Meet Terry Crew’s Sensational Golden Buzzer Drumline, Atlanta Drum Academy
Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC Reading Time: 2 minutes
America’s Got Talent is back and better than ever. Among the amazing performers in tonight’s audition episode is drumline, Atlanta Drum Academy. Here’s everything to know about the group.
Their Founder Was Apart of 20th Century Fox’s Hit Drumline
Atlanta Drum Academy was founded by James Riles III. He decided to create the team based on his love of teaching percussion to kids and adults. According to the group’s website, the founder has been playing drums since he was 5 years old. His drum skills landed him a Music Scholarship at Morris Brown College, where he composed a lot of their new aged drumline material.
Later in life, he became a composer and performer for 20th Century Fox’s Drumline, as well as Drumline 2: A New Beat. Since then, he’s been focused on teaching percussion students of all ages. Specifically, younger than most schools would teach. Initially, Riles III was inspired to create the program due to his sons’ interest in drumming from a young age.
In present day, Riles III’s two sons, Sadarien and Darius Riles are apart of the drumline. The founder is a clear proud father, always sharing that his sons are better drummers at their age than he was at that age.
Who is Atlanta Drum Academy?
It appears that ahead of AGT, this group is relatively well known within Atlanta. According to their Instagram, they’ve been given the opportunity to perform at events such as Inside The NBA, at the Gateway Arena, for the mayor of Atlanta Andre Dickens, and more.
Atlanta Drum Academy is comprised of two age groups. The younger of the two is called Little Rascals, which features elementary and middle schools. While the grind time group features high school and middle school students as well. According to an about video published to the group’s YouTube in February 2023, the youngest students in Atlanta Drum Academy are currently ages 3 and 4 years old.
Since fans loved The Pack Drumline on AGT season 17, I’m sure Atlanta Drum Academy has the foundation to succeed. What do you think of Atlanta Drum Academy? Let us know in the comments down below.
