Lee Kix is my name. I am Trained HealthRHYTHMS Facilitator. I have studied with Arthur Hull and his Village Music Circles. I have assisted Interactive Rhythm Events with Christine Stevens, Jenni Swerdlow, and Ossie Maier. I have done Drum Circles for Children’s Book Festival and facilitated from the stage of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. But where did it all start. Kindly, read on.

I played my first gig when I was 12 years old. I loaded my three-piece drum set I had bought with my life savings into my red Radio Flyer wagon and started off down the road to the Cordovox player’s house. The Cordovox (amplified accordion) player was 16. He could drive.

And drive we did, all the way down to Cermak Road in Cicero (about a mile). Once there, we hauled all our equipment up two flights of stairs into the large banquet hall that was located just above some retail store fronts. We anxiously set-up our gear on a stage prepared with two other amplifiers. Later that night, the groom and his best man (bass and guitar) would “sit-in” periodically for an impromptu “jam session”. This was the first of what would become hundreds of times that I would perform the song “Kansas City”.

By the mid-70’s I had moved to Southern California where I continued building upon my passion for music. I toured Japan with Felix Pappalardi (Cream, Mountain) where I shared the stage with the likes of Jeff Beck and the New York Dolls. I toured the US and Canada with Bob Welch and Walter Egan sharing the bill with the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, Santana, Heart, The Cars, Foreigner, and many others. I became the staff drummer for “The Midnight Special”. I drummed on soundtracks for “Flashdance”, “The Karate Kid” and the “Main Event” (Barbara Streisand / Ryan O’Neal) to name a few. I’ve recorded vocals with Lindsey Buckingham and Dean Torrance (Jan and Dean). All of this and more went on before a career-changing injury in 1982.

Today I now focus my attention on the power of the Gong and the Art of Drum Circle Facilitation. In addition to my local workshops in both fields, I have also taken my love of music to Yoga Retreats in Costa Rica, Mexico, California, and Illinois.

Watch Lee Kix as he jams with Bob Welch & Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac at Cal Jam 2.

Cal Jam 2, was a music festival held in Ontario, California, at the Ontario Motor Speedway on March 18, 1978. More than 300,000 people attended the day long festival. The festival was a sequel to the original California Jam held in 1978.