Atlanta Drum Academy

from Atlanta Intown - February 2022

Obama Portraits

Members of the Atlanta Drum Academy. Atlanta Drum Academy on “Little Big Shots” show.

By Clare S. Richie

At a rainy Sunday rehearsal in early January, about two dozen members of Lil’ Rascalz drumline grouped by drum were hard at work with a joy and pride in their efforts.

Parents, siblings, and caregivers of the 3 to 12-year-olds watched from the hall or seated on matts inside a metro karate dojo, where the Atlanta Drum Academy (ADA) meets since it outgrew its space.

“New students, I’m gonna put you on the drum that fits your skill set,’ said James Riles III, ADA Executive Director, arranging students on the snare, bass, tenor, duo, and other kits. “You are here to be part of a family.”

All eyes were on Riles as he taught skills, crescendo and footwork “with swag” in a manner that was inspiring, strict and fun. Riles’ teenage sons, Sadarien and Darius, moved through the drumline to provide personalized instruction. An hour later, The Squad drumline, ages 13 to 18, started to arrive for their rehearsal. “Listen to each other,” Riles instructed the drummers. “Many drums should sound like one.”

The drumlines are preparing for competitions. The Squad traveled to the

Continued from page 34

Gay grew up in a deeply religious household cloaked by belief (her mother is a pastor), and while she doesn’t untie herself from her Christian background, she has given herself permission to ask questions in a way that she was not allowed to as a child.

The elements of fantasy that arise in Gay’s work highlight a disparity in popular culture: the lack of portrayals of Black women as protagonists, especially in fantasy and futuristic worlds. “The only time I ever saw women who look like me in space travel was ‘Star Trek,’” said Gay.

“Very rarely are we centered, so I wondered, what does that look like?” In essence, these works that cross between realism in the depictions of female form, recognizable representations of the African American and specifically southern Black experience, animal iconography, and bold, graphic design elements, constitute an on-going conversation that Gay has with herself. At times she uses her artwork and her platform to bring attention to worthy causes that are often devastating in nature.

One such example is an altar of sorts that she created with paper flower artist Bolanle Pace to honor the life of a young Clark Atlanta University woman, Alexis Crawford, who was brutalized and murdered by her roommate and her boyfriend. The exhibition at Mint gallery back in 2019 featured a stark black wall and floor that was painted with the woman’s portrait and complemented by paper flowers. Gay then encouraged visitors to write notes on flower petals to honor lost, missing, and murdered Black girls.

Another particularly moving and haunting work was the 2016 “Ode to Kathryn Johnson” performance piece where Gay donned a blue bull head and read poetry, danced, sang, prayed, and shared readings. The intent of this exhibition was to bring attention to the life of Kathryn Johnson, the 92-year-old Black woman killed by Atlanta police officers during an illegally obtained warrant who later planted drugs in the house.

“Being able to stretch myself in my work is really important,” Gay said. “I don’t want to be stagnant, so the ability to be able to speak about different things through different media is really important to me. That is who I have been all my life. Growing up I wrote plays, I wrote poems, I played violin, I painted, I sang, I danced, I was the drill team captain… I did 50 million things as a kid, so being able to engage and speak in a variety of different ways has always been important to me.”

With an extensive CV that includes more than 16 solo exhibitions, 17 group shows, 20plus listed collections (including Elton John), along with 12 listed awards and grants, Gay

“What Remains” at Mint Gallery

is certainly an esteemed and prolific artist. In October 2021 she participated in an Af-flux Transnational Black Biennial called Monde Bossale in Quebec, Canada. The exhibition sought to highlight Black communities and their contributions to the contemporary art world, and the invitation to exhibit highlights just how instrumental and important Gay’s work is both locally and abroad.

“There is a lack of people who look like me in a lot of spaces that are white walled with only white males. My narrative belongs there as much as anyone else’s,” affirmed Gay. “I belong there, I think I belong in the canon. I believe in my work enough to be bold enough to say we can send this out into the world.”

“Mother Johnston’s Front Yard” “Heaven’s Gate”

Clash of the Drumlines in Dallas, Texas in late January. Lil’ Rascalz have two coming up in Georgia: Millennium Live ATL on Feb. 20 and Georgia Has Talent, a cancer research fundraiser on March 12. And ADA is working on a reality show pitch for Netflix.

“We’ve already filmed a lot of the performances and now we are filming the kids’ and parents’ testimonials,” Riles said. He was also a performer and composer for the movies “Drumline” and “Drumline 2: A New Beat.”

Sparked by his love of playing and teaching drums, Riles started ADA in 2011 to offer lessons and prepare drumlines to perform and compete.

“I’ve been playing drums all of my life,” Riles said. “My parents purchased my first real drum set when I was 5 – a drum set they had to take out a loan to purchase.”

Growing up, Riles performed for family, at church and in school concerts, marching and jazz bands – which earned him a scholarship to Morris Brown College. “In 1999, I had my first chance to teach at a summer camp, Camp New Beginnings,” Riles said. “I just fell in love with teaching and that’s what I’ve been doing since.”

Riles taught in Clayton County Public Schools for 10 years, starting a drum program while at Lake Ridge Elementary. Today, ADA drummers come from all over metro Atlanta – Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett counties and more – drawn in by social media, word of mouth and ADA performances.

ADA’s big break came in 2018, when a dozen kids ages 5 to 13 performed on “NBC’s Little Big Shots” with Steve Harvey.

“It was a big hit on social media. We got a lot of exposure from it. It was hard because I could only take like 12 students and I have 50-60 students at a time, so I had to make choices.”

He also made the choice to leave teaching in 2018 to pursue ADA full-time. His drummers have continued to capture attention.

Former ADA Section Leader Jasmine Bowens earned a scholarship to Hampton University and appeared in friendly snare drum battle on YouTube at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Bowens joined ADA as a 5th grader.

“ADA is not just an organization to me, but a family that encourages respect, sacrifices, heart and selflessness, and this is why I play,” Bowens said.

Destiny Boyd, who joined ADA in high school, played Mika in Nick Cannon’s recent VH-I holiday movie, “Miracles Across 125th Street.”

“She has the same work ethic as Jasmine,” Riles said. “Playing drums is usually dominated by males so when a female comes in, I guess they feel they have to work two times as hard to prove themselves.

Riles is ready to take ADA to the next level by purchasing a building easily accessible by MARTA, offering more classes, and serving more kids in a safe space.

“We want it to have a game room, a family life center where our parents can come and use computers, a gym and classrooms so kids can learn how to produce, take pictures – anything dealing with the arts,” Riles said.

All this is done with the motto of “Pray and Play.”

“We believe that the gift of drumming comes from God and we dedicate our gifts back to God,” Riles said. “We’ve been to so many places and done so many things that if it wasn’t for God blessing us with ADA, we would have never done it.”

Learn more on Facebook (Atlanta Drumacademy) or atldrumacademy.com.