Meet One Tribe

Steve Gornick has been playing drums since he was a kid bangin' on the kitchen table annoying his mother. He bought a set of bongos when he was twenty and has played djembe since age 22 when Steve meet up with some neighborhood djembe players in Columbus Ohio. From there Steve studied with Djembe Master Kai Pai who showed him how the majority of African djembe rhythms are part of a whole. Each rhythm having it's own place in the whole of the rhythm. Steve was hooked.

While living in Ohio, Steve facilitated community drum circles at local colleges, afterschool programs, rest homes, day care facilities, birthday parties. Steve also performed with a group called The Other Tribe, a tribal folk group that performed and facilitated community drum circles at local coffee shops, art spaces and churches. Steve helped co-create a weelky community drum circle at the Unitarian Universalist Church in St. Clairsville Ohio, which still meets every Wednesday at 7pm.

Steve plays the guitar and writes songs. He is currently employed for a company called Pathways For People, a day program in Cary that teaches music, art, yoga, dance and theater to developmentally disabled people. Steve lives in Raleigh with his soul mate, Sarah.

Stan Garver came from a musical family and dutifully took piano lessons in fourth grade, then moved on to play percussion in school bands. Like most other kids in the 60's, he taught himself guitar, inspired by the folk and popular music of the times. Then the rains came and washed the crops away ... no, it was work and family life that got in the way of music. When he retired at an EXTREMELY young age, rekindling the music within became Priority One.

Three new guitars, a set of congas, and a djembe later, Stan is once again immersed in what he loves. He discovered the Raleigh Drum Circle upon moving to Raleigh in 2009, became a regular at the Wednesday night Hoop Jams, and took African drumming classes with Ronnie Pulley. Driven to move beyond open drumming, to play the African rhythms learned in class, and to create new arrangements, he approached Steve about establishing a new group committed to meeting weekly. The spark ignited, other members were added from among Raleigh Drum Circle friends, and the core of One Tribe was born. And that's the way it was ....

Melissa Griffin has expressed herself with music since the 4th grade when she studied piano with a teacher who had a turtle named "Yertle". She went on to play trumpet and baritone in the school band but always had an interest in playing drums.

In 2007, the time was right and Melissa started banging on buckets and playing with shakers around the campfire of Raleigh's Sacred Fire Community. It wasn't long before she discovered the Raleigh Drum Circle and then the rhythms of West Africa. She's been blessed to study with Greg Whitt, Ronnie Pulley, Bountourabi Leftwich, Khalid Saleem, to name a few, plus the talented instructors at the annual West African Drum and Dance Camp in the NC mountains. In May 2011 she attended classes with Mamady Keita & Famoudou Konate during the Grandmasters Tour in Atlanta. You'll find Melissa and her husband Tony at most Raleigh Drum Circle gatherings including the weekly Hoop Jam. Melissa is a marketing consultant for small businesses and created our website.

Tony Griffin has always “banged on things” (coffee cans, ottomans, dashboards, school desks, plastic buckets, etc.), but it wasn't until 2007 that he actually bought his first drum. Never having been to a drum circle and wanting a drum of his own, he was for some reason drawn to a particular craigslist ad. It turned out that ad was posted by the founder of the Raleigh Drum Circle (RDC), Greg Whitt. A relationship was formed that changed Tony's interests and would shape his drumming future.

Tony likes to work with his hands. By mid-2007, Tony had already taught himself how to rehead drums and took on a few such projects for the RDC as well as his own drums. In 2008, he became a board member for RDC and increased his involvement with its activities, including coordinating the entertainment for the annual RDC Birthday Bash. In 2009, Tony launched a side-line business called drumsticktony.com that offers drum reheading and other drum related accessories to the Raleigh area drumming community. He also helped start the Wednesday night Hoop Jam in Pullen Park and continued to support Greg with other RDC events. That same year, his focus moved from jamming to study of West African rhythms, beginning with the Kumandi African Drum and Dance Camp in Little Switzerland, NC. It was at that drum camp that Tony would meet his mentors, Tom Harris and Robin Leftwich. Both are accomplished drum builders and drummers. His on-going study of West African rhythms continued in 2010 with Ronnie Pulley and Khalid Saleem, to name a few. In May 2011 he studied with Mamady Keita & Famoudou Konate during the Grandmasters Tour in Atlanta.

Tony leads the drumming at the Wednesday jam sessions as well as a monthly drum circle for the RDC. He has been a part of several drum reheading workshops with both Tom and Robin. To date he has made/sold over 200 drumsticks for use with African dununs.

A never-ending rhythm going through air is what has brought Ken Wierzbicki to join One Tribe. After playing a drum kit in his youth (as fast and loud as possible), Ken has found his solace in finding the root of the drum through traditional tribal rhythms.

Born in Buffalo NY, Ken has found his home in the Raleigh area. After laying a foundation and not playing for over 4 years, something seemed to be missing in his life....it was the drum! So the search was on to find the outlet needed to fill the empty void. Looking online, the Raleigh Drum Circle was found. After meeting Greg Whitt it was a lock that this was the answer. Next thing you know, events were popping up everywhere and so were so many great people to add to it. Through these connections One Tribe was born. Being blessed with great friends and a passion for drumming has lead Ken home and there he wants to share what he loves with anyone willing to listen.

Linda Zukowski has always been drawn to music...at the age of 10, she wanted to learn to play the drums, but her parents discouraged it as they felt she made enough noise, so she played the clarinet instead. She first picked up a Kalimba (African thumb piano) in 1983, and took to it quickly. From that point forward, no object was safe from her trying to pull a rhythm form it.

Linda began taking West African drum classes in the mid 90s from Zorina Wolf of Village Heartbeat in Berkeley, California. After moving to North Carolina in 2005, she began taking classes with Ronnie Pulley. She studied in a 2-year Drum Instructor Training with Bill Scheidt at the Winston-Salem branch of TamTam Mandingue, an international Djembe school started by African Master Drummer Mamady Keita.

When not drumming, Linda can be found building her business, Metamorphic Massage For Women, playing scrabble on facebook, sitting on the back porch watching deer eat her vegetable garden, or playing with her two slightly psychotic cats.