ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ralph Hicks is a product of the highly successful Spring HS Band program (Spring, Texas), winning two Texas 5A State Marching Championships, one BOA Grand National Championship, a PAS Call for Tapes, and a naming to the 1995 Texas All State Orchestra. Receiving a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky, Ralph studied Percussion under Professor James B. Campbell. In 1996 he took first place in the Percussive Arts Society International Vibraphone Solo competition. In 1997 he was a member of the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps and was named a Yamaha Young Performing Artist. His performing days behind him, Ralph teaches at Mitchell Intermediate in The Woodlands, Texas. He is Founder/Executive Director of “Let Them Drum,” a nonprofit corporation providing recreational and therapeutic drumming opportunities for all ages, abilities, and disabilities and co-owner of The Percussion Studio, providing quality percussion education materials and compositions. In 2012, Mr. Hicks was Mitchell Intermediate’s Teacher of the Year and named Conroe ISD Outstanding Teacher in the Arts by The Woodlands Waterway Arts Council. Ralph now resides in Magnolia, Texas, with his wife Marcail and two children, Brooklynn and William. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Texas Music Educators Association, the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, serves on the Education Committee, Diversity Committee and Board of Advisors for the Percussive Arts Society, is endorsed by Innovative Percussion, and is a Remo Recreational Music Partner. Eric Rath is an active educator, clinician, adjudicator, arranger, and composer. Mr. Rath has served as a band and orchestra director as well as a percussion specialist at the middle and high school levels. Previously Mr. Rath also served as the adjunct percussion instructor at Amarillo College. As a composer, Mr. Rath has a growing list of original works and arrangements published through FJH Music, Tapspace Publications, The Percussion Studio, and TRN Music. His music has been described as “very exciting for performers and audiences alike.” Mr. Rath’s music has been performed nationally and abroad at the Midwest Clinic, the Texas Music Educators Association Convention, and the International Double Reed Society’s Convention. He and Ralph Hicks are the co-authors of the percussion ensemble collection Beyond Basic Percussion (Tapspace Publications), the snare drum and keyboard fundamentals books Five Minute Drill and Nine Minute Drill (Tapspace Publications), and a multi-use solo and ensemble transcription book The Golden Age of Ragtime (The Percussion Studio). Mr. Rath is a member of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and also regularly performs with the Amarillo Opera. He is an in-demand freelance percussionist and serves on the worship team at his church. Additionally, he is also an alumni member of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. Mr. Rath is a proud graduate of West Texas A&M University, where he received both his Bachelor of Music Education and his Master of Arts Degree.
Mr. Rath resides in Canyon, Texas, with his wife Kayla and their children Regan, Grant, McKinley, Jackson, and Harrison. His professional affiliations include the Percussive Arts Society, Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Bandmasters Association, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He is a Yamaha Performing Artist and also an educational artist for Innovative Percussion, Inc. 1