Selasa, 25 Desember 2012

Jimmy "The Reverend" Sullivan

The Rev




The Rev (born James Owen Sullivan February 10, 1981, short for The Reverend Tholomew Plague) was the drummer for Avenged Sevenfold. The Rev attended a Catholic school with A7X lead singer M. Shadows, but was kicked out in 2nd grade.

His first record was released when he was at the age of 18. He also has a side project with A7X guitarist Synyster Gates, as well as members from surf-punk band Ballistico, called Pinkly Smooth, in which he sings lead, instead of drumming. His stage name in this band is Rat Head. He was formerly the drummer for third-wave ska band Suburban Legends. Two of his favorite bands are Rancid and Transplants.

As for drumming, he's sponsored by DW, Evans, Promark and Sabian.

The Rev's influences are Vinnie Paul (Pantera), Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) and Paul Bostaph (Slayer).

He has said that he has 6 different cars, one for all but one day of the week. Ironically, he used to live in a car, and at another time lived in a Laundromat, where he worked during the day, and slept at night.

He is engaged to a girl named Leana. He has been arrested 7 times, although only for incidences such as bar fights.

The Rev had a DW kit with 3 22x18 bass drums (one of which The Rev didn't use), an 8x5 tom, an 8x7 tom, a 10x8 tom, a 12x9 tom, a 14x11 tom, a 16x14 tom, a 18x16 tom (all mounted on a DW Super Rack), two DW 9000 single bass pedals, an AAX X-Celerator 14" Hi-Hat, an AAX 19" Metal Crash, an AA 18" Metal-X Crash, an AAX 19" X-Treme Chinese, an AAX 19" X-Treme Chinese, an AAX 22" Metal Ride, an AAX 22" Metal Ride, an AAX 10" Splash, an 8" Chopper, a Max 11" Splash, an HH 12" Mini Chinese, and Promark drumsticks.
Dec 29 2009 at 4:56 AM
Avenged Sevenfold Drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan Found Dead
James Sullivan, the drummer for Orange County, California based rock band Avenged Sevenfold and better known to his fans as "The Rev," was found dead in his home yesterday (December 28th.) A local examination claims that he passed away from natural causes. His bandmates from Avenged Sevenfold has posted the following message online:
"It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan. Jimmy was not only one of the world's best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy's family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time.
"Jimmy you are forever in our hearts. We love you."

Ron Wikso
Ron was born in Dover, Delaware, the first of 4 children of Linda and Ron Wikso (the first). After finishing their tour of duty in the Air Force, Ron's parents moved the family back to their native Long Island, New York where Ron lived from age 3 until adulthood.

He started playing drums at the age of 7 and studied privately with Larry Ramsden while growing up on Long Island. Along with his private studies, Ron played in several local bands and began playing his first professional gigs by the time he was 12. He also participated in as many of  the school bands, orchestras and choirs as he could in an effort to learn as much as possible about music.

After graduating from East Islip High School, where some of his classmates included now world renowned Contemporary Christian artists Kathy Troccoli and Margaret Becker and football player Boomer Esiason, Ron moved on to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

After studying at Berklee for a year, Ron found himself working quite a bit over the summer in various bands in New York so he decided to stay in New York and continue playing professionally rather than return to college. It didn't take long before he found himself playing a 4 month engagement on the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten...a far cry from the cold winters of Boston and New York!

Upon returning from the Caribbean he continued his work in New York before again finding himself in the tropics...this time as the drummer in the house band on the Holland America Cruise Ship, SS Statendam. The cruise took him to various ports such as St. Thomas, St. John's, St. Maarten (again), Aruba, Antigua, Curacao, Martinique, Guadaloupe, La Guaira/Caracas (Venezuela, South America) and Haiti to name a few.

Following his stint on the cruise ship, he again returned to New York but this time he decided that the cold weather wasn't for him so, after a few months,  he chose to  move out to Los Angeles, California.

Ron didn't know too many people when he first moved out to Los Angeles so, in order to support himself,  he took a job in retail for a few months while he set out to meet other musicians and find work as a musician. It didn't take long before he found it and he has been a constant presence in the Los Angeles music community ever since.



After establishing himself on the LA music scene, Ron began to get called for various recording sessions and tours with some of the best musicians and well known entertainers in the world. Some of the people he's worked with at various times include Cher, Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Foreigner, David Lee Roth (Van Halen), The Storm, Gregg Rolie (Santana/Journey), Randy Meisner (the Eagles), Denny Laine (Paul McCartney & Wings/The Moody Blues), Dave Amato (REO Speedwagon/Ted Nugent/Jimmy Barnes), Michael Monarch (Steppenwolf), Dave Meniketti (Y&T), George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., Peggy Lee and many others.

Some of the tours he's been on with these artists have taken him all over the world to places in Europe, Asia, Australia and North, South and Central America and have featured other artists such as Bryan Adams, Peter Frampton, Eddie Money, 10,000 Maniacs, Deep Purple, The Doobie Brothers, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Paul Rodgers and many others.

Ron lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Debbie, his son, Sean and his daughter, Jordyn. He currently divides his professional time between live touring gigs and session work. Besides the traditional studio scene, he does a lot of session work at his own 2 Guyz & A Fader Studio.

David Garibaldi November 4, 1946







David Garibaldi