamic levels and man, what an impact that
made." Shortly thereafter, Bogie recorded a CD with college radio favorite
Jeff Witzeman. "That was the first CD I listened back to and thought ,'That's
exactly how I want to sound.'" Bogie joined My Precious Days around this time,
playing local gigs, touring some and recording the CD "Ether".
In the fall of 2002 Ralph Humphrey asked Bogie to join the teaching staff
at the LA Music Academy as a private instructor, teaching the entire
curriculum including Afro Cuban, Jazz and Playing Techniques.
When Bogie began working with Producer Mark Hudson on some demo projects,
Mark brought him on for percussion on Ozzy Osbourne's upcoming CD, due in
Febuary 2005. A few weeks later Bogie auditioned for Kenny Wayne Shepherd,
who's new CD,"The Place You're In" was about to be released. In the fall of
2004 Bogie began a year long world tour with Kenny.
The final two months of Kenny's tour were spent opening for the legendary
B.B. King on his " 80th Birthday Blues Celebration Tour". The other opening
act was none other than Joe Bonamassa. Bogie and Joe met and enjoyed hanging
out together on this tour. Each night they watched each other play with mutual
respect and admiration. It was no wonder that when Kenny's tour ended and Joe
wanted a new rhythm section, Bogie's phone rang. After just three rehearsals,
Joe, Bogie, and long time Johnny Winter bassist Mark Epstein hit the road in
November '05. The are currently on tour in the U.S. and Europe.
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