Craig Blundell

Craig Blundell
Blundell performing with Steve Hackett in 2021.
Blundell performing with Steve Hackett in 2021.
Background information
Born (1973-07-18) July 18, 1973 (age 51)
GenresProgressive rock
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Drums
  • percussion
Years active1990s–present
Member of
Websitecraigblundell.com

Craig Blundell (born 18 July 1973)[1][2] is a British drummer, who has toured with Steven Wilson and Steve Hackett.[3] He was a member of progressive rock band Frost* from 2009 to 2019 and again from 2022 till the present.[4] He is also been a member of the supergroup Kino, a band that includes Frost* guitarist John Mitchell alongside John Beck of It Bites and Pete Trewavas of Marillion, when they reformed in 2017.[5]

Biography

Blundell started playing drums at the age of three[6] but considers his first serious experience with the drums was playing with the Royal Marines Corps at age sixteen.[7] He cites his influences as Clive Deamer of Roni Size/Reprazent, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Phil Collins of Genesis and Brand X, Billy Cobham, Michael Giles of King Crimson, Neil Peart of Rush, Terry Williams of Dire Straits, Dave Lombardo of Slayer and Clive Burr of Iron Maiden.[8] He has played with members of King Crimson, Dire Straits,[9] Genesis,[3] Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Porcupine Tree[1] and Rainbow.[10]

He first turned to a professional musician in 2008 after getting exposure by playing with Bruce Dickinson[11] and Mike Rutherford of Genesis and Mike + the Mechanics on some sessions with Celine Dion[7][12] before going "Back to the day job."[7] He described his experience of the sessions with Rutherford as defining moment is his career as it taught him to refrain himself while drumming.[12] He found himself gravitating towards progressive rock and was a fan of King Crimson and Yes, he received his big break when drummer Marco Minnemann mentioned his name when doing a gig with Joe Satriani which led to him getting a job with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree who he was a "massive" fan of.[7] He was the last to be audition on the day and was recommended by former Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison as well as John Mitchell.[7] His first tour with Wilson was in support of his album To The Bone in 2017.[13]

In 2018, Blundell announced that he would be joining Steve Hackett on tour for the first time, replacing long-time drummer Gary O'Toole two weeks after his departure.[14] The tour, called Selling England By The Pound tour, started soon after Blundell finished the To The Bone tour with Steven Wilson.[14]

Discography

Year Artist Title Cite
2001 David Knopfler Wishbones [15]
2002 Dale Newman Cubed [16]
2013 Frost* The Rockfield Files [17]
2014 Pendragon Men Who Climb Mountains [18]
2014 Uge Nada Es Imposible [19]
2015 Lonely Robot Please Come Home [20]
2016 Steven Wilson 4½ [21]
2016 David Cross Band Sign Of The Crow [22]
2016 Frost* Falling Satellites [23]
2016 Steven Wilson A Perfect Life At The Wiltern [24]
2017 Moonparticle Hurricane Esmeralda [25]
2017 Lonely Robot The Big Dream [26]
2017 Phil Lanzon If You Think I'm Crazy [27]
2017 Steven Wilson To the Bone [28]
2018 Kino Radio Voltaire [29]
2018 Steven Wilson How Big The Space [30]
2018 Matt Berry Television Themes [31]
2018 David Cross & David Jackson Another Day [32]
2018 Steven Wilson Home Invasion: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall [33]
2018 Semantic Saturation Paradigms [34]
2018 Adam Holzman Truth Decay [35]
2019 Lonely Robot Under Stars [36]
2019 The Mute Gods Atheists And Believers [37]
2019 Alessandro Bertoni Monarkeys (EP 2019) [38]
2019 Quantum Pig Songs Of Industry And Sunshine [39]
2020 Frost* Others [40]
2020 Steven Wilson Eminent Sleaze [41]
2020 Mariana Semkina Sleepwalking [42]
2020 Fish Weltschmerz [43]
2020 Lonely Robot Feelings Are Good [44]
2020 Steve Hackett Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live At Hammersmith [45]
2020 The Backstage Isolation [46]
2020 Matt Berry Phantom Birds [47]
2020 Fish A Fish In The Lemon Tree - Live MMXX
2020 Frost* 13 Winters [48]
2021 Mick Paul Parallel Lives [49]
2021 Matt Berry The Blue Elephant [50]
2021 Trifecta Fragments [51]
2021 Illuminae Dark Horizons [52]
2021 Steve Hackett Surrender Of Silence [53]
2022 Matt Berry Featuring Emma Noble Beatmaker [54]
2022 Lonely Robot A Model Life [55]
2022 Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More [56]
2023 Frost* Island Live [57]
2023 Steve Hackett Foxtrot At Fifty + Hackett Highlights: Live In Brighton [58]
2023 Steven Wilson The Harmony Codex [59]
2023 Matt Berry Simplicity [60]
2024 Steve Hackett The Circus and the Nightwhale [61]
2024 Frost* Life in the Wires [62]

