originally published: 04/18/2025
(NEW YORK, NY) -- On Friday, April 25, 2025, Raven Drum Foundation brings together an all-star lineup at NYC's famed Cutting Room to support first responders and veterans for the second year in a row. Founded in 2001 by Rick Allen, drummer of Def Leppard, and healing arts educator and musician, Lauren Monroe, Raven Drum Foundation brings musicians, health educators, and the philanthropic community together to serve the healing of first responders and veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress.
With the core philosophy that when music, intention, and healing wisdom all meet on the paths of neurobiology and psychology, we harmonize our inner mental and emotional states to effect positive change, the foundation provides mind, body, and drumming integrated workshops incorporating evidence-based techniques such as guided visualization, breathwork, and heart-brain coherence education to support wellness, and regulation of the human nervous system.
Together with first responder organizations Friends of Firefighters and First Responder Resiliency Inc., artists will raise funds for proactive resiliency education, counseling, and holistic care programs addressing post-traumatic stress.
In addition to performances by an all-star band and a silent auction of rock memorabilia, the Legacy Award will be presented to humanitarian and artist Peter Criss - the original Cat-Man and co-founder of KISS. Joining Criss, Allen, and Monroe onstage will be The Joe Bouchard Band with Albert Bouchard (former members of Blue Oyster Cult) featuring Mickey Curry (Hall & Oates, Bryan Adams), Mountain’s Corky Laing, R&B legend Bernard Purdie, Saturday Night Live’s Christine Ohlman, Shawn Pelton, Carlton Jumel Smith, Ricky Byrd (Joan Jett), Devon Marie (Debbie Gibson), Kasim Sulton (Joan Jett, Todd Rundgren), and surprise guests, as well as emcees Maria Milito of Q104.3 and musical director Billy Amendola.
Tickets are available for purchase online. Doors are at 7:00pm, showtime is 8:00pm. The Cutting Room is located at 44 E. 32nd Street in New York, NY.
The Cutting Room is New York's legendary dinner theater and event space. All shows have a $25 food and/or beverage minimum per person (unless otherwise indicated on your ticket.) Please note the ticket price goes mostly to the performers and production staff. The club sells food and beverages to continue to bring live music to NYC.
Raven Drum Foundation, founded in 2001 by Rick Allen, Drummer of Def Leppard and Healing Arts Educator, Lauren Monroe, brings musicians, health educators, and the philanthropic community together to support the healing of first responders and veterans struggling with post traumatic stress. The foundation provides mind, body, and drumming integrated workshops incorporating evidence based techniques such as guided visualization, breathwork, and heart-brain coherence education to support wellness, and regulation of the human nervous system. When music, intention, and healing wisdom all meet on the paths of neurobiology and psychology, we harmonize our inner mental and emotional states to effect positive change.
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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...7/10/25
"Well, I certainly hope so, it seems like it is," laughed Blues Traveler bassist Ben Wilson as he discussed what the band has been up to and their preparations before they hit the road once again for a Summer tour. "The band has been quite active over the years through touring and we managed to continue to record some records. We've done two kinds of covers records, the first one was a blues record which actually got nominated for a Grammy which was pretty cool and the next one, we did some soul covers. That one wasn't quite as well received but it was sure fun to make. So, it's been really cool; you have this massive success for a decade or so and then you kind of dip below that cultural Gestalt line where you're just kind of bubbling below the surface and you can do just fine there even though you're not on the cover of "The Rolling Stone" and that's kind of what we've been doing. We've had a good run, it has been fantastic and these summer tours where we get together with these other kind of bands of similar eras with similar kinds of hits; we're very fortunate as kind of a neo-hippie jam band from that era that kind of bucked some of the trends that were going on at the time but we were lucky enough to have a couple of hits and that has allowed us to have kind of a different career than just the straight jam bands do; not that that wouldn't be awesome as well because obviously many of them are doing just fine but it's just a slightly different road but it has been wonderful. We didn't rehearse a whole lot because we've been playing together for 38 years but things are good and we're stoked for this upcoming tour."
