Joe Crabtree (born 21 September 1979) is an English rock drummer. He is a former member of

Wishbone Ash Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular albums included ''Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage'' (1971), '' Argus'' (1972), ''Wishbone Four'' (1973), ''There's the Rub'' (1974), and '' ...

and is also known for his work with

Pendragon Pendragon or ( wlm, pen dreic, ''pen dragon''; composed of Welsh , 'head, chief, top' and / ''dragon'', 'dragon; warrior'; borrowed from the Latin word , plural , 'dragon , br, Penn Aerouant) literally means 'chief dragon' or 'head dragon', but ...

and the David Cross Band.

Early life

The son of Mark Crabtree of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

-based professional audio equipment manufacturer

AMS Neve AMS Neve Ltd is a privately owned audio engineering company who specialise in digital and analogue music consoles, outboard equipment and post production consoles. AMS Neve was the result of the amalgamation in 1992 of AMS (Advanced Music Systems ...

, Joe lived in nearby

Read Read Read may refer to: * Reading, human cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct or derive meaning * Read (automobile), an American car manufactured from 1913 to 1915 * Read (biology), an inferred sequence of base pairs of ...

and was educated at

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School ; "Founded on Rock" , established = , closed = , type = Grammar school;Academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headteacher , head = James Keulemans , r_head_label = Deputy He ...

. Crabtree began his drumming career at age 11 studying with a local self-taught drummer, Harry Hindle. It was while studying with Hindle that Crabtree was first introduced to the drumming of

Dave Weckl Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusion drummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Weckl started playing his first set ...

via his instructional video ''The Next Step''. Crabtree cites this as a defining moment in his understanding of what was possible on the drums. He started playing live shows at age 14, and began teaching drums to local drummers at age 15. Having taken up guitar at age 12, he also taught guitar to beginner students for a number of years. While studying physics at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

between 1998 and 2000, Crabtree wrote and recorded with original band Breakmaus. Breakmaus recorded two self-released albums, ''That White Door'' and ''Arrested'', and made an appearance on Sky TV on the show ''Where It's At''. Crabtree also played with many cover bands, small jazz bands, and the university

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

while studying at Durham. Moving to London in 2004, Crabtree continued his drum studies with London musician Bob Armstrong, whose former students include

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

's Alan White, and

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

Zak Starkey Zak Richard Starkey (born 13 September 1965) is an English rock drummer who has performed and recorded with English rock band the Who since 1996. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with English rock band Oasis. In 2020, Starkey toure ...

Professional career

After moving to London in 2004, Crabtree played and recorded with numerous original bands, including a stint with

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...

co-writer Tim Philbert's original project Upsetta. In 2005, Crabtree joined former

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

member

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

in the David Cross Band, which toured Japan, Italy and the UK resulting in the recording of ''Alive in the Underworld''. Bass player Mick Paul recommended Crabtree to

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

guitarist

James Litherland James Litherland (born 6 September 1949) is an English singer and guitarist best known as a founding member of the progressive rock band Colosseum. He was born in Salford, Lancashire, England. He is the father of singer and producer James Blak ...

to play with 1970s folk band

Jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

for a reunion show. Litherland in turn passed Crabtree's name to " Sunshine of Your Love" lyricist Pete Brown, who then recommended Crabtree for the Xanda Howe band. In 2006, Crabtree joined Xanda Howe for a short tour along with Malcolm Bruce (son of

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...

), with whom he later recorded. Also between 2006 and 2008, Crabtree became a member of

and completed two European tours, appearing on the DVDs ''And Now Everybody to the Stage'' and ''Jewel - Past and Presence''.

Wishbone Ash

Crabtree joined

in 2007 for the ''

Power of Eternity ''The Power of Eternity'' is the twentieth studio album from rock band Wishbone Ash. It marks the first recording to feature the band's new drummer Joe Crabtree, who replaced previous drummer, longtime member Ray Weston, during the recording of ...

'' album and subsequent tour, replacing previous drummer Ray Weston. He co-wrote songs on the '' Elegant Stealth'' and '' Blue Horizon'' albums, the latter of which he co-produced and contributed a guitar solo to the song "Take It Back". He appears on the live DVDs ''Live in London'', ''Live in Paris'', and the rockumentary ''This Is Wishbone Ash'' as well as the live albums ''Argus Live'', recorded live for

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

radio, and the Roadworks series of releases. As of 2017, Crabtree has played over 1,000 shows with Wishbone Ash in 29 countries, including an arena tour of South Africa along with

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

and Uriah Heep. In 2022 Crabtree was replaced by Mike Truscott.

Teaching

Having taught private students for many years, Crabtree began a short stint teaching at the Academy of Contemporary Music before having to leave in 2007 when the Wishbone Ash touring schedule coincided with term time. Inspired by how much he learned from DCI music videos, Crabtree set up an online drum school
JoeCrabtree.com
in 2006. The school has attracted more than 2,000 students, and hi
YouTube
channel of drum lessons has garnered more than 5 million views. Outside of his own channels, Crabtree creates educational videos for the drumstick manufacturer

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion mallet, percussion sticks and mallets. Biography Vic Firt ...

's website. Crabtree also contributes articles to ''

Modern Drummer ''Modern Drummer'' is a monthly publication targeting the interests of drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. ''Mo ...

'' and provides regular "Joe Knows" columns to '' Drumhead Magazine''.

Software development

Crabtree also creates musical software.

Discography

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash Discography Albums *'' The Power Of Eternity'' (2007) *'' Elegant Stealth'' (2011) *'' Blue Horizon'' (2014) *''

Coat of Arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

'' (2020) Live albums *''

Argus "Then Again" Live This is the complete discography of the rock band Wishbone Ash. Over the years they have released 24 studio albums, 12 live albums, 10 compilation albums and 20 singles. Albums Studio albums Other albums Live albums Compilation albums ...

'' (2008, live album) *''Roadworks 1'' (2010, live album) *''Roadworks 2'' (2011, live album) *''Roadworks 3'' (2013, live album) *''Roadworks 4'' (2014, live album) *''Roadworks Boxset'' (2015) *''Live in London - 40th Anniversary'' (2009) Compilation albums *'' Tough'' (2008, compilation album) *'' Tender'' (2008, compilation album) DVDs *''Live in London - 40th Anniversary'' (2009) *''Live in Paris'' (2016) *''This Is Wishbone Ash'' (2010) Singles *"Reason To Believe" (2011) *"We Stand as One" (2020) *"Back in the Day" (2020)

Pendragon

DVDs *''And Now Everybody To The Stage'' (2006) *''Past and Presence'' (2007)

David Cross Band

Albums *''Alive in the Underworld'' (2008, live)

Equipment

Crabtree uses and endorses Sonor drums, Evans drum heads, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Porter and Davies drum thrones, Sensaphonics in ear monitors and Tunerfish Lug Locks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crabtree, Joe 1979 births Living people English rock drummers People from Burnley People educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham Wishbone Ash members Pendragon (band) members