Cartland Blake Richardson is the drummer for American

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

band

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metalcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (guitar, backing ...

, as well as the drummer for Glass Casket. Joining in early 2005, Richardson replaced Between the Buried and Me's former drummer Jason Roe.

Biography

Richardson attended middle school at Calvary Baptist Day School in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

. He later attended Mt. Tabor High School and performed an annual drum solo for a school-club project named 'Spartan Spectacular'. Playing since he was 11 years old, he became an immediate fan of 1990s grunge music. Being inspired by bands such as

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, and

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

, his passion for heavy music grew as much as his love for drumming did. After taking lessons for several years from local jazz percussionist/drummer Robert Crutchfield, he developed his skills and started playing with his first band, Glass Casket, at the age of 17. After significant touring throughout the US, he graduated high school in 2003 and attended NC State University for two years. After getting an offer to play drums for home-state friends Between the Buried and Me he helped to start writing the band's third full-length album ''

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

'' and finally left school in 2005 to tour full-time. Since then the band has toured relentlessly. Sharing the stage with friends in Black Dahlia Murder,

Bleeding Through Bleeding Through is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1999. Influenced largely by hardcore punk and Swedish melodic death metal, the band was established by lead vocalist Brandan Schieppati as a personal projec ...

Every Time I Die Every Time I Die was an American metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. For most of the band's career, the line-up was centred on brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), as well as rhythm guitarist Andy Williams, ...

, and

Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of dissonance ...

helped land them a spot on

Ozzfest Ozzfest was an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband O ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

with System of a Down and

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

. After seemingly endless touring to support his first album with Between the Buried and Me, the band began writing for their fourth studio album ''

Colors Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

''. This album helped push the band, as well as Richardson's drumming style, into the more progressive metal element. Not going unnoticed, the band's developed new sound and groundbreaking new album helped them earn a spot on the first ever "Progressive Nation Tour", which featured

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). Dream Theat ...

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...

, and

Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

Style

Richardson's drumming is characterized by a fusion of

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

elements as well as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

influences. Noted for his blast beats, odd timing, double bass drumming, and fill-heavy style, Richardson is considered a standout in his field. His favorite drummers include

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missi ...

Dennis Chambers Dennis Milton Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American jazz fusion and funk drummer. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2001. Early life Chambers was born on May 9, 1959, in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. He began drumming ...

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

, Simon Phillips,

Dave Weckl Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusion drummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Weckl started playing his first se ...

Morgan Ågren Morgan Ågren (born 1967) is a Swedish drummer who plays with the progressive rock band Kaipa (band), Kaipa. Biography A native of Umeå, Västerbotten County, Västerbotten, Ågren began playing drums at a young age, eventually joining forces ...

Virgil Donati Virgil Donati (born 22 October 1958) is an Australian drummer, composer and producer. He holds the drum sticks in the traditional style and is also proficient at the keyboard. Donati formed Planet X with Derek Sherinian and was the band's pri ...

, Ken Schalk and

Tomas Haake Tomas Nils Haake (born 13 July 1971) is a Swedish musician known for being the drummer and primary lyricist of the extreme metal band Meshuggah. Known for his polymeters and technical ability, Haake was named the fifth best "Modern Metal" drumm ...

. During the Progressive Nation 2008 tour Blake performed alongside

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure fro ...

(

) where the two soloed together.

Equipment

Tama Starclassic Bubinga - Custom Finish *2x kick drums * rack tom * rack tom * rack tom * floor tom * gong bass drum * STARPHONIC brass snare drum Sabian Cymbals: *9" Radia Cup Chime *Sabian Low Max Stax *10" HH Duo Splash *18" HHX Evolution Crash *19" AAX Holy China *17" AAX X-treme China (on left) *21" AA Holy China (on right) *21" HH Raw Bell Dry Ride *14" HHX Evolution Hi-Hats *12" Chopper Cymbal *15" Birdbath (cracked)

Tama Iron Cobra The Tama Iron Cobra is a bass drum pedal line made between 1992 and the present. They are a full-baseplate, double chain or Kevlar strap drive, professional quality bass drum pedal used by many leading drummers. The Iron Cobra comes in both sin ...

Power Glide Single Kick Pedals, Tama Hardware 3A Vic Firth Drumsticks Evans Drumheads (Hybrid on snare, Emad on kick drums, and EC2 SST on toms)

Honors and awards

* Nominated for a

GRAMMY Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

, Best Metal Performance ''Condemned To The Gallows''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Blake American heavy metal drummers Living people Drummers from North Carolina 1984 births Between the Buried and Me members 21st-century American drummers