George "Spanky" McCurdy

George "Spanky" McCurdy (born June 28, 1981)^[1] is an American gospel/soul/pop/hip-hop drummer. Spanky has toured with Lady Gaga, Kanye, Diddy, The Backstreet Boys, Jill Scott, and Floetry. He has also collaborated with Queen Latifah, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Bubba Sparxxx, Nas, Brandy, and Tye Tribbett, among others.^[2][3]

Life and career

Early life

George McCurdy grew up in Olney, a neighborhood located in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[4] At about age four, George was given the nickname “Spanky” and has gone by it ever since. Spanky’s love for music began at an early age. Growing up, he attended Settlement Music School then subsequently attended Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University, and received lessons from the famous drummer Little John Roberts.

Musical Beginnings

Spanky’s childhood was surrounded by church and gospel music. He grew up watching the choir director and says it is why he is used to working with musical directors. Spanky also credits playing in church as the reason he is so fearless and has so much fire in his musical style. He also credits Philadelphia natives Little John Roberts, Vidal Davis, and Brian Frasier-Moore as his musical influences. By age 13, Spanky was playing with several local acts, including various gospel groups. It was through these groups that Spanky met other musicians that taught him what he knows today.

"Off Time/On Time"

In May 2013, Spanky and Hudson Music released an instructional DVD on drumming called “Off Time/On Time”. In the DVD, Spanky explains and demonstrates various drumming concepts in order to teach viewers new creative drum techniques.

Discography

Future Endeavors

Spanky is currently working on a new studio album, Spank Sinatra, due out in July 2013. He is also working on several mix tapes and is looking to start his own clothing line. Of his fashion line, called StarStruk, Spanky explains, “Everything I wear, I’m going to make. It’s just going to be a dope, fun company. Hopefully, I see like a lot of people rocking stuff. So I’m going to keep everything different that way. I don’t know. I just want everybody to rock the stuff. It’s going to be dope. I’m excited.” ^[5]

Personal life

Love for Philadelphia

Spanky has been quoted many times about the love he has for his hometown. In his interview with Philly 360, Spanky expressed his appreciation for Philadelphia's music scene. "Philly music scene is the nucleus of the whole operation. If you take us out of it, a lot of artists are going to lose great bands. You have the number one sought after music director in world, Adam Blackstone, whose MDing everybody - Maroon 5, Jill Scott, Kanye. It's like everybody. Then you have the musicians, Brian Frasier Moore, legendary, who is getting ready to go out with Madonna, [and he] just got finished doing Janet. And right now, he's in the studio with Queen Latifah. You got, Little John Roberts, you have of course The Roots' James [Poyser]. It's just so much. Philly is the nucleus of it all. All of our younger cats are now touring with Marsha Ambrosius and different underground artists. I have so much respect for my city, especially after touring around the whole world and seeing how much respect they have for us, and for our roots and for our swag and our reputation. So I love my city, man. It’s like we have soul here. We have soul. We have character. A lot of people don’t have that. So you know, I can talk hours about Philly."^[5]

References

External links

• https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeSpankyMcCurdy
• https://twitter.com/Spankydrumz
• https://www.youtube.com/georgespankymccurdy
• Photos and videos at drummerworld.com
• Interview at thebeeshine.com