E. Doctor Smith began his musical journey as a teenager playing percussion in the District of Columbia Youth Orchestra and in Maryland’s Montgomery County Youth Orchestra. In the 1980s, he collaborated with Madonna and her co-writer, Stephen Bray, performing in the Breakfast Club and The Same.

Doc assisted on many of Madonna’s biggest albums as well as other of Bray’s projects including Nick Kamen, Gladys Knight, The Breakfast Club, Brian Ferry, and Steel Pulse.

In 1995, as a member of the trio Between The Lines, Doc designed and built the Drummstick, a percussion controller consisting rather humbly of a 2×6 piece of wood with 16 finger-pads. Doc soon formed his Drummstick band with Celia DuBose, Jack Wright and Neil Mezebish.

In the winter of 2007, Doc began playing his signature series Zendrum ZX and continued collaborating with the seven-string bass virtuoso Edo Castro.
Doc continues to record, mostly playing the Zendrum, and touring as he works with keyboardist Seth Elgart; guitarist Peter McKibben; Edo Castro-Woodhouse; guitarist Peter Fujii and guitarist/keyboardist Jordan Breslow.

In his session, Doc will I discuss his invention, The Drummstick, his journey toward the Zendrum and how he uses it in a variety of settings, recording, live, theatre, etc.