References

  1. ^ a b Chris Barnes (10 August 2017). "Steven Wilson's Craig Blundell: 10 drumming albums that changed my life". MusicRadar.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  2. ^ "Craig Blundell on Facebook". www.facebook.com. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  3. ^ a b "HackettSongs - Steve Hackett's Official Music Website". Hackettsongs.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  4. ^ "FROST* - Official Website". Frost.life. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  5. ^ Rob (2018-01-22). "Kino returns after 13 years with new album "Radio Voltaire"". Progressive Music Planet. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  6. ^ "About". Craig Blundell. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  7. ^ a b c d e Nick (2016-05-02). "170 - Craig Blundell: The long road to overnight success". Drummer's Resource: Conversations with the world's greatest drummers and music industry pros. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  8. ^ "Craig Blundell: 10 Albums That Changed My Life | Beatit.tv". 2017-08-12. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  9. ^ David Knopfler - Wishbones, retrieved 2022-08-28
  10. ^ Corporation, Roland. "Roland - Artists - Percussion Artists - Craig Blundell". Roland. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  11. ^ "Craig Blundell - Me and Mapex Drums 15 years today I've..." www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  12. ^ a b "News - Q&A: Craig Blundell". www.premier-percussion.com. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  13. ^ "The 10 best prog drummers in the world right now". MusicRadar. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  14. ^ a b Ewing, Jerry (2018-11-11). "Craig Blundell joins Steve Hackett's touring band". loudersound. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  15. ^ Wishbones (liner notes). Edel. 2001. 0132312ERE.
  16. ^ Cubed (liner notes).
  17. ^ The Rockfield Files (liner notes). Cube Records. 2013. CUBE RECORDS 004.
  18. ^ Men Who Climb Mountains (liner notes). Toff Records. 2014. PEND27CD.
  19. ^ Nada Es Imposible (liner notes). Escupes O Tragas? Records. 2014. EOTR-002.
  20. ^ Please Come Home (liner notes). Inside Out Music. 2015. 0507048.
  21. ^ 4½ (liner notes). Kscope. 2016. KSCOPE347.
  22. ^ Sign Of The Crow (liner notes). Noisy Records. 2016. NOISY 008.
  23. ^ Falling Satellites (liner notes). Inside Out Music. 2016. 88985318912.
  24. ^ A Perfect Life At The Wiltern (liner notes). Tachika Records. 2016. SWTLCD-613.
  25. ^ Hurricane Esmeralda (liner notes). Plane Groovy. 2017. PLG063.
  26. ^ The Big Dream (Media notes). Inside Out Music. 2017. 88985369482.
  27. ^ If You Think I'm Crazy (liner notes). Phil Lanzon Ditties. 2017. PLD-007-CD.
  28. ^ To The Bone (liner notes). Caroline International. 2017. 00602557593020.
  29. ^ Radio Voltaire (liner notes). Inside Out Music. 2018. 19075820352.
  30. ^ How Big The Space (liner notes). Caroline International. 2018. 00602567311669.
  31. ^ Television Themes (liner notes). Acid Jazz. 2018. AJXLP450.
  32. ^ Another Day (liner notes). Cross & Jackson Music. 2018. CJMCD001.
  33. ^ Home Invasion: In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (liner notes). Universal Music Group. 2018. 5051300209926.
  34. ^ Paradigms (liner notes). 2018. 689394880087.
  35. ^ Truth Decay (liner notes). Big Fun Productions. 2018. 819376012629.
  36. ^ Under Stars (liner notes). Sony Music. 2019. 19075938852.
  37. ^ Atheists And Believers (liner notes). Sony Music. 2019. 19075930591.
  38. ^ Monarkeys (EP 2019) (liner notes). 2019. 630318882502.
  39. ^ Songs Of Industry And Sunshine (liner notes). White Star Records. 2019. WSCD9008.
  40. ^ Others (liner notes). Inside Out Music. 2020.
  41. ^ Eminent Sleaze (liner notes). Caroline International. 2020. 00602507212179.
  42. ^ Sleepwalking (liner notes). Kscope. 2020. KSCOPE661.
  43. ^ Weltschmerz (liner notes). Chocolate Frog Records. 2020. FHC034CD.
  44. ^ Feelings Are Good (liner notes). Sony Music. 2020. 19439736421.
  45. ^ Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live At Hammersmith (liner notes). Sony Music. 2020. 19439793002.
  46. ^ Isolation (liner notes). Reingold Records. 2020. RRCD019.
  47. ^ Phantom Birds (liner notes). Acid Jazz Records. 2020. AJXLP536.
  48. ^ 13 Winters (liner notes). Sony Music. 2020. 19075994602.
  49. ^ Parallel Lives (liner notes). 2021. PARA001.
  50. ^ The Blue Elephant (liner notes). Acid Jazz Records. 2021. AJXCD578.
  51. ^ Fragments (liner notes). Kscope. 2021. KSCOPE1121.
  52. ^ Dark Horizons (liner notes). Immrama Records. 2021. ILUCD001.
  53. ^ Surrender of Silence (liner notes). Sony Music. 2021. 19439875072.
  54. ^ Beatmaker (liner notes). Acid Jazz Records. 2022. AJX635S.
  55. ^ A Model Life (liner notes). Sony Music. 2022. 19658721372.
  56. ^ Genesis Revisited Live: Seconds Out & More (liner notes). Sony Music. 2022. 19439947702.
  57. ^ Island Live (liner notes). Tigermoth Records. 2023. TMRBR0523.
  58. ^ Foxtrot At Fifty + Hackett Highlights: Live In Brighton (liner notes). Sony Music. 2023. 19658813002.
  59. ^ The Harmony Codex (liner notes). Virgin Music Group. 2023. 00044003353107.
  60. ^ Simplicity (liner notes). Acid Jazz Records. 2023. AJXLP770G.
  61. ^ "Steve Hackett – The Circus and the Nightwhale (Album Review)". The Prog Report. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  62. ^ "FROST* – Life in the Wires (Album Review)". The Prog Report. Retrieved 1 November 2024.