Gregg Potter is a Chicago-born, Emmy Award–winning drummer, best known today as the drummer of the Buddy Rich Band.
Early Career
Potter launched his career by winning the Slingerland/Louie Bellson National Drum Contest. While still a teenager he landed the drum chair with Steve Dahl, the Chicago radio legend behind the infamous Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. From 1980 to 1986 he played with Dahl’s band, Teenage Radiation, scoring two hit singles and appearing on Dahl’s radio show, television specials and film soundtracks.
The Buddy Rich Band
In 2012 Potter made his debut with the Buddy Rich Band at the 25th Anniversary Buddy Rich Memorial Concert at the London Palladium, sharing the bill with some of the world’s great drummers. Working with Buddy’s daughter, Cathy Rich, he helped bring the band back as a touring, 16-piece big band of Buddy Rich alumni, leading it through tours in the U.S., Japan and the 2017–2018 Buddy Rich Centennial world tour. He also drums on Hal Leonard’s official Buddy Rich play-along book and CD.
In 2012 he also won an Emmy Award for a televised live performance with his band Blackbox and Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen. The signed Vic Firth sticks in this portrait reflect his long association with the brand.
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