Growing up in Alexandria, VA, Corey remembers his summer visits to his grandma’s house in Windsor, NC, and watching the drummer of her church every Sunday. He didn’t have a drum set at home, or even a pair of sticks that he owned. But he loved the drums. After each visit though, his grandma would always find broken bamboo sticks [that he used to make drumsticks] everywhere from the bathroom to the bottom shelf of the kitchen cabinets. She’s often quoted as saying “he was always beatin on something.” And indeed he was.

It wouldn’t be until the 5th grade when Corey would get his first pair of sticks and a practice pad. From there, there was no looking back. Musically, after recieving the musician of the year award in 8th grade, Corey was introduced to the marching band entering high school. Quite naturally he gravitated to the drumline, where he played the quads. Throughout high school, Corey would play for several local groups and do sessions for several aspiring artists. He travelled with the marching band and participated in many competitions and shows. By this point, Corey had enriched his musical ears and become diverse in gospel, classical, jazz, R&B, hip hop, and marching styles of drumming. Music was a huge part of who he was, and by this point, he had built a strong musical foundation.

In 1999, Corey graduated high school and attended East Carolina University in the fall. It was there that his musical career blossomed. He continued in the marching band for two years playing quads (tenors), and was one of 4 freshmen to make the drumline. In his second semester, he attended his first gospel choir rehearsal, and everything else seemed to stand still. He had come back to his roots and enjoyed every minute of it. Becoming the “main” drummer for the ECU Gospel Choir in 2000, Corey became known amongst other musicians in the area for his fast hands and musicality. He was also playing for the rapidly growing congregation of a local church as well as other requests to play with other local artist. While with the ECU Gospel choir, he toured every spring break all along the east coast, and he was blessed to play behind such gospel artists as Luther Barnes, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Maurette Brown-Clark, Vicki-Winans, Marvin Sapp and Debra Dixon, to name a few.

Now 28, Corey currently plays for thousands each week by medium of television and radio at his church home in Largo, MD, and a live radio broadcast in Washington, DC in addition to several other projects from various groups. Corey is the “musician’s drummer” with feel and vibe whose musicianship and attention to detail with each song really sets him apart. As Corey has played for several events and groups in the DC/Metro area including accompaniments for saxophonist James Cheeks of the famed gospel horn section ‘MoHorns’, studio work on ‘Best of the Moment’ available on iTUNES, the gospel stage plays ‘Sliders’ and ‘Residue’ by L Squared Productions, and his recent work with Our Mood Swings, a neo-jazz band based in DC. Corey acknowledges that it is only by God’s grace that he has made it this far and often states that “I'm grateful for the measure of talent God has given me!” As a lover of music of many forms, stay tuned for the great things to come! Need some MoDrums??