Free Stroke

Lou Santiago Jr. has already had a remarkable musical career that is the stuff urban legends are made of. Born in New York City in 1976, Lou did not purchase his first drum set until he was eighteen. After two years of eight to twelve hours of daily practice, he quit playing and joined the Navy - intent on earning tuition money to attend the Drummer's Collective in New York City, now known as The Collective. Five years later, during his last year of enlistment, Lou finally picked up his sticks again and, incredibly, after eight months of practicing, won the 2001 Guitar Center South East Regional Drum-Off, placing him 7th in the nation. Two years later, in 2003, he won the over 18 age division of Modern Drummer's worldwide "Undiscovered Drummer" contest and soon after toured with legendary trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in his Big Bop Nouveau Band. "Louis is without a doubt one of the most exciting new young drummers on the scene. He is dedicated to his craft and I look forward to watching the progress of his career!" - Maynard Ferguson. Since then, Lou has gone on to work with some of the industry's finest artists, such as John Benitez, Adam Nitti, Alex Acuña, Luis Conte and more. Latin and English CCM artists such as Marco Barrientos, Raul Sanchez, Christine D’clario, Jeff Deyo, Natalie Grant, Anthony Evans, Seventh Day Slumber, and many more. In addition to performance, Lou has a passion for teaching. He has been a successful masterclass clinician, inspiring and influencing drummers of all ages both in Europe and the United States. Highlighted in Modern Drummer Magazine, Lou says his goal is, "To become a better person and drummer than I was yesterday. I sincerely believe that music both inspires and speaks to people. I pray that my drumming does the same.” In 2008, Lou launched 99centdrumlessons.com which was the first of its kind. The site consisted of online drumming lessons which averaged between 15-20 minutes in length being sold for $0.99. Despite its instantaneous success, Lou would later take the site down as a sacrifice in hopes to reintroduce it upon completion of a larger vision despite knowing he would lose primary online “real-estate”. The bigger vision was to incorporate medicine with drumming. Despite not being taken seriously, Lou believed in his vision and began the journey to become a health care provider. In 2010, Lou began his undergraduate studies in Biomedical Sciences. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2013. While awaiting acceptance to a program in Physician Associate Studies, Lou was called to tour with Seventh Day Slumber. Upon completion of the tour, Lou was accepted and attended the CUNY School of Medicine and graduated Magna Cum Laude in January 2019.