Inizio questo redazionale ringraziando di cuore Rob, una persona affabile, un professionista e un grande sognatore ma, soprattutto, un amico che con questa “lettera aperta di Rob Wallis” ha incantato anche noi che lo conosciamo benissimo. Abbiamo condiviso anni di collaborazioni e stiamo progettando ancora grandi cose insieme a lui e alla sua Hudson Music, forse la compagnia editrice più importante al mondo quando si parla di batteria e percussioni.
Grazie agli enormi successi ottenuti con la Hudson Music, Rob ha creato una infinita quantità di contenuti dedicati agli studenti. Una mole di informazioni mai esistita anche solo 20 anni fa quando la rivista Planet Drum, come Hudson Music, era appena nata e il sottoscritto veniva preso per visionario. Oggi, visti i risultati e grazie alla condivisione di queste “folli” idee e alle identiche visionarie ispirazioni, noi, come Rob, possiamo dire di aver avuto delle buone intuizioni quando, tanti anni fa, decidemmo di fondare le nostre attività imprenditoriali dando voce alla nostra passione.
Questa lettera aperta di Rob Wallis, che ho deciso di condividere in originale per la sua sincera e viscerale esposizione che sarebbe altrimenti snaturata a causa della traduzione, racchiude tutti i successi ottenuti e offre spunti di riflessione oltre che un senso civico inusuale.
Un abbraccio a te Rob amico mio!
Marco Mammoliti
Lettera aperta di Rob Wallis
Dear Friend of Hudson,
We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters…
We greatly appreciate your loyalty during this interesting and challenging year, as well as your personal commitment to playing music and using this time to become a better musician.
When many places around the world started shutting down in March because of COVID-19 restrictions, we took it upon ourselves to add as much online content as possible so people everywhere would be able to turn to music and their drumming to help them get through it all. As the year is winding down, our amazing team can look back and note that we have released more than 400 new titles through Hudson Digital Books, the Drum Guru & Bass Guru lesson packs and, our newest addition, Hudson Play-Along Tracks.
Hudson Digital Books now has more than 225 titles ranging from classics like Stick Control and Syncopation to the latest releases from drummers around the world, covering just about every level and every style.
Drum Guru now has over 100 lesson packs featuring artists like Steve Smith, Steve Gadd, Chad Smith, Mike Portnoy, John Blackwell and many others. Bass Guru offers lessons with Victor Wooten, Felix Pastorius, Lincoln Goines, Mark Egan and many more.
And we continued our line of drum biographies, building on the releases from last year — the Bobby Morris story, My Las Vegas, and the Buddy Rich biography, One of a Kind — with the publication of Liberty DeVitto’s Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness and the Jeff Porcaro bio, It’s About Time (by Robyn Flans).
Amid the tragedy, sacrifices and pain of this pandemic, there has been a profound realization of our interconnectedness – particularly within the drumming community, which I call the world’s greatest and most supportive fraternity/sorority.
As we await the new year, we look forward to turning the corner on this crisis and getting back to the work and hobby we love, playing music again everywhere from local venues to social and community events and the proverbial garage.
Since there are a lot of musicians out of work now, we would like to show our gratitude to our customers by donating 20% OF OUR NET PROFITS FROM ALL SALES FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER (after artist royalties and manufacturing are paid) to two music-focused organizations: one that has been around for a long time and provides rent assistance, meals and services for musicians called the Jazz Foundation of America and another that provides music education and instruments to young players in New Orleans, The Roots of Music. If you would like to donate on your own, you can find these organizations at: therootsofmusic.org and jazzfoundation.org
We want to thank you again for your support. We have a lot of great things planned for 2021, but most of all, we are looking forward to getting back to some degree of health, safety and normalcy — and seeing you all out there playing music!
Happy Holidays and BE SAFE from everyone at Hudson Music…
Sincerely,
Rob Wallis Hudson Music, Founder
