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In our jam-packed, gospel-themed August issue of Drummer, we thought it would be timely to take a closer look at this ever-popular style. With such a massive wealth of drumming talent nowadays attributing their phenomenal skills behind the kit to their gospel roots, once we’d scratched the surface we found a long list of well-known, current players more than willing to share their experiences with us: from their favourite gospel drummers, tracks that inspired them when growing up, their approach to kit set-up and how they’ve taken what they’ve learnt from their gospel roots and applied it to whatever styles they now play outside of the gospel realm. Our insight into their world, written by the musicians themselves, includes a three-way interview with a trilogy of the hottest young drummers in the UK today: Jonathan ‘Ginger’ Hamilton, Dexter Hercules and Nathanial ‘Tonez’ Fuller. Our American cousins are not forgotten however, as we also speak to ex-Yellowjacket Marcus Baylor and American Idol/Mary J Blige powerhouse Rex Hardy Jr. for their take on the gospel drumming scene. Elsewhere, we also bring you our report from this year’s loudest music festival, Download 2013, where Andy Hughes was on-hand to witness the sights and sounds of the rock/metal behemoth. Starting this issue, we have our new column featuring drum-guru Martin Ranscombe, who is on-hand to answer any of your questions. Whether it’s gear choices, playing techniques, tuning issues or set-up queries, Martin’s video solutions (available exclusively in our digital version) will hopefully have you playing at your best. Alongside this, our Future Drummer series continues for it’s second instalment, this issue focussing on triggering and what can be achieved by incorporating even basic electronics into your set-up. Alongside all of this we also have our regular news, reviews of the hottest new gear, tuition and features as well as your chance to win a superb DrumCraft series 5 kit worth over £650.00.