New Columnist: Micheal "DORK" Dinkins

I have asked several regional musicians to contribute to this site. Because it is based on helping aspiring up and comer musicians, learning from seasoned,extraordinary and experienced musicians is of great benefit. I strongly believe learning from as many different musicians as possible and hearing as many different points of view as possible will allow them to bloom into something great. The first of the new columnist is multi instrumental, musician extraordinaire,Micheal "DORK" Dinkins. In each of the new columnist first column I asked them to tell of their accomplishments and doings. Here is what Micheal had to say:

Greetings. I was invited by the fantabulous Mr. John Berret to contribute to his blog and asked to first make an introductory post and say a little about what I’m involved in and enjoy. My name is Michael Dinkins, one of the many resident musicians in Augusta. I am primarily a drummer and currently play drums for two bands- L.i.E. and Artemia, but also play some keys/synth and am willing to lend my voice.

I began playing drums at age 13 … on a whim really … just from watching bands on MTV. For all intents and purposes, I am self-taught but did receive a couple of years of vocal performance training at Davidson Fine Arts (class of 1994 to show my age). For some reason, they put me in mixed chorus and would not let me drop. So I learned to read music and sing and do choreography and how to put on a show. I played drums for about 2 years before playing in a band that went out to perform for other people, which was with my cousin who had been basically teaching himself to play guitar (and who I still play with today, oddly enough). My main original project in high school was a metal band called ‘Heir To Ruin’ that was pretty much relegated to playing the Augusta all-ages venues and hangouts around the time and even a handful out of town gigs while it lasted. I played with a couple of other bands in college- and only did one gig with each band. I was never really serious about either one of them as far as trying to get out in public. Jamming was more for personal satisfaction. After college and marriage, I pretty much gave up playing drums for a few years and eventually got back into playing again but only sporadically at home for my own pleasure.

It wasn’t until 2007 that my cousin and I decided to start jamming together again. We started an 80s cover band called The Haeighties that played everything from Madonna to Bobby Brown to Def Leppard to Slayer in the same show. It was during the time we were doing The Haeighties that I realized how much I really missed playing music. After that project ran its course, I joined a band called L.i.E. with a group of musicians that had played in several other popular local bands in past years. I have been with them for the last two years. I also continue to play with my cousin in a band called Artemia, which has recently collaborated with Mr. JohnJohn Berret for a few covers. It has been quite a personally rewarding experience playing with both bands in these last few years, and I was honored to have been voted “favorite lokal drummer” in the Lokal Loudness online poll for 2009 with L.i.E. receiving the “favorite lokal band” award and more recently, invitations to play a big show at Riverwalk with the band Otep and to be the first metal band to appear on one of the 12 Bands of Christmas shows in 2010.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
As you can see Micheal is a lover to music. He will have loads of good advice and information for ANYONE who wants to learn. Here are some website where you can check out Micheal's bands. For L.I.E. go to

www.discoverthelie.com .. For his band Artemia go to:www.reverbnation.com/artemiamusic
.... you can also find L.I.E. on myspace music and on facebook. You can also find Artemis on myspace music and on facebook. Find out when their shows are ( i will post them on here when i can) at ALL AGES venues and in 21+ clubs. L.I.E. has the honor of opening up for the monster metal band OTEP on JULY 9th at the Jesse Norman Amphitheatre in downtown Augusta GA. It is an ALL AGES show that will serve alcohol.You can purchase tickets at www.etix.com ..
Hope you enjoy his columns in the future.