The Draper Family Band has released their self-titled debut album via Looking Up Productions. The Draper Family band consists of a father and son duo, the Hammond B3, keyboardist Paul Draper, and his son, multi-instrumentalist, Producer, and songwriter Brandon Draper.
Paul Draper has been a veteran of several bands, including The Impacts and The Sham Pells and was a regular at Long View Farms Studio, later used by The Rolling Stones as a rehearsal studio. This led to an interesting brush with fame.
In 1981, Paul was called to audition for The Rolling Stones after doing studio work at Long View Farms. His son Brandon was approaching his second birthday and Paul declined the offer to stay home and raise his son.
Brandon, in turn, launched into music at a young age, starting touring at age 14, and while in high school he was an All-State Orchestral timpanist for 3 years in a row.
Paul’s band, Midnight Flyer gained regional success in the early 1980s and were inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2020. He joined international contemporary blues artist Jimmie Bratcher as his organist in 2001 and went on to play on 5 albums, multiple tours of the US and charted in Contemporary Blues international Radio multiple times.
After relocating from New Mexico to Kansas City in 2006, Brandon started jamming with his dad again. Now some 40 years later, they embark on their first project together as The Draper Family Band.
Brandon Draper has had a very busy professional life including performances with both the New Mexico and Santa Fe Symphony Orchestras and the Kansas City Symphony. Draper has performed and/or recorded with Ottmar Liebert, DJ Logic, Donna Summer, Mary Wilson, Mose Allison, Steve Coleman, Dick Oatts, Mike Moreno, Bobby Watson, and Kevin Hays.
Draper has taught at the University of New Mexico, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Johnson County Community College, East Mountain High School, Shawnee Mission West, and Kansas City Academy, led master classes at the PAS Day of Percussion in many states, and performed at P.A.S.I.C. multiple times. With the Turkish-Jazz group Alaturka, Draper recorded, co-mixed and performed on the 2013 release Yalniz. He is the founder of the children’s interactive music program Drum Safari that has served children and families throughout the US since 2005.
Brandon endorses Zildjian, Vic Firth, Meinl, and Audix Microphones. Paul performs on vintage Hammond organs with Leslie speakers and is currently the Hammond specialist teaching at the Mike Finnigan School of Music in Salina KS.
