User:DrumSalad/drewverbis

Drew Verbis (born December 4) is an American public radio personality. He is best known as the host and producer of the weekly public radio series Blues America (BA). BA broadcasts on numerous public radio and community stations in the United States and internationally and is also available as a downloadable weekly podcast. The series is distributed by Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Radio Network. Drew has been involved in a number of notable American music recordings in the last two decades, primarily as a producer or session photographer. Drew's godfather is legendary Persuasions front-man, Jerry Lawson. Drew's mentor is producer, Bob Corritore.

Early life and education
Drew was raised in a blended family in West Germany as a third culture kid. He was introduced to music by the Persuasions early in life, which would prove to have a lasting influence. As a child, Drew learned how to play piano and guitar.

Drew graduated with the premiere class at Westview High School in Avondale, Arizona where he played varsity football and was the school’s first-elected Student Body President.

At 17, Drew was eager to enter the 21-older music venues that featured touring acts such as the Counting Crows, Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Ben Harper. Determined, Drew bought a 32 mm Pentax camera at the local pawn, created a press badge at a printer’s shop and followed bands into the concert halls as they loaded gear; seemingly appearing to belong. During this period, Drew personally befriended blues legends such as Bo Diddley, Junior Wells, Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Rogers, Robert Lockwood Jr., Chico Chism and Cedric Burnside. Eventually, he was caught by blues harmonica ace and producer, Bob Corritore which resulted in an enduring mentorship.

Drew graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor in Business Administration. Later, he earned a Master of Arts in Communication and a Master of Arts in Museum Science.

Career
In 2000, Drew briefly resided with Chico Chism before becoming the Entertainment Director at the Rhythm Room. He worked with regular touring talent such as John Scofield, Leon Redbone, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, George Benson and R.L. Burnside. During this period Drew produced studio records with R.L. Burnside, Louisiana Red, Mojo Buford and Robert Lockwood Jr. Drew has contributed to studio sessions with many of the greatest names of the blues genre, including: Pinetop Perkins, Little Milton Campbell, Bob Stroger, Bob Margolin, Henry Gray (musician), Eddie Shaw, Lazy Lester and dozens more.



In 2003 Drew was the manager and touring agent for blues legend, Louisiana Red.

Drew produced a radio series called Blues and Beyond for KJZZ. His first program featured Persuasions lead singer and co-founder, Jerry Lawson. At KJZZ, Drew’s most notable interviews included Ray Charles, B.B. King, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, Etta James, Marian McPartland, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, the Barenaked Ladies and John Popper.

Blues America
The first episode of Blues America (BA) was a two-hour format and aired on May 15, 2015 on KFNX 1100 (AM) in Phoenix, featuring a guest interview with Bob Corritore. The second show featured a posthumous guest interview with B.B. King, which was one of the last interviews he gave before his passing.

BA became a one-hour program and uniquely produced for public broadcasting consumption in 2016. It was created and produced by Drew Verbis. Since his late-teens, Drew had spent a considerable amount of time around legends such as R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, Junior Wells, Chico Chism, Louisiana Red, and Robert Lockwood Jr. By 2015, these musicians died, and Drew realized that the blues was quickly losing part of its identity with the passing of its hallmark players. As part of the ‘keep the blues alive’ movement, Blues America was created to document the story of blues players and make blues musicians obtainable to the public.

In 2016, a studio was built inside of a record store to produce the Blues America series and named after one of Drew's friends and mentors, Arizona's blues figure, Chico Chism. In 2017, Blues America aired the first-post Grammy Award interview with Bobby Rush. That same year, Drew spearheaded a relief fund to help Henry Gray recover from flooding and accompanied him to Memphis, Tennessee where Gray, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. These historic events where documented in an interview on Blues America episode 79.

Other notable guest interviews have included B.B. King, Ben Harper, Jontavious Willis, Shemekia Copeland, Billy Boy Arnold and Steve Cropper. BA conducted one of the last interviews with B.B. King, and the last interviews with Eddy Clearwater and Preston Shannon.

Military Service
Drew is a 7th generation uniformed service member. He served in the United States Navy and deployed with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133 in Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he was selected as junior sailor of the year for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133. In 2014, he was selected as junior sailor of the year for Naval Public Affairs Support Element West. In 2019, he worked as a media content producer in the public affairs office of Admiral James G. Foggo III, commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet.